Rösti - a Swiss hash brown

As you may have realised by now, bruch is one of my favourite meals and Rösti is up there with asparagus and eggs as one of my favourites.  For those of you who don't know, rösti is a swiss version of a hash brown, eaten for breakfast and often served with a fried egg and spinach.  I kept it simple and just went for the rösti and some roasted cherry tomatoes to add a bit of colour (it means you can at least pretend you're being healthy).

Rösti with roasted cherry tomatoes

This was a super simple recipe which makes a perfect brunch for two.  All you need to do is parboil 400g of potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes work best), fry half an onion and a crushed garlic clove until soft, followed by a handful of pancetta until it is crispy.  After about 15 minutes strain the potatoes and allow them to steam dry.  Once they're cool enough to handle dice them and mix them in a bowl with a large handful of grated cheese (I would definitely recommend splashing out on some gruyere), a large beaten egg, the onion, garlic and pancetta.  Season at this point and add some parsley too if you fancy.

Frozen herbs are a great way to avoid wasting lots of fresh herbs if you want to use them but can't get through a whole bunch before they go off, as they keep for ages and you can defrost as much or as little as you need.  Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a medium frying pan and tip in the potato mixture before pressing it down with a spatula.  Fy over a medium heat for 15 minutes (the bottom should be golden brown, although be careful not to break the rösti when checking).  Tip the rösti onto a plate then slide it back into the frying pan, cooked side up.  Fry for another 15 minutes and serve with some roasted cherry tomatoes (just drizzle some oil over the tomatoes in a baking dish and roast them in an oven pre-heated to a medium heat while you're cooking the rösti).

Perfect for sharing

Now isn't that just the tastiest thing you've seen all day?  Go on, you know you want to try it!

Ready...set..bake!

Now that I'm a little more settled I've finally found some time to get down to some baking, something I've really missed doing while being at university.  I had a good think and realised that I'd never actually baked a lemon drizzle cake before, so I decided it was high time I gave one a go.

The lemon drizzle cake

I wanted to keep things relatively simple so I used Mary Berry's all-in-one method.  As you could possibly guess from the title of this post, I'm a massive Bake Off fan and I especially love Mary Berry.  Her recipes are simple and reliable, perfect for home cooking as you know if you follow the recipe it will turn out exactly as you expect.

The ingredients

For this lemon drizzle cake you simply add the self-raising flour, softened butter, caster sugar, eggs, baking powder, milk and grated lemon rind to a bowl, then mix until you have a smooth batter.  Pre-heat the oven, grease a baking tray and bake the tray bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until it is brown and risen.

The finished product

For the glaze you just need to mix lemon juice with granulated sugar and drizzle over the cake while it's still warm.  Cut into squares and enjoy with a nice cup of coffee (I acquired this habit while in Germany where 'Kaffee und Kuchen' - coffee and cake - is very popular).

Well-risen, a nice crumb and not a soggy bottom in sight!

One Year On

I know it's been a while but I'm still here and still cooking!  The last month has been a little hectic and I just haven't found the time to write a post.  I guess I'm writing this post to update you and give you a snapshot of my life at the moment.  At the moment I'm sitting in my living room overlooking Southampton water, a beautiful view except for the odd passing container ship.

I can't quite believe that my blog is now a year old, the time has gone so quickly and so much has happened.  I've not only graduated but in the last month I've got a job, moved to Southampton and started work.  I'm still moving around a bit, but hopefully I'll have sorted out a more permanent home by Christmas.

Now that I'm no longer in Cambridge I debated whether to change the name of my blog, but after much consideration I've decided to keep it.  For one thing 'Little Southampton Kitchen' doesn't have quite the same ring to it! For another, by keeping the same name it will always remind me of where I started.  Since I now have the luxury of an oven, a grill and more than one hob I'm going to start attempting some more adventurous recipes which I couldn't really have made before and where possible I'll suggest simplifications.

In the last month I have become a huge fan of 'Jamie's 15 Minute Meals' as they are perfect weeknight meals.  I generally get home between 7 and 8 and the last thing I want to do is spend ages cooking, so these meals are perfect as they really are super quick (if not quite manageable in 15 minutes).  They normally take between 15 minutes and half an hour to prepare (especially the first time you try a recipe), but they are simple to follow and you end up with delicious and healthy food.

My only criticism would be that the portions are a little on the small side (especially as my job is quite active and the days are long), so if you're cooking for 4 as the recipes suggest you may want to bulk up the portions with a little extra pasta if you can.  I tend to cook the full amount, which tends to make 2 good portions for our evening meal and leaves enough for a couple of smaller lunches to take to work later in the week.

I've tried quite a variety of the recipes from this book, so the photos below are just a snapshot of the meals I've prepared over the last few weeks.

Prawn Linguine

This is a great dish, seriously simple, yet delicious.  I especially love the use of saffron and cinnamon in the seasoning.

British Burgers with salad pickles "and things"

I love Jamie's burgers so much I've made them twice!  The burgers themselves are so simple to make and taste heaps better than anything you can buy pre-made in a supermarket.

The "and things" refer to the tomatoes, pickles and yoghurt dressing.  Having spent a year in Germany I am a massive fan of pickles, so any recipe that includes them is a winner with me!  As for the yoghurt and Worcestershire sauce, it makes a lovely change from the usual ketchup or mayo.

Next up is a chicken caesar salad.  This is possibly my favourite style of salad and I love making the dressing myself as it is always tastier than the ready-made sauces you can buy.  I didn't stick to the recipe on this one as I had some bits and pieces to use up but it actually worked out quite well.  I thoroughly recommend the addition of some roasted red peppers to the salad.

Chicken Caesar Salad

The final dish I've got to show you is the falafel wraps with grilled veg and salsa.  People often think that vegetarian cooking is boring or not filling enough, this recipe proves them wrong.  It's super tasty, really filling and there's no meat in sight!  While Jamie says the pickled red cabbage is optional I would highly recommend getting hold of some as it really is the perfect thing to top off this excellent dish.

Falafel Wraps, Grilled Veg and Salsa

To top it all off - pickled red cabbage!

I think this post has pretty much summed up my life at the moment.  I'll try and write another post soon but I'm not making any promises.  I really want to get back into baking, something I haven't done nearly enough of recently.  I've got a few Halloween-themed ideas but any suggestions from you guys are very welcome.  Keep an eye out for my next post, until then Tschüss!

Slow-Cooked Pork

I honestly had every intention of posting more the past couple of weeks than I have.  But with my time at university coming to an end I just wanted to enjoy the time as much as possible, which meant that blogging and other things that I could do from home have been put on a back burner for a while.  Now that I've graduated and moved back home I'm going to write up the posts on the last couple of meals I cooked in my Little Cambridge Kitchen.

This term, to my delight, a slow cooker found its way into my possession.  I therefore began to experiment and have to say I loved it, this slow-cooked, glazed pork was so easy to make!

Slow-cooked, balsamic glazed pork

For two portions you will need:
Around 225g pork loin
1/2 tsp ground sage (rosemary also works well)
salt and pepper for seasoning
a small clove of garlic
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp soy sauce

All you need to do is combine the sage, salt, pepper and garlic and rub it over the pork.  Place the pork in the slow cooker with 1/4 cup water, turn the slow cooker on to low and leave to cook.  I scaled down this recipe and left the pork to cook for a little too long so be careful.  Originally the recipe served 4 and you were told to cook the pork for 6-8 hours, I left it for 5-6 and that was too much.  I would add the glaze after the pork has cooked for 3 hours, check it again after 4 hours and leave it to cook for a little longer if necessary.

While the pork is cooking combine the ingredients for the glaze in a small sauce pan - brown sugar, cornstarch, balsamic vinegar, water, soy sauce.  Heat and stir until the mixture thickens.  Brush the pork with the glaze during the last hour of cooking.  If you don't have a brush just do what I did and add the glaze to the slow cooker, then turn the pork every 15 minutes or so to make sure it is coated in the glaze.

Half an hour before the pork is done boil a pan of water and cook some brown rice.  5-10 minutes before the pork is ready steam some vegetables in the microwave.  Once everything is ready, serve and enjoy.

The finished dish

It seems strange that I will no longer be cooking in my little kitchen any more, but while I will miss it I'm excited to be living back at home again where there's an oven and a grill which will give me the chance to try out lots of recipes which I haven't been able to before and get back to some baking which I really miss.

During July I'm going on holiday for a few weeks so I apologise if I am unable to post in that time.  I'm going to try and schedule a few posts but having never tried it before I can't promise it will work, check back every now and then for me to see if it's worked!

Brunch time!

It's time for another brunch post!  With the weekend not far off it's the perfect time to start thinking about what you'll be eating.

I love this time of year, the weather is improving, spring is in the air and asparagus is in season!  So I made a deliciously simple brunch made from asparagus, pancetta and eggs.

Asparagus, pancetta and eggs - simply delightful!

First of all fry the pancetta.  You don't need to use any oil - the pancetta is fatty enough on its own.  Once it is brown and starting to go crispy put the asparagus stems into the pan.  Fry them, making sure to turn them regularly so that they don't burn.  Finally crack the two eggs over the asparagus, then cover the pan and leave to cook for a couple of minutes until the white is cooked but the yolks are still runny.

The beauty of this dish is its simplicity.  If you don't eat pancetta then you can miss this step, heat some olive oil in the pan and fry the asparagus.  While the eggs are cooking you can sprinkle on some cheese to give it a little more flavour, I would recommend parmesan.

You could even add some Hollandaise

Asparagus also goes well with poached eggs and bacon or with a simple Hollandaise sauce and it is for that reason that it is one of my favourite brunch ingredients.

Brunch also happens to be my favourite meal.  It's perfect for those lazy weekends when you've slept in past breakfast but want something to eat before midday.  Brunch doesn't have to be just a boring fry up and I'm always looking for new ideas to try out, so if there's something that you love cooking for brunch please comment below, I'd love to hear about it!

My go-to meals

Quesadillas and fajitas are two of my go-to meals if ever I need something quick, warm and tasty for dinner.  You can make as much or as little as you like and the fillings are so versatile.  Here is my typical shopping list for these meals:

Wraps (I usually go for the large wraps but small work well if you want a quick lunch)

Chicken (if you're vegetarian large flat mushrooms also work well)

Tomatoes

Green and red peppers

Lettuce (baby gem or romane)

Cheese (cheddar)

If I'm making a Fajita I tend to use the spices I already have in my kitchen and my homemade mix usually includes cumin, ground coriander, chilli powder and paprika (plus a pinch of salt).  If you don't have spices lying around then you can always buy a pot of ready-mixed spice.

I start off by chopping up the chicken into chunks and, if I'm making fajitas, I then coat them in the spice mix.  If you have time to leave the chicken to let the spices infuse for a bit that's great, if not don't worry it will still taste good!  Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and fry your chicken until golden/cooked, you can always check by cutting a piece in half to see if it's cooked all the way through.  If you want you can also fry some onions with the chicken.

While my chicken is cooking I usually quickly chop up my salad.  If you're making a quesadilla, once the chicken is done and your salad is prepared get out a clean, non-stick frying pan (or if like me you only have the one wash it up).  Heat the pan but don't put any oil in, once it's hot turn the heat down to medium and place a wrap into it, sprinkle over some grated cheese and allow it to melt before adding the chicken and salad.  Remove the wrap from the pan by sliding it onto a plate and put another wrap in to brown, use this as the top of your quesadilla.

For fajitas I usually just use an unheated wrap and put my chicken and salad into the centre before folding it in half to make it easier to eat.

You can always add some sour cream/guacamole/salsa if you want to make these dishes a little more exciting, however I much prefer to make these from scratch and there often just isn't time.  If you do fancy making your own check out this blog post.  If you want a slightly fancier variation on this recipe then you can have a look at my other post on fajitas here.

Pancakes galore!

Happy Pancake day everyone!  I've been cooking a lot recently and so have a lot of things to post about, but I couldn't let pancake day pass me by without a related blog post.  This has to be one of my favourite days of the year, not only do you have the right to eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner (don't judge!) but it's also a chance to get together with friends and enjoy this really simple food which offers literally endless possibilities.

I started off the day by making American M&M pancakes for breakfast.  I decided to take full advantage of my new measuring cups and delighted in not having to do any conversions when using this American recipe for pancakes.  They may not look fantastic, but they sure did taste good!

M&Ms pancake

For 4-6 pancakes you will need:
1 cup plain flour
2tbsp sugar
2tsps baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1 cup milk
2tbsp unsalted butter (melted) or vegetable oil
1 large egg
some oil or butter for frying

Mmmm&mmmms

1. Mix the wet ingredients together (milk, butter/oil and egg).
2. Add the dry ingredients and mix them in thoroughly but don't overmix.
3. Heat a frying pan and add some oil or butter (use a sheet of kitchen roll to wipe away any excess)
4. Add about 2-3 tbps batter to the pan and fry on each side for 1-2 mins (it was at this point that I added the M&Ms so that they cooked into the pancake!)

If you're making a lot then you can keep them warm in the oven while you make more.  Alternatively you can do what I do (since I don't have an oven) which is to eat them as I go along!

This evening I had a few friends round for, you guessed it, more pancakes.  This time, however, I made good old traditional English pancakes - so for this I'll switch back to my normal metric measurements.

Makes 6-8 pancakes:
110g flour (sifted)
2 eggs
200ml milk
75ml water
(butter for frying)

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl (which will hold all the mixture) then make a well in the centre of the flour and add the eggs, whisk into the flour.
2. Then gradually add the milk while still whisking to make sure you get all the lumps out as you go (I used an electric mixer for this as it's so much easier).
3. Melt some butter in a frying pan (not too large and preferably non-stick) - enough to coat the bottom.  Make sure the pan is nice and hot before adding some of the mixture (not too much or the pancake will be too thick and won't cook nicely - these aren't like American pancakes).
4. Cook for a minute or too on one side before flipping - if you don't feel confident enough to toss the pancake then just use a spatula.
5. Cook for another couple of minutes on the other side until browned and flip it over again if the first side needs to brown a bit more, before turning the pancake out onto a plate.

This is the best bit - toppings!  I normally go quite traditional, sugar and a squeeze of lemon, or, if I'm feeling in a more extravagant mood then sliced banana and nutella.  However, having had sweet pancakes for breakfast I decided to go for something more savory.

Russian maslenitsa (their religious/folk holiday in the last week before Lent celebrating both the end of winter and, like in England, the period just before fasting begins) finished a couple of days ago and in honour of this I decided to make a Russian-themed pancake.  So I diced up a beetroot, scattered it over the pancake and finished it off with a dollop of sour cream (this along with creme fraiche is the closest English equivalent to Russian smetana) and, naturally, a sprig of dill (Russians love this herb and use it with everything).

For my second pancake I sliced a tomato and melted some mozzarella over the top while the pancake was still in the pan, finishing it off with a sprinkle of dried basil (fresh would have been better but I forgot to get any).

All in all I had another lovely pancake day and can go to bed shortly very full and content.

Spicy sausage and bean one-pot

This has to be one of the easiest dinners to prepare, it's done in less than 30 minutes.  Make sure you buy the beans in chilli sauce as this means you won't have to make your own.

Spicy sausage and ban one-pot

All you need for 2 people is:
Vegetable oil (for frying)
1/2 onion (thickly sliced)
4 Cumberland sausages
1 small garlic clove (crushed)
1 x 400g can kidney beans in chilli sauce
(a couple of sprigs of parsley, chopped)

Thickly chop half an onion before heating the oil in a large frying pan.  Cook the sausages for about 10 minutes over a fairly high heat, turning them often so that they brown all over.  Add the garlic to the pan with the beans and sauce along with a quarter of a can of water.  Stir everything together and bring to the boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes (or until the sausages have cooked through and the sauce reduced).  Season, serve and sprinkle with the parsley.

This tasted great, the chilli gave the dish a nice kick and it was cheap to make too!

The perfect meal for two

On Valentine's Day I cooked this pan-fried trout with salad and it really was the perfect meal for two, something simple yet special.

Pan-fried trout with mixed salad, bacon, almonds and beetroot

For two people:

olive oil (for frying)

butter (for frying)

2 trout fillets (boned)

140g lardons

about 100g sourdough bread (cut into croutons) - you can use ready-made croutons but this dish is definitely better with home-made ones

handful flaked almonds

50g water cress (or mixed salad - we used one with a mixture of watercress, rocket and baby leaf spinach)

about 160g beetroot (not in vinegar, diced)

For the dressing:

3tbsp olive oil

1tbsp red wine vinegar

This dish was made a little tricky by the fact that I only have one hob but I didn't let that put me off trying.  This would be far easier if you have two (as you can start with the fish and while that is cooking prepare the lardons, croutons and the salad.  However, in order to make this work I prepared it in a slightly different order.

First, toast the flaked almonds in a dry pan over a medium heat, until they turn golden, this will take a few minutes but keep an eye on them and toss them gently and regularly so they don't burn.  Once ready set them aside in a bowl for later.

Add about 1tbsp oil to a frying pan,  and fry the bacon lardons and croutons for about 10 mins until they are crisp (you will need a medium to high heat for this).  Once again, set aside.

Now heat 1tsp olive oil with 25g butter in a non-stick frying pan (large enough to hold your two pieces of trout).  Heat the oil and butter until they start to sizzle, then add the two pieces of fish, skin-side down and fry for 10-15 mins, basting often, until the skin is crisp and the fish has cooked through.  Then, turn the fish over for a minute, before serving, skin-side down.  Be careful when turning the fish as it may break.

While the fish is cooking, prepare the salad.  In a small bowl whisk together the oil and vinegar for the dressing with some seasoning.  Toss your salad, beetroot, lardons, croutons, almonds and dressing together in a large bowl.  Once the trout is cooked serve it with the salad on the side.

As this was a special meal we set the table and decided to open a bottle of wine.  Last year when I was in Germany I discovered a couple of new grape varieties which I hadn't previously known about; silvaner, bacchus and Müller-Thurgau.  Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find wines from the Franken region in England as they aren't generally exported.  So I decided to see if I could find a wine made from one of grapes.  Thanks to my wine society membership I was able to find an English Bacchus from the Chapel Down Winery in Kent.  It was a lovely, fresh wine that went very well with the fish with its elderflower scent and tangy, fruity flavours.

Rather than eating dessert we decided to drink it instead!  We'd been meaning to drink my Royal Tokaji, 2008, (a gift from my parents) for a while and this seemed like the perfect occasion.  Tokaji (pronounced 'Tokay' in English) is a region in northeast Hungary which is particularly known for its sweet, dessert wines (Aszú).  Needless to say, I loved the wine (I have a very sweet tooth) and it was the perfect end to a lovely meal.

Recipe adapted from BBC GoodFood Magazine

Udon Noodle Soup

Sometimes you really want something warm and tasty for dinner, but don't have the energy or time to cook something fancy, it is at times like these when you need a soup like this udon noodle soup.  It is really simple, quick to make and tastes delicious.  Although it may not seem like it, this dish is actually quite cheap (and the more people you cook for the cheaper it will be).  I made it for 5 people and it cost about £1 per person (I still have most of a bottle of teriyaki sauce left as well as several stock cubes and a pack of noodles, so I will probably be making this dish again over the weekend).

Udon noodle soup

For 5 people you will need:

1 vegetable stock cube

60ml teriyaki sauce

1tbsp vegetable oil (for frying)

250g chestnut mushrooms (sliced)

3/4 bunch spring onions (sliced)

410g udon noodles (we used fresh egg noodles)

250g bag spinach

Chop the mushrooms then fry them over a high heat for a few minutes until they turn golden brown, add the spring onions and fry for a minute more, then set the pan aside.  While doing this boil 1.25 litres water in a kettle (or a saucepan if you have a second hob) and once boiled add the stock cube and teriyaki sauce.  Bring to the boil again and add the noodles for 2-3 minutes.  Then add the spinach (my pan was a little small so I had to do this gradually) and cook for about a minute until it has just wilted.  Finally stir in the mushrooms, spring onions and some seasoning before serving.

• If you aren't a fan of vegetarian cooking then this would taste great with some chicken, either cook it beforehand (under a grill or in a frying pan) or before you add the noodles, slice the chicken and cook it in the broth.
• For a more unusual vegetarian alternative you could substitute some of the chestnut mushrooms for other varieties of mushrooms.

The great thing about this dish is that it is so versatile, you can make as much or as little as you want and substitute ingredients depending on what you fancy.  I personally loved the dish the way it is, especially the spinach but I would be tempted to try the two variations I suggested above to change it up a bit.  This really is a simple yet great-tasting dish!

Adapted from the BBC GoodFood Magazine

Local treasures

This week I decided to go exploring, so instead of buying my ingredients from the local supermarket I wandered around the market in Cambridge and a couple of the local shops instead.  And here's what I came back with:

A pack of smoked deer sausages (yes you read that correctly!) from Wild Game Meat's market stall (You can find them in Market Square, Cambridge on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I think)
A block of cheese (similar to parmesan) from The Cambridge Cheese Company and a bag of very exciting pasta (also from the Cheese Shop which sells way more than just cheese - I would highly recommend their pork pies).  The Cheese Shop is great not just for the range of cheeses but also for the staff who are friendly and are always happy to talk to you about the different cheeses.

Anyway, back to the pasta, it's actually produced in Italy and made from durum wheat, semolina flour and natural ingredients with no colourings and you get so many different flavours in a bag; paprika, beetroot, curcuma and spinach!  It looks great and tasted really good too.  The pasta was nice and thick so it didn't just fall apart once cooked.

As I wasn't feeling particularly inspired I simply cooked the pasta, grated the cheese and melted it over the pasta, then fried the sausages and added them to the pasta.  Although simple it was actually very tasty.  The cheese went well with the smokiness of the sausages and you could still just about detect the subtle differences in flavour of each of the colours of pasta.  All in all it was successful.  I would definitely have deer sausages again (which is lucky as I have some left over) and am keen to try more exoctic meats (on to wild boar next)!  The meal would actually taste great if I were to have used the cheese to make a green pesto and used a small amount of that as a sauce - maybe next time.

The finished dish

I finished off my dinner with a bottle of 'Tegernseer Hell' (a light lager from Tegernsee, an area near Munich, Germany).  I bought this beer from another local favourite of mine, Bacchanalia Wine Merchants - you can visit their website here, follow them on Twitter or have a look for yourself, they're at: 90 Mill Road, Cambridge, CB1 28D (or 79 Victoria Road, Cambridge, CB4 3BS).  I love this shop as it is one of the only places I've found in England so far where you can buy beers from Bamberg, Germany (the town where I lived for a year).  Unfortunately they haven't had my favourite beer in since the start of the year (Zwergla, from the Fässla brewery) but they do have an amazing range of German beers from your more common Augustiner to other lesser-known beers.  They also have a wide variety of wines and beers from all over the place.  It is definitely worth popping along at some point to see what they've got!

Look out for more 'local treasures' posts as I'm hoping to make it to a local farm shop I've heard good things about as well as some of the delis on Mill Road.

French Toast

French toast is possibly one of the simplest, yet tastiest, brunches I can think of!  It's perfect for a lazy morning when you want something a little more special for not a lot more effort.

French toast with mixed fruit

For 2 people you will need:
2 eggs
Splash of milk
(vanilla essence)
Bread (this was enough for 4 slices)
butter for frying
1tsp brown sugar
Your choice of toppings - for the first slice I used fruit (bananas, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries) and for the second I made caramelised apples with cinnamon.  You could also add a dollop of Greek yoghurt, or golden syrup if you fancy something sweeter.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl (the wider the better - to make it easier to dip the bread in) with a splash of milk and a drop of vanilla essence (optional).  Melt some butter in a frying pan (enough to coat the bottom of the pan), dip both sides of a slice of bread in the egg mixture and fry it in the pan.  It should only need a couple of minutes on each side.  Once browned remove from the pan and sprinkle over the fruit and sugar or syrup.

If you have a little more time you could peel and slice an apple and sauté (fry quickly in a hot pan) the slices in 1tsp brown sugar, 1tbsp butter and 1tsp cinnamon.

French toast with caramelised cinnamon apples

Oh so seasonal!

I've heard a lot lately about kale.  For those of you who don't know it's a type of cabbage which is in season at this time of year and has become a very popular ingredient, especially in winter salads, as it is meant to be very good for you.  Having never tried it myself I decided to give it a go.  I have a calendar which came with one of my BBC GoodFood magazines and it has a different recipe for every month of the year, the one for January is a chorizo and kale hash with a fried egg.  I have been staring at it on my wall for a couple of weeks now and decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to try it out.  So here goes.

Chorizo and kale hash with a fried egg

For 2 portions you will need:
olive oil for frying
80g spicy chorizo sausages (cut into small pieces)
1 onion (red or white)
100g kale
400g potatoes
1/2 tsp paprika
2 eggs

This is enough for a hearty lunch for two.

The ingredients

The recipe suggests that you use left over cold potatoes but as I didn't have any I just bought two tins of new potatoes in water.  The kale needs to be prepared otherwise it can be a little tough.  So bring a pan of water to the boil, then add the new potatoes from the cans and the kale, simmer for 3 minutes and strain the water off.

Boil the kale and potatoes for 3 mins

Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the chorizo and onion for about 8 mins until the chorizo is golden and the onion is soft.  It can be tricky to tell if everything has cooked because of the oils released from the chorizo but if you make sure the onion is soft then it'll be fine.

Fry the onions and chorizo

Turn up the heat, add the kale and stir-fry for a minute until the kale begins to wilt.  Stir in the potatoes, paprika and some seasoning and fry everything together for another 5 mins until the kale is tender.  Scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the tasty crispy bits off.  If you have a second hob then fry the eggs during these 5 mins.  If not, when the hash is ready put it onto your plates and then quickly fry the eggs and place them on top of the hash.

The hash

And there you have it a really simple, tasty lunch.

One pot pasta

I decided to try another recipe from SortedFood and it really is as easy as it sounds.  You can find the recipe here http://sortedfood.com/#!/onepotpasta/ but it really is as simple as throwing everything into a saucepan.

I used exactly what they said in the recipe but halved it as I was only cooking for 2 people.  So I chopped up half an onion, finely chopped a couple of garlic cloves, halved a small handful of olives (I think you need more than they suggest), chopped a handful of roasted peppers (I bought a jar of these and once again, I think you need more than they suggest), chopped up a couple of sun-dried tomatoes, and gathered 100ml passata (a type of tomato sauce that isn't expensive and that you can buy in cartons from Sainsbury's), some olive oil, a tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp chilli flakes (don't add too many), 1/2 small bunch fresh basil, 200g farfalle (bowtie) pasta.

Then you literally put the pasta in the pan, put everything on top, season and add 600ml water, bring to the boil, cover and turn the heat down so it simmers for 15 minutes (or until the pasta is cooked to your liking).

Everything in one pot

My comment on this recipe is be careful when adding the chilli flakes, I added slightly too many and it came out quite spicy!  If in doubt add a very small amount to begin with, leave to cook and if when you come to eat it you don't think there's enough add a few more at the end.  If it is too spicy then you can do what we did and eat it with a dollop or two of crème fraîche to help combat the spice.

The finished result - one pot pasta

The thing I love about this recipe was that it took about 10 mins to prepare and 15 mins to cook, but I just left the pot on the heat and did some reading while it was cooking and made sure I checked on it every 5 mins to give it a bit of a stir.  It really was that simple.  This is one dish that I will definitely be repeating.

No Oven, No Grill Pizza

A pizza you can make without and oven or a grill?  Yes this really is a dream come true!  This post is for all of you who, like me, love pizza but don't want to always order a take-away which is often overpriced and greasy.

Edit: I have since tried making frying pan pizza again with a better dough recipe, have a look at the updated post here.

No oven, no grill pizza

All you need to make this pizza is a frying pan with a lid/a plate that will fully cover the top of the pan, a hob and the following ingredients.

Self-raising flour
Olive oil
Tomato base (passata and tomatoes)
cheese (mozarella)
toppings (anything you like!)

Prepare your toppings in advance.  I diced a couple of tomatoes, some red onion and finely chopped a couple of cloves of garlic.  Make as much or as little topping as you fancy.  I fried the onion and garlic before adding about 4 tbsp passata and the tomatoes.  You could alternatively use some chopped tomatoes from a can mixed with some tomato paste or replace my normal tomatoes with some halved cherry tomatoes.  I also added a few olives to the frying pan for the last minute.

Next make the dough.  My base didn't come out very well but I have some suggestions regarding how to make it better and will update this post next time I try making pizza again.  I used 225g plain flour, first mistake, along with 3 tbsp olive oil and 6-7 tbsp warm water.  Next time I do this I will be sure to use self-raising flour so that my dough isn't as dense and to mix the ingredients in a larger bowl so that I can combine them more easily.  Essentially you want to mix in the oil with about half of the water, then add the rest gradually until your flour comes together as you are mixing it to form a soft dough.  If you need to add a little more water to combine all the flour then do so, but don't add too much otherwise your dough will be too sticky.  Similarly, if your dough comes together before you have added all the water, then stop, don't add too much!

Roll out the dough on a flat surface.  I don't have a rolling pin, so I found an empty wine bottle, wrapped it in cling film (to make sure I didn't get wine/dirt in the dough) and used that to roll out my pizza base.  This was my next mistake.  You need to roll out your dough until it is the size of the base of your frying pan.  My dough was a little too thick.  If this is the case for you, either don't use all the dough or make two small rather than one large pizza.

Heat some oil in a frying pan and place your pizza base into the pan.  Cook it for a few minutes, then use a spatula to check the bottom.  If it is browning then carefully flip your base over.  If not leave it for a little longer until it does go brown.  Once flipped add your tomato base and toppings (you can use literally anything) and scatter on around 50g cheese (or enough to cover the top of your pizza).  Cover your pan with a lid (or plate or anything that covers the top of your pan) and leave for another few minutes.  Check after 2 or 3 minutes to see if the cheese is melting and try and use a spatula to check the bottom of the pizza.  Once the base has browned and the cheese has melted then your pizza is ready to eat.  Slide it carefully onto a plate and served.  I garnished mine with some fresh basil leaves as I happened to have some left over.

So there you have it, a no oven, no grill pizza.  It took me about half an hour to make and with a few adjustments to the base it will be the perfect, healthy alternative to a take-away.

Simply the Best

Today is my first truly free day in a couple of months.  I had my last supervisions yesterday and term is not officially over.  I decided to celebrate my (temporary freedom) by cooking brunch, something simple, but delicious.  Bacon-wrapped asparagus, fried with a couple of soft-boiled eggs and toasted soldiers.

Bacon-wrapped asparagus with soft-boiled eggs

I wrapped each stick of asparagus in a rasher of streaky bacon before frying until the bacon was cooked and the asparagus was softened (but still retained some of its crunchiness).  I then brought a pan of water to the boil and soft-boiled my eggs by leaving them in there for about 3mins and I toasted some bread at the same time.  When the eggs were done I put them into cold water (to stop them from cooking too much more so that they remained soft-boiled) and I quickly reheated the frying pan and tossed the sticks of asparagus and bacon again over the heat just to warm them up again (this meal is easier if you have two hobs as you can cook the eggs and asparagus simultaneously).  I buttered the toast, cut it into soldiers and sat down to enjoy this really simple but delicious brunch.

You may have notice from the picture that my egg is in an espresso mug.  I don't have egg cups, so I made do with what I do have, these cups were small and therefore idea for propping up my soft-boiled egg, however, any mug/cup would do.

Bon appetit!

Mushroom Paprikash

So my posts at the moment are a little like buses, you don't get one for ages, then three come along at once.  Essentially, I've found some time to cook and write about it (at last) so I may as well do it before work/festivities take over again (personally I hope it's the latter).  Anywho, I had a little spare time this evening and decided to try a new recipe as my grandpa got me a subscription to the Good Food magazine for Christmas and the first issue arrive the other day.  So here it is the very quick and simple mushroom paprikash.

Mushroom Paprikash

I was sceptical when the recipe said it would take 5 minutes to prepare and 15 to cook but it turns out (even with only one hob) this was the case :)

For 2 portions you will need:

1/2 tsp caraway seeds (I didn't use these as I forgot to buy them in my hurry)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion (sliced)

100g cup mushrooms (quartered)

1 large green pepper (deseeded and cut into chunks)

2 tsp sweet smoked paprika (or just normal paprika but put in double the amount if that's the case)

400g can chopped tomatoes

1 vegetable stock cube

4tbsp soured cream

chopped parsley (to garnish)

Pasta - whatever tickles your fancy!

(other suggestions include serving with a jacket potato which you can cook in the microwave or garlic bread)

While you prepare the veg bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.

Then heat the pan and add the caraway seeds if you're using them, lightly toast before adding the oil.  Tip in the onion, mushrooms and pepper and season with salt.  Cook (stirring well) for 6-8 minutes until the veg has softened and the onions are turning golden.

Stir in the paprika, tip in the tomatoes, stock and half a can of water and leave to simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce has reduced slightly.

Top the portions with the sourced cream and parsley and serve over pasta (or whatever you've decided to eat it with).

It really is that simple and tastes delicious :)  Enjoy!

Rabbit food

Sorry I haven't posted for a while - I had a lot of essays to write!  The theme of this post is salad and I'm going to start off with a combination that I discovered this year and have fallen in love with, warm chickpea and feta salad (apologies for the poor quality of the picture, I took this on my phone).

Warm Chickpea and feta salad

I posted a picture of this on twitter when I made it and here's the recipe:
For 2 portions you will need:
1tbsp olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
100g spinach leaves
1 red pepper (de-seeded and sliced)
1 red chilli (de-seeded and sliced) or chilli flakes
4 spring onions
100g cherry tomatoes (halved)
400g can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
40g feta (or similar cheese)

For the dressing whisk 1tsp olive oil, lemon juice, smoked paprika and a pinch of salt and pepper.  (If you prefer you can leave out the paprika although personally I really like it.)  Divide the spinach evenly between two plates or bowls.  Heat the rest of the oil in the frying pan and stir-fry the pepper for 5mins over a high heat until starting to caramelise at the edges.  Add the chilli (or leave it out if you're not keen on spicy food), spring onions and tomatoes and stir-fry for another minute.  Stir in the chickpeas and dressing and cook for one more minute.  Spoon the hot mix onto your spinach and you're good to go!  This takes very little time to prepare and is absolutely delicious!

If you want a salad which is a little less faff (although really 15 minutes isn't long), then this is the perfect lunch for you.  It is a super-simple mozzarella, tomato and basil salad with some added rocket to make it a little greener!  Simply slice a tomato and a ball of mozzarella (about 125g) then sprinkle over some dried basil (of course if you have fresh basil then this is ideal but I tried keeping one of those alive at university and it didn't go well)!  Place the rocket in the middle of the plate and dribble over some balsamic vinegar, season to taste and there you have it, one quick and easy lunch.  This dish is probably more appropriate for summer but I do still enjoy it now if I want a light lunch.

Tomato, mozzarella, basil and rocket

Now, I realise that omelettes aren't technically salads but I think they fit in with the whole 'light lunches' theme.  Omelettes are, like salads, super simple to make.  Simply whisk 3 eggs (or more if you're quite hungry!) in a bowl, melt some butter in a frying pan over a medium to high heat and pour in the eggs.  You then let it cook, while shaking the pan back and forth and using a spatula to ensure the mixture doesn't stick.  You can essentially add anything to an omelette (my favourite is mushrooms which I fry before making then omelette).  The one below contains mushrooms, cherry tomatoes (halved) and parsley.  Essentially tip your choice of ingredients onto one half of the omelette then, once the egg is cooked (make sure it is still moist in the middle) flip the other half over.  The picture below doesn't demonstrate this very well as it broke in the process but scrambled omelette ultimately tastes just as good!  Omelettes are a great way of using up leftovers and if you're worried about them being a little bland simply season with salt, pepper or any other herbs you may have lying around or grate in some cheese (a strong cheddar works particularly well!).

Omelette

Well, I hope I've given you a few ideas for some light lunches.  If you want to learn how to make caesar salad then check out my Keeping it Simple blog post.  Next time I'll tell you about the yummy chicken sag aloo (or Indian chicken with potatoes and spinach) which I made the other day.  Happy cooking!