homecooking – Page 6

Chilli con carne

Planning to make this dish couldn’t have been better timed. The weather is cold, and all you want to do is cuddle up at home and eat honest, hearty winter warmer food. This kind of food is not only easy to make (however will need you to be somewhat organized if using dried red kidney beans, as their soaking time takes a while), but it’s also very easy and versatile to adjust things to personal preference. If you like things very hot, add some chillies, or if you’re more in the mild camp reduce the amount. You can also add your favourite ingredients, even if I haven’t included them. This recipe makes chilli with a little bit of heat, but for my liking is on the milder side. This makes a big batch and serves about 6-8, and is perfect served with rice or jacket potatoes.

250g mince beef
2-3 dl dried red kidney beans (if using ready to use, tinned, 1-2 cans)
1 onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3-4 small, hot chillies, finely chopped (I used a mixture of red and green)
1 lemon, squeezed
1 tbsp sugar
salt
black pepper
2-3 tbsp cumin powder
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
3 dl frozen sweetcorn
1 red pepper, deseeded chopped
4 medium size chestnut mushrooms, chopped
splash of vegetable oil

1. If using dried red kidney beans, soak them overnight, or put them to soak in the morning, and they should be soaked when you cook them in the evening. Once soaked, discard the soaking water. Place in a pan, and cover generously with fresh water. Bring to boil, and let boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature, and simmer for another 50 minutes. The reason for this is because raw red kidney beans contain a very high level of toxin called Phytohaemagglutinin, which will be destroyed and reduced to a level where it’s not harmful.

2. Heat the oil in a frying pan. I tend to use a wok pan, because I always make a lot of it. Fry the onion in the oil, until starting to get translucent. Add the mince beef. Fry, breaking into small pieces, until just about cooked.

3. Add the garlic and chillies. Once cooked, add the peppers, mushrooms and all the spices (not sugar). Stir together well, and fry for a minute or two. Add the chopped tomatoes, lemon juice and sugar. If the texture appears too dry, add some water.

4. Last, add the beans and sweetcorn, stir together and cook until everything is warmed through. Taste, and add any spices to your taste if required. If you think you would like your chilli to be hotter (as It all depends on your personal preference, and the hotness of the chillies you used), you could add some cayenne chilli pepper powder.

Spinach soup

This soup is another one of those foods from my childhood that didn’t impress me back then. Most of my experience of it, however, was as a school lunch, and most children hated it. Now when I make it, I think it’s absolutely delicious! I think it’s important to use as nice beef stock as possible, as that brings a lot of flavour to this soup. Traditionally, the soup is served with hard boiled eggs.

500g fresh spinach
2 litres water
4 tsp salt
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50g butter
3 tbsp plain flour
1 litre beef stock
1 1/2 dl cream
salt
black pepper
nutmeg

1. Wash the spinach leaves, and bring to boil in the water with the salt. Cook for about 5 minutes or until cooked, then pour the water off and drain the spinach.

2. Melt the butter in a pan, then add the flour to it and mix together.

3. Start adding the beef stock, little by little, mixing continuously, until it has all been used and mixed together.

4. Puree the drained spinach in a blender, and add into the stock. Stir until it has all been mixed in properly.

5. Add the cream, then season with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Cook for few minutes, and the soup is ready to be enjoyed!

Jansson’s temptation

I have always thought of this as Finnish food, however I have a feeling this food might also be served in other Scandinavian countries. This dish tends to be something children hate (I would guess it’s because of the anchovy being quite a pungent fish), however most people turn around at the beginning of their adulthood, and love this food. I, too, have followed this evolution path. Ingredients wise, you really don’t need much. This is one of those foods that I make semi regularly, and if I’ve had too long a break my husband starts asking for it. Other variations of this is Salmon temptation, where you replace the anchovy with salmon, however I would really like to encourage you to try this with the anchovies if you’re not a hater of the fish. As the anchovies are salty, you don’t need to add any salt into this dish, however if you make this with salmon you would probably want to add some salt too.

8 medium to large potatoes
2 onions
1 jar of anchovy fillets (100g)
black and white pepper
5 dl cream
1 tbsp bread crumbs
50g butter

1. Peel and finely chop the onions, and fry in half the butter.

2. Peel the potatoes, and cut into this strips, like matches or French fries. Rinse with cold water, drain and dry.

3. Butter an oven dish. At the bottom, place half of the potatoes. Season with pepper. Put the onions next, as a second layer. Next, put all the fish in as a third layer, then cover with the remaining potatoes. Pour all the oil from the fish tin over the potatoes, and add 3 dl of the cream, as well as some more pepper. Put pieces of butter on top, and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.

4. Bake in a preheated oven 200°C / 390°F (fan) for about 40 minutes. After this time, add the remaining cream, and bake for another 10 minutes. I love the crispy potatoes you will end with on top.

Lasagne

This Italian dish is usually a foolproof way to keep everyone happy: from children to adults, continent to continent, carnivore to a vegetarian, everyone usually loves their version of this food. I’ve made my own lasagna sheets for this dish, but you can absolutely use shop bought, dried ones too. This won’t change anything in the steps, apart from the fact that you can skip the pasta making step. If you are making you own pasta, I would start by making it first, as you can then leave it to dry while preparing the other things. For a vegetarian version, just replace the mince beef in the Bolognaise sauce with vegetables (peppers, mushrooms, courgette / zucchini etc).

Pasta
300g pasta flour, 00 grade
3 eggs

1. Measure the pasta flour in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, and pour the eggs in. Then, starting with a fork, break the eggs and little by little mix the eggs with the surrounding flour. Once the dough gets firmer, move onto kneading by hand.

2. Divide the dough into three pieces. Flatten the pieces with your hands, and roll through the pasta machine, on the biggest setting. Fold the dough over in half, and roll through the same setting again. Then reduce the setting to the next, and roll through. Repeat until desired thickness is achieved (I went all the way to setting no 3). Next, using a knife, cut into sheets. Then, leave to dry while you prepare the rest.

Bolognaise sauce
1 celery stick
1-2 carrots
1 medium onion
2-3 garlic cloves
handful of fresh basil leaves
handful of fresh parsley
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp tomato purée
dried oregano
dried herbs de provence
olive oil
salt
black pepper
~~~~~
250g mince beef
salt
black pepper
paprika powder
ground allspice

1. In a blender, finely chop onion, garlic, carrot, celery and fresh herbs, and a splash of olive oil. Pour in a pan, and fry until soft.

2. Blend the chopped tomatoes and tomato purée, and add to the pan. Add dried herbs and season with salt and pepper. Depending on the thickness of the sauce you may want to add a little bit of water.

3. Fry the mince beef in a separate pan, and mix together with the tomato sauce.

Béchamel sauce
25g butter
3/4 dl flour
7-8 dl milk
2 dl cheese, grated (mature cheddar is good, or you can use half cheddar / half mozzarella) + some on top
salt
black pepper

1. Melt the butter in a pan, then mix the flour with the butter.

2. 1 dl at a time, start mixing the milk in, stirring. If you can’t get rid of lumps, whisk may be useful. When you have mixed all the milk in, if you still have lumps you can run the sauce through a sieve, pushing the lumps through. Pour the mixture back in the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Mix the cheese into the sauce and stir until it’s melted.

Lasagne

1. Butter your owen dish. Layer the ingredients, starting with pasta sheets. Put a little bit of the Béchamel sauce over the bottom layer of pasta, then cover with the Bolognaise sauce. Then, Béchamel sauce again.

2. Put another layer of pasta, Bolognaise sauce and Béchamel sauce. Cover with a layer of pasta and Béchamel, and sprinkle cheese on top. Always have the pasta and Béchamel sauce as the last layer. Bake 180°C / 360°F (fan) for about 45-50 minutes.

Stuffed butternut squash

Butternut squash is said to have many health benefits, as well as being a versatile ingredient in cooking. On this recipe I oven roasted it with stuffing. It’s also excellent to be used in risottos. The main ingredient of my stuffing on this particular recipe is mince beef, however you could easily make this a vegetarian dish by replacing the beef with other vegetables, such as mushrooms, courgette etc, and could also add pulses.

250g mince beef
1 onion
salt
black pepper
white pepper
paprika
ground allspice
1 butternut squash
4 cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
dried herbs de provence
olive oil

1. Fry the onions in vegetable oil in a pan, until starting to get translucent. Add the mince beef and mix with the onions. Add the spices, and fry until cooked. During the cooking process, keep braking into small pieces. Add the tomatoes, red pepper and herbs de provence.

2. Cut the butternut squash into half (lengthwise). Deseed, and brush with olive oil. Fill with the mince beef filling, and top with grated cheese.

3. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 360°F (fan), and cook for about 40 minutes.

Spaghetti with squid and chorizo

Even though the weather in the UK has gone really cold, this dish has transported me right to the Mediterranean climate. Making the pasta for the spaghetti couldn’t be easier, it takes less time than chopping all the other ingredients. I would suggest to start with the pasta, as it can then dry a little while you prepare everything else.

250g pasta flour 00 grade
2 eggs
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3 medium squid tubes
3 chorizo sausages
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 red or yellow pepper
12 cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters
handful of parsley
1 courgette / zucchini
splash of olive oil
salt and black pepper
juice of 1 lemon

2. Divide the dough into two pieces. Flatten the pieces with your hands, and roll through the pasta machine, on the biggest setting. Fold the dough over in half, and roll through the same setting again. Then reduce the setting to the next, and roll through. Repeat until desired thickness is achieved. Next, using the spaghetti cutting roller part, cut the pasta sheet into spaghetti. Then, leave to dry while you prepare the rest.

3. Prepare all the other ingredients. Heat olive oil in a pan, and fry the onions, squid and chorizo for few minutes, until cooked.

4. Add the garlic, pepper and courgette. Fry for few minutes. At the same time, boil water with salt added, and put the spaghetti in. Boil for about three minutes, then drain.

5. Add the tomatoes and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Add the spaghetti, mixing everything together. Lastly stir in the parsley.

Perfect roast chicken

This recipe isn’t for those looking for the quickest way to roast a whole chicken, but it truly is the one that gives you that extra special, juiciest one. Years ago, when I was practicing the cooking of roast chicken, I must’ve gone through so many different instructions. At the time I came across this recipe, I was a big fan of Heston Blumenthal, so I had to try his recipe. And boy, is this still the best, most perfect roast chicken I’ve ever had! It may seems like it requires a lot of effort and time, and yes, you may need to be organised with your time management, but after the short prep for the steps at the beginning you have a lot of free time. I don’t always do the brining the day before, but if you want it very special I would recommend you try. I’ve served mine with roast potatoes click here for my recipe, Vichy carrots, Yorkshire pudding click here for my recipe, minted pea puree and gravy made with the cooking juices of the chicken.

6% brine
5 litres water
300g table salt

Chicken
1.5- 2kg whole chicken
1 lemon
bunch of thyme
125g butter, plus extra for rubbing onto the skin
30ml dry white wine (I use Sauvignon Blanc)

Gravy
20ml dry white wine
250ml chicken stock
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 sprig of tarragon (leaves only)
1 sprig of parsley

1. To make the brine, mix the salt with water, and warm until dissolved. I do this with about 3 litres of water, and then add the remaining two litres afterwards, as this will help brine cool down quicker.

2. Place the chicken in a container, large enough for the chicken to be submerged in the water entirely. Once the brine has cooled down, pour over the chicken. Cover with clingfilm, and keep in the fridge overnight.

3. Remove the chicken from the water, and dry with kitchen tissue. Remove the wishbone (this will make carving easier).

4. Bash the lemon on the table a few times, and stab all around with a sharp knife. Place inside the chicken, together with half of the thyme. Place the bird on a roasting rack, and rub some butter on the skin.

5. Heat the oven to a very low temperature of 80°C / 180°F, and cook the chicken until the inside temperature of the thickest part of the breast is 60°C / 140°F (official recommendations are usually for the inside temperature to be 75°C / 165°F, if worried you can always cook until that. I have however never had any problems with cooking to the lower temperature). The cooking should take about 3-4 hours.

6. Take the chicken out of the oven, and rest for at least 45 minutes. I sometimes get to this stage early in the day, which then allows me to go out, and continue once I’m back. Or, during the resting you can make your roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings.

7. Melt the butter in a pan and add 30ml white wine and a few sprigs of thyme. Bring to boil, then remove from the pan from the heat and use the melted butter to baste the chicken before and during browning.

8. Heat the oven as high as it goes. Once the resting time has elapsed, put the chicken back in the oven for about 10 minutes, until golden brown, but taking care it doesn’t burn. Once coloured, remove from the oven. Keep on a cooling rack. Season your carved chicken with salt and black pepper.

9. Add white wine to the roasting tray with the cooking juices, and place on the hob over medium heat. Scrape the edges and bottom of the tray, and stir. Add the chicken stock, and reduce until thickened to a sauce. Strain into a small saucepan.

10. Before serving, stir in the mustard and warm through. Add the finely chopped parsley and tarragon, and season with salt and black pepper.

Chorizo and potato omelette

My inspiration for putting this dish together is from the Spanish omelette. My husband wanted omelette for breakfast, and as I happened to have some chorizo in the fridge for another dish, I thought I would make this omelette version. I think all these flavours go really well together.

1 chorizo sausage, cut into pieces
1 medium potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
handful of parsley, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
5 cherry tomatoes, chopped
small piece of leek, finely chopped
small piece of red pepper, chopped into small pieces
25g butter
3 eggs
small splash of milk
salt
black pepper

1. Prepare all the ingredients.

2. Melt the butter in a pan. For this particular omelette, I use a wok pan. Place the potato cubes and chorizo into the pan, and fry, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. During this time, whisk the eggs and milk together. Season the eggs with salt and pepper too.

3. Add the garlic, pepper and leek, and fry for couple of minutes.

4. Next, add the tomato, and stir into the mixture. Then add the parsley and stir it in too.

5. Pour the eggs into the pan. At the beginning, keep stirring it, breaking the hardening texture. Lower the temperature, and let cook for about 5 minutes, undisturbed. You will have more runny, uncooked texture on the edges. With a spatula, start pushing the edges towards the centre. You may want to drain some excess juices off at the end, before serving.

Fish pie

Before moving to Britain, it was quite an alien idea to me to eat pretty much anything in a pie (the savoury kind). From chicken to steak – and to fish. Pies are very versatile, and you can add whatever your favourite ingredients are, which make it an ideal kind of food. Your next pie might also be very different from the last. For example, I might often add ingredients depending on what I can find in my fridge, and the next time that might be something completely different. This recipe will make quite a lot of filling. You could double the amount of pastry and make eight instead of four pies, or even have some of it with pasta the next day.

makes 4 pies

320g puff pastry (I use ready to use, rolled sheet)
125g salmon, chopped into cubes
170g cod, chopped into cubes
120g smoked haddock, chopped into cubes
100g prawns
250ml milk
150ml double cream
100ml vermouth
2 bay leaves
small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/4 large leek, finely chopped
1dl peas
1/4 broccoli
salt
white pepper
black pepper
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25g butter
1/2 dl plain flour
1/2 dl milk
~~~~~
1 egg

1. Put the onion, leeks, bay leaves, milk, cream, vermouth and the chopped fish in a pan. Bring to boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.

2. Cut the broccoli florets into small ones. Place in a pan with hot water and boil for 30 seconds. Pour the hot water out, and cover with cold water.

3. In another pan, melt the butter, and add the flour. Mix together. This will form quite a firm dough. Pour in the milk, and mix with the dough. Ladle by ladle, add some cooking liquid from the fish, mixing to the dough, until it becomes more of a runny texture, then pour to the fish, and mix together.

4. Add the peas, drained broccoli, prawns and parsley, and stir until it’s all mixed together. Let the mixture cool.

5. Cut the pastry into four pieces. Brush the edges of one half with the egg. Put some cooled filling on the same half, and fold the other half over. Press the edges tightly together. I use a fork, to go around the edges, pressing them firmly together. The pies will seems quite small at this stage, but will get bigger once cooked.

6. Preheat the oven to 200°C / 390°F (fan). Brush the pies with the egg, and cook for about 20 minutes.

Pan seared, oven roasted duck breast with garlic potato mash and roasted beetroot

I was so late with my food shopping order last night, that I wasn’t able to get it for delivery today. I’ve therefore had to rummage through my fridge and freezer for any left over ingredients I can use for dinner tonight. Luckily, I’ve found a duck crown (I’ll be cooking it on the bone), potatoes and beetroot. With these ingredients, I somehow don’t think I’ll be starving tonight.

serves 2-3 portions

250g beetroot
olive oil
salt
black pepper
~~~~~
1 duck crown
salt
black pepper
~~~~~
5-6 medium white potatoes
1-2 garlic cloves
50g butter
milk
dash of cream
salt

1. Heat the oven to 180°C (fan) / 355°F.

2. Peel the beetroot, and cut to wedges. put in an ovenproof dish, splash with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook in the oven for about an hour.

3. Peel the potatoes, wash, cut in half (or quarters if bigger in size), and boil in salted water for about 40 minutes or until soft. Pour the water away, and mash the potatoes. Add butter, milk and salt to taste and texture desired, finish with some cream. Squeeze in the garlic.

4. Rub some salt and pepper on the skin of the duck breasts. Cook in a frying pan, skin side down, until browned. If you’re cooking breasts off the bone I would also sear them briefly on the meat side too.

5. Put in the oven, skin side up, and roast for 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and let rest for 10 minutes (this will allow the juices to stay in the meat better). On high setting, grill for 10 minutes.

Tip I find it easier to get a crispy skin on duck breasts that are cooked off the bone. When cooking this way, I slit the skin with a sharp knife, then rub salt and pepper in. Then fry in a pan in a little olive oil until browned and slightly crispy, and finish off in the oven for 10-15 minutes.