Monday, June 20, 2011

Asparagus and Goats Cheese Quiche


Blind bake a shortcrust quiche base

Sauté a mixture of mushrooms and onion in olive oil
Blanch 2 bunches of asparagus

Combine ingredients in pre cooked base

Sprinkle liberally with goats cheese

Mix 4 eggs 125mls cream and 300mls of milk
Pour into shell

Oven bake at 180c till golden brown and set.

Mustard Cream chicken


Pan fry maryland chicken skin side down for 2 minutes then turn for a further 2 minutes
Season with salt and pepper
Add several thyme leaves and sprigs
Add to the pan thinly cut pieces of carrot
1 quartered onion

De glaze with white wine
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes

Add thickened light cream and Dijon mustard
Heat through

Serve with baked vegetables

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Vegetarian Risotto


This is a warming and totally simple dish for a cold night.

Heat some olive oil in a saucepan add a generous portion of butter and melt
Add your aborio rice ( 1 cup for 2 people) and coat until translucent

Meanwhile heat your stock (about 2 litres) in a separate pan, I used vegetable stock obviously

Now ladle a couple of spoonfuls at a time into the rice
Enough just to cover and then repeat once absorbed

The rice is done when just a hint of bite is left although I prefer mine soft.

Now stir through a good cup of grated parmesan

For this dish I had previously cooked some portobello mushrooms and asparagus which I also stirred through at the end.

For the teenager a salmon fillet was added.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Spicy Pork Ribs


Once again, cold weather and a day at home has me using my slow cooker this time for some really tasty fall-apart ribs.

Place ribs in the bottom of the slow cooker
Mix well
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chilli sauce (as hot as you like it)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup

Pour over ribs and cook on low for 6 hours

Reduce or increase mixture depending on the quantity of ribs, ribs should be about half covered.
Taste about and hour before serving and adjust with extra sugar, chilli or ketchup if needed.

Goes well with chips or baked potato.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Vegetable Bake











I have adapted this one from Rose Elliot's complete Vegetarian and it was a big hit. It is low in fat and high in flavour and could easily be adapted for a Vegan.

Combine 200gms or red lentils with 150 mls of milk and simmer until lentils soften.
Cook 1 diced onion in olive oil until translucent
Oven bake several florets of cauliflower until soft

Combine and puree until they form a rich thick sauce, season well.

Meanwhile slice up your vegetables, use what you prefer but for this dish I used
Zucchini, portobello mushroom, brocoli, and eggplant. Most
Place in a baking dish, coat with olive oil and oven bake until soft.

Cover the cooked vegetables with the sauce and add grated cheese top with cayenne pepper for a bit of a kick and cook until cheese melts.

Lamb Meatballs with Fetta and Vegetables


Combine minced lamb with feta, garlic, paprika, mint and cannelloni beans and set aside

Cut potato roughly into wedges
Quarter 2 onions
Roughly cut 2 zucchini into large batons
Slice 1 chilli
Combine all ingredients in a baking tray
Scatter with grapefruit tomatoes

Season generously and coat with olive oil

Oven bake at 200c for about 50 minutes or until everything has cooked through
Scatter with pieces of feta and give 5 more minutes in the oven


Saturday, June 11, 2011

Zucchini Pie


  • 150g (1 cup) self-raising flour
  • 350g (about 2 large) zucchini, coarsely grated
  • 1 large brown onion, chopped
  • 165g (1 1/2 cups) grated cheddar
  • 5 eggs
  • 250mls (1 cup) olive oil
  • Salt & ground black pepper


  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. 
  2. Sift the self-raising flour into a large bowl. Add the zucchini onion, 110g (1 cup) cheddar  and mix well to thoroughly combine.
  3. Place the eggs and olive oil in a large bowl and use a fork to whisk until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Add to the zucchini mixture and use a large metal spoon to fold until well combined.
  4. Spoon the mixture into a pie dish and sprinkle with the remaining grated cheddar.
  5. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until golden brown and cooked through. Removed from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into wedges, with a green salad and crusty bread.

Mushroom Quiche











Another straight forward vegetarian dish that is nice to have on a cold night warm and on a hot night cold.

Saute some diced onion in olive oil
add a mixture of diced mushrooms
a little garlic 1 tsp grated works well
a handful of spinach leaves

Blind bake a shortcrust base

Top with ingredients
Pour over a  mixture
of  2 beaten eggs and about 125mls of milk

Oven bake at 180c until the egg mixture sets.

Mushroom and Goats Cheese Tart











This is a very quick and easy supper, you could add some ham or pancetta if you want but I don't think it needs it.

Thaw sheets of frozen puff pastry
Spray with olive oil and bake until golden
meanwhile saute

1 sliced Spanish onion
400gms of sliced mixed mushrooms (I used Portobello, swiss brown and shitake)
2 diced cloves of garlic

Spread some ricotta cheese roughly  on the pastry base
Cover with sautéed ingredients

Sprinkle with Goats cheese and some chives

American Beef Potroast


For this I grabbed myself the cheapest piece of beef I could find, as you are going to cook it for about 12 hours the cheaper the cut the better it will respond. I used my slow cooker to cook the meat and it worked really well.

Make sure to brown your meat on all sides it adds a lot of flavour.

Place meat in slowcooker and add
Beef stock, enough to cover at least 1/2 of the meat
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can condensed tomato soup
4 cloves of crushed garlic
Several small potatoes
3 large onions quartered
4 carrots cut into half
Season

Now cook on low for 11-12 hours, you don't need to stir, but ensure you turn the meat and do not allow the liquid to run out.

Serve with biscuits (individual yorkshire puddings) use the juices as a gravy.

Brendas Favourite Cannelloni


I have tried a few recipes but this one has proven to be the all time favourite with my Vegetarian girlfriend Brenda, as not writing down after the first time I cooked it proved to be a big mistake, here it is.

Saute 1 sliced leak in olive oil
add several pieces of sliced marinated artichoke hearts
1 tsp minced garlic
A generous handful of baby spinach leaves

When all is done stir in
150gms goats cheese
300gms low fat ricotta

Using pre-made lasagne sheets roll up filling and place in a baking dish

Cover with pasata and sprinkle with grated cheese

Oven bake 180c for about 20 mins