Traybaked chicken with clementines and courgettes

Traybaked chicken with clementines and courgettes

As part of my quest to find interesting and delicious new meals for the family, I stumbled upon an interesting sounding recipe on the M&S app. It, however, featured fennel, of which I am not a huge fan following overloading via Abel and Cole boxes over the years.  I decided to use celery and courgette instead to up the veggie quotient and I'm happy to say it was a great success.  Ok, Papa still pulled a face, but the kids had no such qualms.  

The M&S app recipe was written TERRIBLY and I've made enough tweaks to say that I've made this my own, so here goes:

1 pack of chicken thighs (6 - 8 thighs in the pack)

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

4-6 clementines or other small peelie oranges

1 -2 red onions

half a head of celery

2-4 courgettes

4-6 (or more) unpeeled garlic cloves

rosemary or thyme (optional)

a handful or a cupful of frozen peas (optional)

100ml chicken or veg stock (I use the granules in a tub)

Heat the oven to 190 degrees/gas 5

Juice 3 of the clementines and mix with the oil and mustard in a large glass bowl.

Add the chicken thighs and mix well with salt and pepper and leave to marinate for 30 mins if you can spare the time.

While this sits, cut the onions into half moons, and roughly chop the celery and the courgettes. Reserve the celery leaves (also chopped) for a garnish.

Spread on a roasting tray with some rosemary or thyme and the unpeeled garlic cloves.

Add the chicken and marinade on top and then add the stock.

Cook for 45 mins until chicken is fully cooked.

If using the peas, add them to the tray and cook through for another 3 mins.

While the chicken is cooking, slice the remaining clementine(s) and char onto a griddle pan for around a minute until they caramelise.

Use to garnish along with the reserved celery leaves.

Serve with airfried baby potatoes - I like to dress a pack of baby potatoes with salt, pepper, paprika, dried rosemary, olive oil and lime juice and then airfry for 20 mins.
 

Sone's Tandoori lamb chops and Nate's tasty rice

 

As we enter the barbecue season, some supermarkets put together meat packs which can be great value, and Papa managed to score an amazing value lamb pack which happened to include some beautiful lamb chops.  I decided to use my amazing sister (in-law)'s way of tandoorifying food, and so I marinaded the chops in the early afternoon and then cooked them in just a few minutes on the Ninja Max grill.  They were astounding!  I paired them with some steamed broccoli and some tasty buttery pilau style rice using the secret tip imparted by Big'Un's amazing boyfriend, Nate.

As I'm brown, I often get asked how to tandoori things, and I've never really done much this way, so never been able to suggest much other than "buy some tandoori powder?" so I'm really pleased to be able to share this.  I recall I used to avoid tandoori because of the bad colourings used, but it's now pretty easy to find packets of tandoori powder that are safe. Do check the labels!

To serve 4-5 people, you will need:

6-8 lamb chops or cutlets

*about 150g plain yoghurt

*3 tbsp tandoori powder

*salt, pepper

*1 tbsp chaat masala

*about half a cup of onion/garlic/ginger paste (I used 2 blocks of (defrosted) frozen ginger garlic paste, and one small bitzed up onion) 

*a drizzle of oil

2 cups rice

1tsp ghee/butter/vegetable oil

3 tsps Kucharek Polish seasoning

a small piece of cinnamon

3 cardomom pods

1 bayleaf

broccoli

- optional to serve - Costco Jalapeno hummus

To make this:

First, marinate the lamb.  I did this around 4pm and I grilled them at about 6pm.  You can do it for longer or for as little as 30 mins.  Mix all the starred ingredients (these are Sonia's amazing flavour combinations) together and then add the lamb and mix and coat well.  Cover and leave.

When you are 30 mins away from your meal time, heat the ghee (or inferior alternative) in a large saucepan and add the spices (bayleaf, cardamom and cinnamon.) After a few minutes, they will start to release a lovely fragrance.  Now add the rice, and the Polish seasoning, (this is the secret Nate gave me) and stir to coat well.  

A minute later you can add the water, you will need 2 and a half cups of water for this amount (2 cups) of good quality basmati rice. Cover and bring to the boil.  As soon as it boils, turn the flame down as far as possible and let it simmer for 15 minutes.  You know the drill, as soon as the timer goes off, switch off the hob, and then set another timer for 5 minutes and DO NOT TOUCH THE PAN.  When the timer goes off again, then you can lift the lid and gently fluff the rice with a fork.

Back to the lamb.  While the rice is simmering, heat up your grill.  You can use a griddle pan, or a barbecue, or the grill setting of a gas or electric oven, but I used the Ninja Grill Max (which is known as the XL in American and some other countries.)

I heated the grill with the grill plate in to high, and then added the chops well spaced.  I had to cook them in 2 batches , but they didn't take long, so it really wasn't a problem.  I used tongs to lift them out of the marinade and I made sure I didn't drip the marinade all over the  place.  I closed the grill and left it alone for about 4 - 5 minutes to sear and stripe.  Then I turned the chops and closed the lid again.  After another 4-7 minutes depending on thickness of chop and size, they were all charred and striped and really delicious.  

I served the chops with some steamed broccoli, and the rice, and some amazing jalapeno hummus I found in Costco!  If you like some yoghurt and pickles or chutneys could also be nice on the side, or a crisp salad if that's more your thing.  

Easy on the go breakfast cups

The quest for acceptable holiday breakfasts continues.  I've tried a few online recipes, and found many that are suitable, but the kids either get bored or find some issue with the results quite quickly.  I don't want to compromise, and I want a handful of solutions that I can put on rotation.  After a lot of trial and error, I came up with this iteration which is a mix of a couple of different recipes.

1 and a half cups of oats

2-3 tbsp of ground flax seed or similar (I used Aldi's ground linseed with raspberry and blueberry powder)

3 small brown bananas

3 tbsp smooth peanut butter (I used Whole Earth)

2tbsp coconut oil

half a cup of dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180°C and lightly oil 10-12 silicon muffin cases.

Mash the bananas as smoothly as you can in a small bowl.  Add the peanut butter and mix until well blended.  Now add the coconut oil.  If you've used a peanut butter that is even more natural and separated, you may not need as much or any coconut oil.

In a bigger bowl, mix the oats and the flax seed.  You could add some chia as well if you like.

Stir through the choc chips.

Add the banana peanut butter mix and combine well.  Divide between muffin cups and bake for 15 mins.

Remove when done, they should be browned and slightly crisp around the edges.  Allow to cool for a few mins and then turn carefully onto a cooling rack.  Store in an airtight container.

Serve with berries if liked.

Moong/Mung Daal - Yellow Mung lentil

When my mother fell seriously ill last year, she was in hospital for some months.  She really hated the food, and I tried to cook for her and take it to her in the evenings so she could eat home-cooked hot food at supper time.  There were no heating up facilities, so I used to either cook it freshly and put it in a food thermos and drive there at dinner time or I'd cook it earlier/ the day before, and heat it up and put it in a food thermos and drive to the hospital at dinner time.  We would also take a metal bowl and a plastic spoon for her to eat from and with, as the hospital only had plates in the evenings and the metal spoons they had were too heavy for her to use comfortably.

Doing this was an honour and a privilege and I will always be grateful that I could do her this one small service as often as I could.  I would honestly give anything to cook one more time for her or for my dad.

One day she asked me to make this specific daal, mung daal.  It is often given to patients and the elderly, as it is supposed to be easy to digest.  As it was never one I liked as a child, I had never asked her how to make it, so I sat with her and took notes as she described how she cooks this.  I'm glad I did that then because soon after that, she lost a lot of the capacity to have told me any more recipes, although she did not die for some months after.

Since that time, I've learned to love this dish and I often cook it now for my vegan and vegetarian friends and colleagues, as well as for the family.  The quantities below will serve 1-2 people and rely on using the measurement of the ubiquitous Asian "rice cup" - a plastic cup that comes with most rice cookers - I have since found that the volume of those rice cooker cups is the same as the volume of 2 rice-portion scoops from the Love Food Hate Waste campaigns.

Mung/Moong Daal

half a rice cup of yellow mung lentils

quarter teaspoon turmeric powder

half teaspoon salt

half an onion, roughly chopped

2 green chillies, one left whole, one broken in half

2 cloves of garlic, sliced.

First, soak the lentils for half an hour.

Drain well and put into the pressure cooker.

Add slightly more than double the volume of water. (About 1 and a quarter rice cups of water.)

Add the turmeric, salt, onion and green chillies.

Give pressure whichever way you normally do for 8 minutes.

If possible, allow pressure to release naturally - otherwise, a quick release will be ok, but messy.

Mix well to smash the lentils. I've seen some Indians use a really cool piece of very simple equipment to do this - it looks like a star on a stick, and the star is put in the lentils and the stick is spun between the palms to whisk up the lentils!

Fry the sliced garlic in ghee or vegetable oil until it just starts to brown.  Add to the daal.  Check the salt and the consistency.  If you need to add more water, be sure to continue to heat the daal or the water won't mix in properly.  If it pleases you, garnish with chopped fresh coriander.  This does not please anyone in my family.

Enjoy with rice or chappati.  Think of me and my darling mother.

Daal daal daal - starting with masoor (red lentils)

It came to my attention recently that tho I mention daal often, and I certainly used to cook it often, I don't have many daal recipes actually IN my blog.  This is pretty ridiculous as I'm from a south Asian background (my mother was Bengali, my father was Sindhi, I was born in north London) and I do love daal, and apart from the fact that one of my kids isn't always mad about daal - I did used to cook it often!

Since both my parents died very close together about 4 months ago, even my reluctant kid has asked for daal and rice - perhaps it's a link to the much-missed grandparents, a comfort connection, a taste from memories linked to the older generation, I don't know, but we've started cooking daal again recently and when I realised that my recipes are handed down from my mother, sister-in-law and grandmother, then I knew I must share them with the world so their love can continue to spread around the world.

You can spell it dhal, daal, dahl or however you want, the word just means "lentil".  There are probably as many recipes as there are cooks, but every family has their preferred way of cooking each lentil and there are definitely regional trends.  I'm not going to write an essay about this now, as many people have covered it far better than I could.

These are not cookbook recipes with measurements, tho I'm sure I will revisit them in the future when I have time to measure properly for the western cook, but for now, I want to get them down quickly for people to use the way they were taught to me.

Starting with the first I learned when I was at university and craving home-cooked food:

Masoor Daal (red lentil daal) (potentially vegan)

Take one large handful of red lentils per person and put it in a pressure cooker.  This will work the same in a traditional hob top or an electric type like Instant Pot.

I have very small hands, so I tend to do 6-8 handsful for 4 - 5 people.

Add 1 tsp of coriander powder (for this amount of lentils - less for less, more for more, you will learn your tastes over time)

Add a pinch of turmeric powder and a teaspoon of salt (see above for amount variations)

Add water from the tap until the surface is about an inch to an inch and a half above the top of the lentils in the pan.

Close the cooker and bring to the boil and then turn the heat down when the pressure is up and cook for 5-7 minutes.

If using Instant Pot, close the lid and use manual, 6 minutes.

If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can also soak the lentils overnight and then simmer for half an hour instead.

While the lentils are cooking, you make the "tempering".  This is a flavouring for the lentils, basically.  
First, slice one small onion and start it frying on a low flame in your oil/butter/ghee of choice.  When the onion is nice and soft, add 2 sliced garlic cloves and a finely chopped inch of peeled ginger.

When these are browned and the onions are sticky looking, add half a tin of chopped tomatoes, or 2 chopped fresh tomatoes if you prefer, and about a tablespoon of tomato puree.  Stir into the onions etc. By the time those are fully cooked in, the lentils should be cooked and the pressure can then be released if it hasn't already.  Now add the tempering to the lentils and stir well.  You may at this point want to add water, and perhaps salt, or if it's thinner than you wanted, allow it to cook without the lid to let it thicken.

If I'm serving this to guests, I often add cream and butter at this point, but then it's DEFINITELY not vegan, but there are obviously vegan creams or "butters" you could add if you want that richness.  None of it is necessary.

All you need now is some steamed basmati rice, a bowl, and a spoon if you want it.

courgette and bacon pasta

Well, we are a nation in a very different place than the last time I blogged.

Covid-19, lockdown, social distancing, queues for entering supermarkets, supply shortages. No pasta, no toilet paper, no flour, no eggs, no ketchup, no tinned tomatoes... Strict limits on purchases of the above if you CAN find them, as well as on hand-wash and hand sanitiser.

I'm lucky that I've always been a bit of a hoarder, and I like to buy in bulk anyway, and also I'm lucky enough to have a fantastically well-stocked local corner shop - so I can get a lot of basics practically on my doorstep when I need them.  Including pasta!

This dish was quick and simple, and veg packed and frugal.  Everyone enjoyed it, including Papa who is usually very mistrustful of courgettes.

I used:

2 courgettes
1 medium onion
125g bacon
one teaspoon of butter
half a teaspoon of salt
half a teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper
one teaspoon Marigold powder
splash of white wine if you have it, otherwise just splash in some water
50-75g plain cream cheese

400g pasta 
grated cheese to serve


First I chopped up about half a pack of unsmoked back bacon from the corner shop and dry-fried it until golden.  This is the point that Papa filled a large pan with water and put it on to boil for the pasta.  We used 400g of mixed fusilli - half wholewheat and half tricolori, basically because wholewheat is a bit more filling so goes further and the tricolori is interesting and also its what I found in big bags in Sainsbury's a few weeks ago.

Next I topped and tailed and halved and quartered 2 courgettes lengthways and then sliced the quarters up thinly.  They weren't at their best, but this didn't really matter.  I then halved the onion and sliced one half very thinly and chopped the other half finely.

Once the bacon was nicely golden, I removed it from the pan with a slotted spoon, and tipped in the courgettes.  I left it to brown slightly and soften, and then added the onion and the butter and sprinkled in the salt.  I turned the heat down slightly and left it to soften.

Meanwhile, at some point the water came to the boil, and so Papa put the pasta on to cook around when I was taking the bacon out.  Papa asked me if the sauce would take as long as the pasta, and I wasn't sure, but both were done around the same time in the end!

Once the veggies were nice and soft, I added the Marigold powder and the splash of wine.  Honestly, water would be fine, or cider, or dry sherry if you happen to have it!

Once the pasta was cooked, I put the bacon back into the pan with the courgettes and also a ladleful of the pasta water.  Finally, I stirred the cream cheese into the courgettes and bacon.

Tiny had at least 2 helpings, not-so Littl'Un loved it, not-really BigUn enjoyed it too and added it to her plan of things to cook at Uni....

Emergency Banana Cake

Our lovely church playgroup has been the joyful participant in the FareShare scheme and a local Tesco Express branch donates pastries and breads most weeks which Papa goes to collect and we share with playgroup and church members, with any left over being taken to a local homeless shelter - so there really is no waste!

However, the Tesco we receive donations from has apparently had a broken freezer for a few weeks, and the repair is not likely to be swift.  So when I received the text to inform me that there was no donation this week, I decided to use some black bananas to whizz up a cake for playgroup instead.

I used to bake every Thursday once upon a time, when our playgroup was a small circle of parents and carers, but since beginning online advertising, we've had far higher numbers and I just can't cope with the volume each week!

But just this once, I wanted to.  Besides, those bananas were going to go to waste otherwise!

So I looked for a quick and easy recipe online using the right amount of banana, and then of course I slightly tweaked what I found because it was too high in sugar for my preferences.

Here is what I did, I'm afraid I mix and matched the measurements because the original recipe was a "cups" recipe, and while I like that for liquids and powders, I don't like it for things like butter.  Just try it, you won't be sorry.   At least 7 people asked me for the recipe...

Emergency Banana Cake

4 oz butter 

3/4 cup sugar. I used a mix of dark brown soft and golden caster sugars

2 eggs

4-5 mashed bananas

2 cups of plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 Preheat the oven to 180˚, and line a 2lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper.  I also used 3 silicone muffin cups as all the mixture didn't fit in the loaf tin.

2 Cream the butter and sugars together until smooth.  Beat in the eggs, then the bananas.  Add the flour and bicarb, and just stir gently until just combined.  Do not over mix.

If you are doing the creaming and egg mixing in a machine, stop and use a spatula to fold the flour and bicarb in by hand.

3 Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 30 mins.  Remove the smaller cups and turn the loaf around.  Cook for another 15 mins and you should find that a toothpick comes out clean by then.  Turn out and cool.  Slice and share and eat.  Sit back and accept the adulation for very little effort.

HINTS AND TIPS:  The recipe suggests using a 9" x 5" pan. I didn't have anything in even a vaguely similar size so I improvised. It suggested using one whole cup of sugar.  I reduced this to three quarters, and would actually happily reduce the sugar further than I did already.  It also suggested cooking for 1 hour, but I felt my cake was done perfectly, but I do have a new fan oven.

Mama and Tiny's furter rice

Tiny is 6 now and always asks if he can help me in the kitchen making supper.  His bigger siblings don't always offer, and till recently were busy with revision and other stuff, so weren't always in a position to help in any case.

Many meals just aren't suitable for adapting to his skillset, and there are days when we don't have the time for him to do the things he can do at Tiny-speed, so sometimes I just get him to sit with me and chat, but on this particular day, I thought he could help me, so I got him to get washed and aproned and he was delighted.

I gave him a pack of 10 frankfurters and a chopping board and a small kitchen knife.  I showed him how I wanted him to chop the furters and let him get on with it.  We played a game of number bonds with the furters, and I got on with chopping up an onion and slicing some garlic.

I started by frying these latter 2 in a tablespoon of butter in a saute pan, and when they were soft, I added the chopped furters.  We then added 2 cups of basmati rice, and gently coated the grains in the flavoured butter.  

I then poured in a good portion of frozen vegetables and helped Tiny to stir and mix well.

Finally we added Marigold powder and 3 cups of boiling water.  I put the lid on the pan and once it was boiling again, I turned the flame to low and left it to simmer for 15 mins.  Set a timer!  Tiny and I washed up the prep stuff together and sang songs.

Once the timer went off, I switched off the flame but set a timer for another 5 mins - WITHOUT TOUCHING THE LID.

Once the 5-minute timer went off, it was time to eat, and it was really delicious - not to mention quick and easy and cheap.  You could use bacon, or Quorn or mushrooms or chipolatas instead of the frankfurters; they may need more or less frying before the stock goes in.

You can personalise the flavour at the table with your sauces of choice - we all love Frank's Buffalo Wings Hot Sauce.  

I couldn't get a photo of the dish as we ate it up way too fast!!!

No-kitchen cooking - Sausage rice

So as the kitchen has started to come into shape, I started to bring back some of the storecupboard items I'd been missing.

I'd really been wanting to have a comforting yellow khichdi so I planned this, until I remembered the kids aren't desperately fond of it, and I also discovered that I didn't have very much moong daal.  My mother has since told me that actually she makes this with masoor daal, so I'll do that next time.  I don't want too many half used bags of lentils in my new kitchen, I want to streamline my ingredients and stores and make it a much easier place to work in.

Anyway, I had a couple of Bulgarian smoked sausages (something similar would be a Matteson's sausage) left from a packet I'd opened a few days before to make an aubergine pasta sauce with, so I sliced those up into half moons and fried them in a little oil in the IP.   Once they'd coloured a little on the cut surfaces, I removed them, added a little butter and fried some thinly sliced onion.  After these had some golden tinges to the edges, I put back the sausage, and added a half teaspoon of turmeric, a teaspoon of salt, 2 cups of rice, 2 slices of ginger, whatever yellow mung/moong lentils I had left, and 3 cups of boiling water.  I also put in a little garlic and onion salts, and also obviously a little Marigold, and I decided to add some green peas for some colour.

I cooked the whole thing on the IP rice setting and it was done before I had finished clearing up and getting the kids organised!

They definitely enjoyed it, but it did make WAY too much for just us.  We had a whole lot left that easily fed 3 more people.  Most of us ate it drizzled with a little Frank's Hot Sauce, even Tiny!

roasted cherry tomato pasta sauce

I was given a LARGE box of cherry tomatoes on the same day that I realised I hadn't remembered to take anything out of the freezer for supper.  As Big'Un needed a quick bite before dashing off for rugby practice, I knew I wouldn't have any time to defrost something safely in time.

So I picked up a pack of bacon lardons from our lovely Aladdin's cave corner shop and let the kids pick a pack of their choice of shape of pasta from there too.  Yes, they chose bow ties again.  Because bow ties are cool...

Anyway, the first step was to halve the tomatoes and spread them, cut side up, on a lined baking tray.  I then threw a few unpeeled garlic cloves onto the tray.  Next, I ground a little salt and pepper on them all, and then sprinkled ground cumin, mixed herbs, garlic granules, onion salt and balsamic vinegar on to them.

I then sprayed them with a pure olive oil spray and put them in a hot oven (220 degrees) for 20-25 minutes.  I realised I had a bit  more time, so I turned the oven down to about 190 degrees then and turned the tray around and let them cook for another 10-15 minutes.)

After this point the tomatoes should be soft and slightly shrivelled and sticky.  The ones on the edges might look charred - that's all fine.

Now you need to blitz these into a smooth sauce.  First peel the garlic cloves and discard the skins.  Then scoop it all - soft sticky garlic, tomatoes, herbs, spices etc - into a blender, or pour it into a beaker or bowl and use a stick blender, or even a NutriBullet type blender would work.  Add a little water if you like and blend until smooth.  Make sure you scoop or pour as much of the lovely liquid from the tray into the blending receptacle - it's too good to waste!

While this is all roasting, cook your pasta however you prefer, and also fry the bacon until crispy.  If you are feeling decadent, add the bacon fat to the pasta sauce as you blend it.

I served this so that the plain pasta was served into bowls and the sauce was dolloped or ladeled according to each person's preference, and then the bacon was added almost as a seasoning at the end.  Some of the kids had grated cheese as well, but without the cheese was also very good.

Creamy paprika chicken and rice

Regular readers will have realised I love anything that's sort of creamy chicken with rice.  As a Bengali, I adore rice, and I find a creamy sauce stirred in with rice is a wonderfully comforting and soothing element of a meal.

As I'm working outside the home now, I like meals which I can put together quickly in that short gap of time when the kids are taking a bit of downtime after school, or something I can put on and leave for a bit while I keep and eye on them, and make sure all is well.

This paprika chicken is a bit of both and definitely good for the increasingly chilly evenings.


1 pack chicken thigh fillets
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp tarragon (I only use the dried or freeze dried)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp Marigold powder
half a cup of boiling water
3 good dollops of soured cream
a handful or 2 of some green veg - I used green beans which were left over from the meal the dinner before.

rice and another veg to serve.


Heat the oil in a saucepan or saute pan and then gently fry the onion and garlic.  While that is softening, cut the chicken thighs into bite-size pieces, and then add them to the pan.  Stir to prevent the onions and garlic from catching, and cook until the chicken is browned and not raw any longer.

Now add the tarragon, ground cumin and paprika, and stir through.  Next, add the Marigold powder and half a cup of boiling water.  If the handful or 2 of green veg you are adding is raw, add it now too.

Now cover the pan and allow to simmer.  At this point, I cook the rice (in the microwave, or in my rice cooker, or the old-fashioned way - in a saucepan!) and also prepare the side vegetable.  On this occasion, I grilled some corn cobbettes.

Once the rice and vegetables are done, the chicken should also be cooked through, so switch off the heat and then add the small amount of green vegetables if they are already cooked as mine were.

Finally, stir through your generous dollops of soured cream and serve with the rice and side vegetables.

Papa made not chilli con carne

I was away for the day at a training course, and it was Papa's day off. I wasn't likely to be back in time to cook supper, so Papa decided he would cook, as long as I gave him nice clear instructions.

So over breakfast, I typed a recipe (my style of recipe, of course!) and emailed it to him.

He followed it, and the result was a spectacularly tasty meal.  Maybe I enjoyed it more because I didn't cook it, but I suspect equally because Papa has a very good palate, this was the best non-chilli I've had.

Notes: we call it non or not chilli because it isn't spicy at all, and those that wish it spicier add hot sauce at the table. Tiny and Littl'Un are terrified of spicy heat (to the point that Tiny recently had plain rice in school because he was frightened of the "chilli" that was being served with it...) so I call it this to reassure them.

Here is the recipe as he used it, edited to make it more general.

Heat up a large frying pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. 
Swirl it about to spread. Keep flame medium size.
Add a handful or so of the sofrito mix from the freezer and a small amount of frozen chopped onion and also a little finely chopped garlic fresh or frozen. (Clearly, you can use fresh, but I have all these as time savers, and they made this much simpler for an inexperienced chef!)


Stir and cook until no longer frozen. Scrape to one side, away from flame. Add pack of mince to centre of pan and do not move it until one side of meat is brown, then turn meat and repeat. (We had a pack of 750g beef mince, but 500g would be fine for 4-6 people)

If this seems tricky, brown the meat in the oil first then add the frozen sofrito, onions and garlic to the meat.

Once both sides are brown, gently break up the meat and fry until no pink remains. Mix in the previously fried sofrito, onions and garlic. 
Add the mashed up stewed veg* from the gammon stock and mix well. 
Add a teaspoon of ground cumin and one of paprika. Add 1 tsp salt. Add a heaped teaspoon of Marigold.

Stir well. 

Now add a tin or tetra of chopped tomatoes. Stir well.  Add a splash of red wine or water if you can’t find open red wine. Add a beef stock pot or cube. 

Add the drained and rinsed kidney beans.

Allow to simmer for 15-20 mins or longer if that’s possible.  Cook the rice. (I always only use boil in the bag rice for chilli, but you don't have to!!!)

If it's starting to dry, just add a splash more water while it simmers.

Serve with soured cream, grated cheese and some seasonal steamed veg on the side also.


* I mentioned this stewed veg here recently.  Obviously, if you didn't make a stock recently, you won't have this, but if you do make a stock with some veggies which you then normally chuck away, I recommend mashing them up and either using them in a base like this soon, or freezing for a sort of sofrito or concentrate in the future.  It really boosts the flavour with something many people chuck out.

Baked Cheesy Gnocchi with spinach and tomato sauce.

Baked One Pan Gnocchi

On a chilly Friday, I wanted something stodgy and comforting to feed us, and the special offer, impulse-buy pack of gnocchi seemed the right thing.  I had stopped buying them for a while as the kids just didn't seem to enjoy them, but I don't like to give up, and I like a bit of a change sometimes from the pasta/rice/potatoes trinity of carb options. We do occasionally have a bread supper, but that's also rare.

So I began by frying the gnocchi slowly in some olive oil to get them slightly crunchy on the outside, which makes them a nicer texture after baking, I feel.  To make this a true one pot, I used a pan which can go in the oven also, but if you don't have one, you can always pour the contents into a baking dish before the final step.

Once they were starting to be golden all over (and this DOES take time) I added some frozen chopped garlic and allowed it to soften and lose its harsh bite.  I then added a box of Heinz Fritto which is basically a flavoured passata, and also swished out the box with some hot water and added that too.  I then put in a handful of balls of frozen chopped spinach and stirred them in and then brought the whole pan to a gentle bubble.  

Finally, I covered the top with a layer of grated mozzarella and put the pan in a preheated medium oven for about 20 minutes.

I was rewarded with a deliciously crunchy top cheesy layer, with good oozy strings of cheese when served, and a very filling and nutritious meal all round.  The kids did enjoy it, although it wasn't one they immediately said they'd request again, but clean plates and small victories, definitely!

One pan hob tomato pasta

This came about because I *hate* draining pasta.

I have no idea why, but everyone in my family knows it.

I've made a few one pan, bake in oven type pasta bakes, but I wanted something quicker and less house heating and less gas guzzling.

Google helped me with a few thoughts, and then I conjured up this:

Fry chopped onion and garlic until soft and add mixed herbs if desired. Add a carton of passata, flavoured if liked, and a carton full of boiling water. I also added half a bottle of Cirio passata but I'm not so sure it was needed to be honest.

Bring to boil and stir in 350-400g dry pasta. Bring back to boil and simmer, covered, for 20 mins. Stir once in a while.

Flavour with Marigold (obvs) and season to taste.

Just before serving, stir in half to a full pot of mascarpone and 2-3tbsp balsamic vinegar. Finally add a teaspoon of brown sugar.

Serve sprinkled with grated cheddar or parmesan if preferred.

Every child loved this. Hurrah!

Slimming World "Heinz-style" Tomato Soup

This is such an easy, filling, comforting soup. Yes, it is probably healthier than actual Heinz tomato soup, and it's not much harder or slower to prepare than the real thing either. It's quite disarming as to how close this tastes to the real deal, but you will feel more full, and your kids will be a bit more vegged-up than with the real deal. To increase the fat content for children, serve with a swirl of cream and well-buttered bread. 

I can't claim the original recipe, but I think it should be more widely known, and this is my "in a pinch" variation.

You will need:

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tin of sliced carrots

1 tin of baked beans

A slosh of vinegar 

2 tsps Marigold (obvs, wouldn't be my cooking without it!)

I bought the 3 main ingredients on the way home from school in our corner shop and it came to under £1.50. this served 5 hungry people. 

I made this extra hands-free and simple by using my Lakeland MultiChef (heated blender/cooker) but you can either blend and heat or heat and blend, with a normal saucepan and your preference of blender - whatever is easier for you! 

Method:

1) Open all 3 tins.

2) Drain the carrots.

3) Don't drain the other 2.

4) Lightly spray the pan/MultiChef with cooking spray.

5) Empty the tins into the pan/blender.

6) Add the Marigold and half fill the tomato tin with water, swirl to get the bits and juices and pour in also.

7) If using a MultiChef or ThermoMix or similar, follow the instructions for a similar soup.

My method was to heat to 90°, blend speed 3 and cook for 10 mins. It probably didn't need that long.

If using a standard blender, whizz it up and then pour into a pan and warm through til hot.

Alternatively, simmer the contents of the tin in a large saucepan and then use a stick blender to make it smooth. 

8) Finally, add a slosh of vinegar. I used some of the vinegar from a jar of silver skin pickled onions. This is because the original Slimming World well-known recipe uses a few actual pickled onions, but we had run out -until but had kept the vinegar. When we made it with the pickled onions before, I actually found they didn't blend brilliantly, so I actually preferred the taste and texture when just using the vinegar! Stir it through until well mixed in, and be sure the soup is hot when you serve. 

Every week easy chicken

So it's all change round here once again. This Mama is now in full time paid work! But I'm incredibly lucky to have a fabulous job where I work from home with split hours so that I work around my kids and am still here for them as needed. Holidays are tricky, but they are great kids and we juggle life, and manage.
So meals are simpler so that I can help the kids with their various after school needs - reading eggs, coding practice, home-learning, colouring, and more.  I do judiciously use prepared ingredients a few times a week, the meals are still very reasonably priced and unprocessed; as good as from scratch, and healthy and nutritious.  I don't feel guilty for helping myself with occasional shortcuts, and spending that saved time with my kids.

I have made this particular meal pretty much every week since I first tried it out, and it's a huge hit. It's so easy and tasty and low maintenance, try it out and I'm sure you'll add it to your regular list too.

My plateful

You will need:

1kg pack of chicken thighs, or a mix of drums and thighs, or leg portions would also be fine.

2 packs of ready prepped cubed sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Other prepped roasting veg would work too, or if you have more time to hand then feel free to peel and chop your own choice of veg. 

500g baby potatoes 

Some green veg as desired. 

Spray olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 200 deg C.

Line a roasting tray with either a nonstick baking mat/silicone mat, or oil sprayed foil and spread the roasting veg over it.  Season the chicken with the salt and pepper and place it skin side down onto the veg. 

Spray it all with the oil and pop it into the oven for 25 mins. 

Now I use my halogen for the potatoes - I prep them the same way: spread on a foil lined tray, spray with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, then baked for about 20-25 mins in the halogen at 175 deg, but you could do them on a separate shelf in with the chicken for slightly longer. I don't try this as my oven is very old and variable and I don't think the potatoes would cook properly. 

After the first 25 mins, turn the chicken pieces over and shuffle the roasting veg if needed, and cook for another 20 mins or so until crispy and cooked through. 

Serve with the potatoes and the steamed green veg of choice. 

Tiny's portion

Using up biscuit type cereal and using up bananas too

Well, it has been a while, because I or Godpapa have been doing almost all the cooking from Slimming World recipes, and so far, since March I have managed to lose 11.5 lbs, and so I'm extremely happy, and hardly ever hungry. I'm not going to explain the SW ethos or method, it is easy enough to sign up online or join your local club!

However, I do crave a little something sweet from time to time, and obviously home made is far better as you know what's gone into it, and I've even been known to sit and CALCULATE the Syn value of every ingredient in a cake, add them up, then divide that by how ever many portions we've served and usually it's a perfectly decent number. On the SW plan you are encouraged to have between 5 and 15 Syns a day, and that makes it much easier to not feel deprived!

Anyway,  thanks to my Dad, we recently discovered a super new gluten free biscuit cereal  - Nutribrex -  and I really enjoy it, however, it isn't on the list of "allowed" breakfasts, tho each biscuit is only 3 Syns, so I sometimes have one as an included treat snack just before bed-time.

Today I had some bananas which everyone was refusing to eat, and I stumbled upon this lovely recipe from the Australian blog The Organised Housewife, so it seemed like a super plan.

I suddenly remembered that Australian cup measurements and tablespoons are different from American and UK ones, (US cups are based on the imperial 8oz cup volume, and the Aussie cup is based on the metric 250ml volume.) If you want exact conversions, feel free to google it and weigh the flour out, but I just used my American cups and heaped them a little!

Now, the beauty of this recipe is that it can be converted so many ways!

Using the Nutribrex, and if you use Doves Farm (or any other) gluten free flour, you can make this a gluten free treat very easily. Using Pure and a non-dairy milk you can make this dairy free. Using actual Weetabix (or shops own variation) and sweetener, and low fat spread, you can easily make this a very low Syn treat (if  using the biscuit cereal as your HEb) Anyway, however you make it, MAKE IT, it is easy, delicious and fun for the kids to help with too.

You will need:

3 bananas (over ripe and mushy is perfect) mashed up

4 Weetabix style biscuit cereal bix.

3/4 -1 cup of milk

80g butter/margarine/low fat spread

2 eggs

1.5 cups self-raising flour

2 tbs brown sugar

a handful of choc chips (obviously we used white choc, the original recipe calls for milk choc)

I would have added cinnamon but Big'Un says she no longer likes cinnamon. I'm glad I didn't tho.

Heat up the oven to 180-200 degrees. You know your oven.

Line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin papers.

Get the kids to crush up the cereal biscuits in a medium sized bowl. They will LOVE this. Or do it yourself and get some anxiety out!

Add the bananas, and then the milk. Mix well and leave to stand for 10 minutes.

In a LARGE bowl, beat together the butter/marg with the eggs. Don't worry if this is a weird texture like you sometimes see in the clouds on summer evenings, it will work.

Add the banana mixture, and fold it through. Add the flour, sugar and then the choc chips and mix until just combined, and spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake until golden and a skewer comes out clean, about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the muffins. We found it actually made 12 cakes, we never get the amount stated in the recipe, but this was SPOT on.

Really tasty, and a lovely texture.  And I wouldn't have a problem serving them for brekkie really either!