This is out of this world and sooooooooo simple. We had this for our late lunch yesterday when we got back from town! Recipe is from Ainsley Harriott although I added the chips.
Tortilla Cheese Cake
1tbsp oil
1 small diced onion
1/2 to 1tsp hot chilli powder
1 tin of chopped tomatoes with herbs
1/2 tin of rinsed and drained kidney beans
200g frozen mixed veg
150g cheese (I used a mixture of parmesan and cheddar)
5 tortillas
couple of handfuls of tortilla chips
Pre-heat the oven gas mark 4
Fry the onion in the oil until soft and add the chilli powder. Add the chopped tomatoes, kidney beans and frozen veg and cook until the liquid has reduced and all the veg are cooked.
Take an oven proof plate and layer the tortillas with the mixture. Add the cheese after each later and sprinkle with tortilla chips.
Finish with a layer of cheese.
Pop in the oven for 10 mins or so until the cheese has melted. Cut into sliced and tuck in!
Monday, January 15, 2007
Party food - yummy!
Our Saturday night party wasn't half bad. Nowhere near wild (we played giant jenga and chess!) but hey, we are getting old ;o)
For food I made spicy chicken thighs (cheated by using Tandoori paste from the jar), finger lickin' marinated chicken wings and tomato salsa to go with toasted ciabatta / baguette. Nothing was left! For pudding we had my lovely Chocolate Chestnut Truffle Cake! Yummy!
Finger Lickin' Chicken Wings (by Ainsley Hariott):
1tbsp oil
flour to dust 8 chicken wings
2 crushed gloves of garlic
1 small diced onion
4tbsp ketchup
4tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2tbsp clear honey
2tsp Tabasco sauce
2tsp English Mustard
Fry the onion and garlic in the oil until soft. Add everything else and simmer for a couple of minutes. Brush over the chicken wings and bake in the oven (gas mark 4) for 30 mins.
Tomato Salsa
lots of ripe tomatoes (I prefer vine toms)
lots of chopped garlic
1 small diced onion
olive oil to drizzle
Cut the tomatoes in quarters or slices. Add the tomatoes and garlic and drizzle with olive oil., leave for several hours to infuse.
Spoon on toasted baguette / ciabatta and add feta cheese or mozarella if required.
Chocolate Chestnut Truffle Cake (from Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Lunch)
250g dark chocolate
250g unsalted butter
125g caster sugar
4 eggs, seperated
250g cooked and peeled chestnuts or unsweetened chestnut puree
125ml milk
125ml single cream
Preheat the oven to gasmark 4. Grease a large round spring form tin.
Melt the chocolate and butter and leave to cool. Meanwhile beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside.
Bring the milk, cream and chestnuts to boil in a pan. Turn off and mix until it resembles a smooth mixture. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together. Add all to the chocolate.
Carefully fold the egg white in.
Pour into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 30-35mins or unti the top feels springy.
Eat warm or chill in the fridge first!
For food I made spicy chicken thighs (cheated by using Tandoori paste from the jar), finger lickin' marinated chicken wings and tomato salsa to go with toasted ciabatta / baguette. Nothing was left! For pudding we had my lovely Chocolate Chestnut Truffle Cake! Yummy!
Finger Lickin' Chicken Wings (by Ainsley Hariott):
1tbsp oil
flour to dust 8 chicken wings
2 crushed gloves of garlic
1 small diced onion
4tbsp ketchup
4tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2tbsp clear honey
2tsp Tabasco sauce
2tsp English Mustard
Fry the onion and garlic in the oil until soft. Add everything else and simmer for a couple of minutes. Brush over the chicken wings and bake in the oven (gas mark 4) for 30 mins.
Tomato Salsa
lots of ripe tomatoes (I prefer vine toms)
lots of chopped garlic
1 small diced onion
olive oil to drizzle
Cut the tomatoes in quarters or slices. Add the tomatoes and garlic and drizzle with olive oil., leave for several hours to infuse.
Spoon on toasted baguette / ciabatta and add feta cheese or mozarella if required.
Chocolate Chestnut Truffle Cake (from Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Lunch)
250g dark chocolate
250g unsalted butter
125g caster sugar
4 eggs, seperated
250g cooked and peeled chestnuts or unsweetened chestnut puree
125ml milk
125ml single cream
Preheat the oven to gasmark 4. Grease a large round spring form tin.
Melt the chocolate and butter and leave to cool. Meanwhile beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside.
Bring the milk, cream and chestnuts to boil in a pan. Turn off and mix until it resembles a smooth mixture. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together. Add all to the chocolate.
Carefully fold the egg white in.
Pour into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 30-35mins or unti the top feels springy.
Eat warm or chill in the fridge first!
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Garfield would be proud of me!
I made the most amazing lasagne last night! R. said it was the best he ever had so I was glowing with pride! i am eating it today for lunch and dinner. Yummy.
Here's the recipe
Servings: 6-8
Level of difficulty: Easy
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
Olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
100g salami, or bacon, minced or finely chopped
1kg minced beef
2 tbsp tomato puree
3 tsp dried oregano
2* 400g cans plum tomatoes, chopped
150ml beef stock, (use instant)
60g Butter
70g plain flour
600ml whole milk
freshly grated nutmeg
250g no-cook lasagne pasta sheets
block Parmesan cheese
100g mozzarella cheese, grated
Method
1. There are two sauces and some layering up to be done, so get everything ready and then you can assemble. You’ll need a 20cm by 30cm shallow baking dish (or similar), inside lightly greased with oil. 2. To make the ragù sauce, gently fry the onion and garlic in a wide pan in 2 tbsp oil until softened but not coloured. Tip the salami or bacon in along with the minced beef and stir though, breaking up any clumps of mince. If you’ve bought a pack of supermarket mince, watch you don’t tip the blotting-paper-like wadding attached to the mince’s underside into the pan. (How many times have I done that?) Let it fry, moving it around from time to time, for about 4 minutes or until it’s faintly browned all over – it will, however, look more an unfortunate grey than brown. Next, season it, then add the tomato puree, oregano , chopped tomatoes and stock. Bring to a good bubble, and let it gently cook for about 20 minutes. It should be thick, gorgeously red, and not watery. 3. To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and let it foam a bit, then slowly add the milk, stirring all the time. Keep stirring over a gentle heat until it thickens and bubbles. Grate in a good shower of nutmeg, add some salt and pepper and stir it through, then remove from the heat. 4. To assemble and bake, spread about a quarter of the meat sauce across the base of the prepared dish, then cover this with a layer of lasagne sheets. Spread this with the thinnest layer of white sauce and grate over some Parmesan. Cover this with more pasta, and do the same again with white sauce and Parmesan. Now, go back to the meat, and spoon in and spread out evenly another quarter of it. Top again with three pasta, white sauce and Parmesan layers. Continue to the top until everything is used up, finishing with a thicker layer of white sauce and then scatter the grated mozzarella all over the top. Slide the dish on the top shelf of a 190°C/ 375°C/ Gas 5 oven and bake for about 40 minutes or until the pasta inside is cooked and the top molten and golden. Eat with a green salad.
Here's the recipe
Servings: 6-8
Level of difficulty: Easy
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
Olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
100g salami, or bacon, minced or finely chopped
1kg minced beef
2 tbsp tomato puree
3 tsp dried oregano
2* 400g cans plum tomatoes, chopped
150ml beef stock, (use instant)
60g Butter
70g plain flour
600ml whole milk
freshly grated nutmeg
250g no-cook lasagne pasta sheets
block Parmesan cheese
100g mozzarella cheese, grated
Method
1. There are two sauces and some layering up to be done, so get everything ready and then you can assemble. You’ll need a 20cm by 30cm shallow baking dish (or similar), inside lightly greased with oil. 2. To make the ragù sauce, gently fry the onion and garlic in a wide pan in 2 tbsp oil until softened but not coloured. Tip the salami or bacon in along with the minced beef and stir though, breaking up any clumps of mince. If you’ve bought a pack of supermarket mince, watch you don’t tip the blotting-paper-like wadding attached to the mince’s underside into the pan. (How many times have I done that?) Let it fry, moving it around from time to time, for about 4 minutes or until it’s faintly browned all over – it will, however, look more an unfortunate grey than brown. Next, season it, then add the tomato puree, oregano , chopped tomatoes and stock. Bring to a good bubble, and let it gently cook for about 20 minutes. It should be thick, gorgeously red, and not watery. 3. To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and let it foam a bit, then slowly add the milk, stirring all the time. Keep stirring over a gentle heat until it thickens and bubbles. Grate in a good shower of nutmeg, add some salt and pepper and stir it through, then remove from the heat. 4. To assemble and bake, spread about a quarter of the meat sauce across the base of the prepared dish, then cover this with a layer of lasagne sheets. Spread this with the thinnest layer of white sauce and grate over some Parmesan. Cover this with more pasta, and do the same again with white sauce and Parmesan. Now, go back to the meat, and spoon in and spread out evenly another quarter of it. Top again with three pasta, white sauce and Parmesan layers. Continue to the top until everything is used up, finishing with a thicker layer of white sauce and then scatter the grated mozzarella all over the top. Slide the dish on the top shelf of a 190°C/ 375°C/ Gas 5 oven and bake for about 40 minutes or until the pasta inside is cooked and the top molten and golden. Eat with a green salad.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
My first post!
04.01.2007
I have recently re-discovered how much I love cooking from scratch and have become obsessed with cookery books and food forums ;o)
It came about when I got married last September and I suddenly found myself with lots of time on my hands as there was no more wedding planning. Up to that point I liked cooking and was good at it but couldn't be bothered. being home almost 2 hours before hubbie didn't help either as it was too easy to get stuck into book. My favourite meals were pasta (which hubbie doesn't like) and chilli con carne.
Since we came back from honeymoon I have started to be a bit more adventorous and have moved on to casseroles, pies, soups and roasts. My favourite cook books are Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Lunch, 1000 Basic Recipes and Nigella's Domestic Goddess.
I love baking too! Especially making brownies. Just before christmas I made tons of biscuits as presents which were received very well ;o)
My next project is to try to eat for no more than £30 a month. As in £30 for hubbie and me. I read the blog of this American guy who lives off $1 a day but found he ate nothing but crap so need to do much better. The main problem at the moment is finding two weeks to give this a go. We are off to Rome soon, then it is Valentines, then we go away again to Amsterdam... So I am aiming for emptying mu cupboards unti then and doing this in March!
And now I am off home to cook dinner. We have a slab of beef at home that I roasted 2 days ago. We had some sort of stir fry yesterday and I am thinking of whipping together a quick casserole for tonight with tomato base and lots of veg!
I have recently re-discovered how much I love cooking from scratch and have become obsessed with cookery books and food forums ;o)
It came about when I got married last September and I suddenly found myself with lots of time on my hands as there was no more wedding planning. Up to that point I liked cooking and was good at it but couldn't be bothered. being home almost 2 hours before hubbie didn't help either as it was too easy to get stuck into book. My favourite meals were pasta (which hubbie doesn't like) and chilli con carne.
Since we came back from honeymoon I have started to be a bit more adventorous and have moved on to casseroles, pies, soups and roasts. My favourite cook books are Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Lunch, 1000 Basic Recipes and Nigella's Domestic Goddess.
I love baking too! Especially making brownies. Just before christmas I made tons of biscuits as presents which were received very well ;o)
My next project is to try to eat for no more than £30 a month. As in £30 for hubbie and me. I read the blog of this American guy who lives off $1 a day but found he ate nothing but crap so need to do much better. The main problem at the moment is finding two weeks to give this a go. We are off to Rome soon, then it is Valentines, then we go away again to Amsterdam... So I am aiming for emptying mu cupboards unti then and doing this in March!
And now I am off home to cook dinner. We have a slab of beef at home that I roasted 2 days ago. We had some sort of stir fry yesterday and I am thinking of whipping together a quick casserole for tonight with tomato base and lots of veg!
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