SAUSAGE ROSTIS WITH CARAMELISED ONION GRAVY

Sausage and mash has always been a favourite of mine however I am not the hugest fan of mash unless it is mixed with cheese or mustard or truffles. However it is a classic dish that I will always order if I go to a pub for lunch. I was overjoyed when I found this recipe in my Olive magazine - I love a potato rosti - we used to have them at home as children from a German frozen food delivery company and I would want them with every meal. This recipe took around an hour.

Ingredients for 4 people:

Sunflower oil
8 sausages
4 large King Edward potatoes
3 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped
2 tbsp grainy mustard
2 tsp English mustard powder
1 egg, beaten

Gravy
2 onions, thinly sliced
25g butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Heat the oven to 180 C / fan 160 C / gas 4.

Brush 1 tbsp of oil over a shallow roasting tin, about A4 size, or a round ovenproof pan, about 20-22cm across. I was only doing the recipe for two of us and the dish I used was far too big - it didnt really matter to be honest - and just meant that my potato rosti was very thin!

Brown the sausages in 1 teaspoon of oil for 5 minutes or until golden.

Grate the potatoes, no need to peel them. I have never grated potatoes before and it was easier than I thought. Put them in a clean tea towel and squeeze out as much water as you can - the amount of water that came out really surprised me!

Add the potato to a bowl and mix in the thyme, 1 tablespoon of grainy mustard, 2 teaspoon of English mustard powder, the beaten egg, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper.

Tip into the roasting tin, brush a little oil over the potatoes and then add the sausages on top. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until the sausages and potato are crisp, golden and cooked through.

After about 15 minutes it is time to make the gravy. Put the onions and butter in a frying pan and cook gently until really soft and starting to caramelise - about 25 minutes.

Stir in the sugar and brown over a higher heat for a couple of minutes. 

Then stir in the flour, mixing it until it has completely blended in.

Gradually stir in the stock, followed by the remaining tablespoon of grainy mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer and then reduce until it has a good consistency and season to taste.

Finally serve the potato rosti and sausages with plenty of delicious onion gravy.

Yum - this was really good - I loved the crispy potatoes and they tasted incredible with the sausages and lashings of onion gravy. Next time I would probably add some peas too. Arabella wasnt mad on the onion gravy but she adored the sausages and rosti so it was both adult and kid friendly - another success. It took a while to cook but it was definitely worth  the effort!

Read More..

FETA CHORIZO SPRING ONION QUESADILLAS

We had the most wonderful time at Penshurst Place today - it had something for all of us - a historical house, a toy museum, beautiful gardens, an adventure playground, a maze and a cream tea - best day ever!!

By the time we arrived home, I wasnt in the mood to cook anything complicated and so decided to try and "knock up" these quesadillas. I love quesadillas and will regularly order them in restaurants although I have never cooked them before.

They took about 35-40 minutes in total.

Ingredients for 3 people:

12 cherry tomatoes, chopped into quarters
2 spring onions, chopped including the green bits (I only had a continental onion which also worked)
10g coriander, chopped
4 slices of jalapeños from a jar, finely chopped
Juice from half a lime
4 tortillas
120g feta cheese, crumbled or diced
150g chorizo, diced

Optional to serve
Guacamole

There is a bit of prep to do for this recipe. Firstly cook the chorizo in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes and then set aside.

Chop the tomatoes, spring onions and coriander, season well and mix in a bowl.

Take out 4 tablespoons and set to one side (this will be used in the quesadilla). 

With the remainder, mix in the jalapeños and lime juice to make the salsa.

To make things easier, I then created two even separate piles of the tomato, coriander and spring onion mix, feta and chorizo.

To make the actual quesadilla, heat a large frying pan and put one tortilla in the bottom.

Sprinkle over half the feta, half the chorizo and half the tomato, spring onion and coriander mix.

Top with another tortilla.

Cook until the bottom is coloured and the cheese is starting to melt. I kept on checking the bottom by lifting it up with a fish slice. Now for the complicated part of flipping it over! Pascal actually did this and he used a plate to flip it on first and then slide back into the pan.

Cook for another few minutes until it is brown on the bottom.

Once ready, we put it in the oven under a very low heat to keep warm while we cooked the second quesadilla - this cooked quicker than the first as the pan was hotter so keep an eye on the bottom of the tortilla to make sure it doesnt burn.

Then cut (we used scissors) and serve with a dollop of salsa and guacamole (if you fancy).

These were so much better than I was expecting and I absolutely loved them. The combination of the feta, chorizo and tomato was incredible and the salsa gave it a real kick…..too much of a kick for Pascal though. His reaction to the jalapeños kept Arabella and I in fits of giggles. I much preferred these to normal quesadillas and I will definitely be doing these again as they werent complicated and nor did they need too many ingredients - just the way I like to cook!!

Read More..

CARAMELISED ONION GOATS CHEESE PISSALADIERE WITH BACON ROASTED PEPPERS

Whenever I see a French recipe in a magazine, I will normally cut it out and cook it for Pascal, just like I did here. A Pissaladiere is a pizza style tart from Nice in the South of France - traditionally it is a pizza style base topped with caramelised onions, garlic, olives and anchovies. Obviously we had to mix it up and involve cheese somehow!! Unfortunately little did I know Pascal doesnt like caramelised onions (and neither does Arabella) - whoops!

Ingredients for 4-6 people:

4 roasted red peppers (you can buy them in a jar or roast them yourself)
50g butter
4 red onions, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp Marmite
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
375g ready rolled puff pastry
8 rashes of smoked streaky bacon, chopped (you could probably use lardons instead)
150g goats cheese
Rocket leaves, Parsley or Basil, to serve

Melt 50g of butter in a frying pan and gently cook the onion and garlic over a low heat until they are soft and golden brown. This will take around 30 minutes. While these are cooking, preheat the oven to 180 C / 160 C(fan) / gas mark 4 and take the pastry out the fridge.

Then stir in the Marmite and thyme. The Marmite gives the onions a more meaty, richer taste.

Unroll the pastry onto a baking sheet (I used a dish) and prick all over with a fork.

Spread with the caramelised onions.

Then cut the peppers into strips and add them.

Scatter over with bacon and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

Then add the goats cheese and cook for a further 10-15 minutes (you just need to make sure the bacon is cooked).

To serve scatter with some green leaves.

I really really liked this, even though I am not a Marmite fan, it added a great flavour to the onions which went brilliantly with the goats cheese, bacon and peppers. Unfortunately neither Pascal or Arabella were that enamoured with the recipe….Arabella even went so far to say it was the most revolting thing she had ever eaten…she did eat it though! The offending ingredient was the onions, so I will do this again for them but with a tomato base (more pizza than pissaladiere) or I will have to make it for fellow onion lovers like myself.

One thing I have realised is when I do rip these recipes out of magazines for Pascal, they are actually more for me than him ;-)

Read More..

Beet Mushroom and Onion Salad

It took me quite a while to warm up to beets, even after I became a Nutritarian.  The first beets I remember trying were in a can.  Several weeks into being a new Nutritarian, I was looking for ways to bring some interesting flavors to my daily salads.  I threw the can of crinkle cut beets into my cart and popped them open to try once I got home.

Terrible.  They tasted almost metallic (probably from the can now that I think about it).  I forced a few more slices down before I determined beets just werent going to be part of my salad thing.  At least not at the time, anyway.

A few years later I saw some golden beets at a farmers market and decided to give it a try again, this time with the fresh stuff.  I ended up liking those beets both roasted and steamed.  After that, I gave red beets a try again and decided my first experience was not telling enough of this roots wonderful culinary (and health) virtues.

Ive heard some people say that beets can "taste like dirt", and it is true that they have a more earthy taste, but then again so do a lot of different wines, some cheeses, as well as very common kitchen items like mushrooms and lentils.  Earthy is a fun flavor to play with, especially by adding ingredients with acidic, nutty, and sweet notes.

Beet, Mushroom, and Onion Salad
Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
        1 1/2 - 2 lbs mixed gold and red beets (about two bunches), tops and roots removed, peeled and cut in half or quarters
        1-2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
        1/2 red onion, sliced
        1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
        1 Tbsp soy sauce
        1 Tbsp syrup sweetener (such as date syrup, honey, maple syrup, etc.)
        1 Tbsp sesame seeds

To serve: fresh dark greens, nuts

Instructions:
1.)  Cut the tops and root tips off of the beets.  Wash and peel.  Cut in half or quarters if the beets are large.  Place in a steamer basket and steam on the stove top for about 15 minutes, until the beets are fork tender.  Remove from heat and dunk the steamer basket into an ice bath to stop the cooking and cool the beets down.
*** If you have a pressure cooker, you can steam your beets that much faster.  Check your pressure cooker manual charts for the correct directions and time needed.***

2.)  Slice the cooked beets into 1/4-1/2 inch slices.  In a large bowl combine the sliced beets, mushrooms, red onion, and sesame seeds.
3.)  In a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and sweetener.  Pour the liquid over the beet mixture and stir to combine well.  Let marinade in the fridge for at least 1 hour and up to 4 days.
4.)  Serve chilled or at room temperature on top of fresh spinach or kale (bonus points if you use the beet top greens!).  Sprinkle with chopped almonds, pecans, or walnuts for an extra treat.

Amys Notes:
For those who havent tried beets before, or if it has been a while, red beets have quite a bit of pigment in them and their juices that can stain counter tops, cutting boards, sinks, hands, and ahem... personal waste removal.  Just take some precautions by wearing gloves and using an old cutting board, and cleaning up splashes on counters and sinks with a damp cloth as they happen.  Also dont be alarmed when your poo comes out red-ish.  You are not dying, nor are you in need of medical assistance.  Keep calm and know that you got lots of fiber, vitamins, and nutrients!

Health and Happiness,

Amy

Read More..

BACON ONION FRITTATA

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am really uninspired by my cooking at the moment - Arabella complains about tummy aches a lot and I wonder whether she has an allergy to gluten - therefore I am trying to cook more protein based meals. I am not convinced that the stomach aches arent just an attention thing…..she never has a problem when she is watching TV and eating sweets! Anyway here is an egg based recipe I cut out from a magazine, it took about 30 minutes to cook.

Ingredients for 4 people:

250g lardons

1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced

3 spring onions, sliced

8 eggs

2 handfuls of grated Parmesan

1 small handful of tarragon, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180 C / gas mark 4.

Add a drizzle of olive oil to a large oven proof frying pan and fry the bacon, spring onions and pepper for around 7 minutes.

Meanwhile beat the eggs and stir in the Parmesan and tarragon. Season and then add to the pan.

Cook for a few minutes until the bottom is set and then bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden and set.

Cut into quarters and serve - we had it on its own however it would be delicious with a crisp green salad.

This was way better than I expected - really good flavours. Plus it only needed a few ingredients which is always a winner in my books. If you are a vegetarian, you could substitute the bacon for another veg like mushrooms. Arabella has suggested we mix it up by adding goats cheese next time and I think it would be a fabulous addition. We will definitely be having this again as it tasted fantastic, it was easy to make and it is protein rather than carbs…a new path I am trying to follow…..for this week anyway!

Read More..