Smooth Lentil Curry

Smooth Lentil curry
In this forgiving stew you can use curry powder or even a few tablespoons Indian pickle if you have any in the refrigerator.

Ingredients for 4:

• 400gr jar of cooked lentils
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 x 2cm piece of ginger, grated
• 1 tbsp curry powder or Indian pickle
• 200 ml coconut cream (or yogurt)
• Salt, pepper

Stir fry the onion in a little olive oil for 10 minutes; add the cumin, garlic, ginger and curry spices. Cook for 1 minute and add the rest of ingredients. Cook over gentle heat for 30 minutes. Serve as part of an Indian meal or as accompaniment to meat.
It is also delicious as a vegetarian Jacket potato filling.

Meatballs and Spaghetti

For the meatballs:

• 500 gr minced beef meat
• 1 slice white stale bread, mashed with a bit of milk
• 1 small onion, grated
• 1 tbsp mixed herbs
• salt and pepper
• ½ tsp grated nutmeg

For the Sauce:

• 200 ml crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 small onion, chopped
• salt, pepper
• 200 ml white wine

Mix the meatball ingredients in a bowl; if the mixture is too wet, mix in some breadcrumbs.

Make a regular tomato sauce in a large saucepan:
Fry the onion for 10 minutes until soft. Add a dash of vinegar and let it reduce for 1 minute. Add the rest of ingredients and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes.

What I do is simply shape the meatballs and drop them into the sauce one by one as I make them. This saves a lot of time and they come out perfect.
One all of the meatballs are in the sauce, simmer gently for 30 minutes.
Serve with freshly cooked spaghetti.

Chicken and Mushroom Pie

For leftover roast chicken. It works just as well with turkey or indeed, any other leftover meat.

Ingredients for 3-4 people:

• 400 g roast chicken meat
• 100 g mushrooms
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp flour
• 200 ml stock
• 200 ml milk
• 1tbsp Dijon mustard

For the pastry top:

• 200 gr bought puff pastry
• or 200 gr shortcrust pastry

Preheat the oven to 180ºCentigrade.

Fry the onion in a little butter for 5-6 minutes until it starts to brown. Add the mushrooms. Fry them for one or two minutes before adding the flour.

Cook the flour for 30 seconds and start adding the stock; stirring all the time to get a smooth sauce with no lumps.

Add the milk and season well. Add the mustard and the chicken. Bring the stew to the boil and turn off the heat.

Pour the stew into an ovenproof dish. Cover with the pastry and bake for 35 minutes until golden brown.

** To make the pastry: Rub 80 gr. butter into 150 gr flour and a pinch of salt. Bring the pastry together or add a little milk if necessary.

Bagels

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoons of yeast.
• 2 tablespoons of sugar.
• 1 tablespoon of salt.
• 400 of bread flour, more if required
  
• 200 ml of warm water
  

Preparation:

Place the dough ingredients in a large bowl and knead for 10 minutes.
Alternatively, make your favourite bread dough. Let it rise once in the bowl.

When the dough is risen, punch it down and remove it to a well floured surface; cut into 8 equal pieces and shape to form donut shapes.

Cover and allow to rest for about 20 minutes or until they have risen again.

Bring 2 litres of water to boil with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Poach all the bagels, 2 or 3 at a time, for 5 minutes, turning them once.
Take them out of the water, put them on a towel to dry slightly.

Preheat your oven to 175°Centigrade.
Place simmered bagels on a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 175º centigrade for about 25 minutes or until brown.

Serve cold, with salmon and cream cheese, or ham and pickle, etc.

Lamb Biryani

This special dish takes around 1 hour to cook. Once the Biryani is assembled you can reserve it for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator before baking in the oven. The ingredients are for 6-7 people.

For the lamb curry
400gr lamb meat, cubed
1 aubergine, diced
1 red pepper, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbs. curry powder
3 cloves of garlic
1 piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

For the rice
2 cups of basmati rice
2 tbsp of peeled sunflower seeds
2 spring onions, chopped
2 tbsp melted butter.
Salt and pepper
A handful of chopped Coriander or parsley to garnish
You will also need a 30cm long ovenproof dish.

Put the rice in a pan with 3 cups of water or stock. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes or until it is just cooked. Turn off the heat and mix the rice with the rest of the rice ingredients. Set aside.

Put the peeled ginger, garlic and red pepper in a blender; add a few tablespoons of water and blend until smooth.

Place a large saucepan on the heat; pour 3 tablespoons of oil, add the curry powder, onion and aubergine. Gently fry for 10 minutes until the onion is soft and pale. Add the meat cubes and the ginger garlic blend. Season with salt and pepper; cover the pan and simmer for 60 minutes, until the sauce thickens and reduces. Turn off the heat and reserve.

Assemble the dish. Place half of the rice over the bottom of an ovenproof dish, cover with the lamb curry; and then use the rest of the rice to cover the meat, shaping the rice like a mound.
Cover the raita with foil.
Cook the biryani in the oven at 180º for 35 minutes. Serve with yoghurt and cucumber raita.

Raita: peel and chop a cucumber, mix it with one plain yoghurt and some finely chopped mint.

Jacket Potato

I often cook jackets in a hurry when I don't have time. The potatoes can cook in the microwave for 4-5 minutes at full power. The result is quite acceptable. Then I fill the jackets and finish cooking them for 10 minutes under the grill.

Turn the oven on to 180ºCentigrade.
Take a large potato per person, wash them thoroughly under running water. Drain and pat them dry.

Prick each potato once or twice over the skin. Rub them with oil and a little salt. Put them in an ovenproof dish and bake for 60-80 minutes, depending on the weight of the potato.
To test that they are ready you can try to insert a fork into the potato. It it goes in easily, it is ready.

Fillings:
1/ Fry some mushrooms and bacon in a little butter. Add cream, salt and pepper to taste.
2/ 1 can of tuna per person, mixed with 1tbsp Cream cheese. Salt and pepper.
3/ Any leftover, warmed up stew, curry, chili con carne, pasta sauce....
4/ Plain butter and cheese: 1tbsp Butter and a little grated cheese
5/ Cooked prawns and mayonnaise
6/ Smoked Salmon and Sour cream
7/ Baked beans in tomato sauce
8/ Sweet corn salad: sweet corn, diced ham, chopped red pepper, mayonnaise.
9/ Coleslaw: grated carrot, finely sliced cabbage, mayonnaise, a dash of vinegar
10/ Leftover chicken or turkey and cream or bechamel, or cold with mayonnaise

Herb Stuffing for Roasts

This dish uses up any leftover bread that you have, and it complements a roast chicken or turkey.
I started with the classic sage and onion stuffing and have made some alterations to suit my taste.
You can change the quantities of the ingredients and the herbs used, these are the herbs I grow in my garden.

Ingredients:

• 250 gr day old bread, made into crumbs or diced finely
• 1 onion
• 1 tomato
• handful of fresh or dry herbs (parsley, basil, coriander etc)
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  
• 4-5 walnuts
• 1/2 tsp salt and same of pepper,
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg and cayenne
  
• 3 tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp oil

Grease a mold unless you are using this stuffing to put inside a chicken or turkey. Chop the herbs, onion, tomato and walnuts. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and add a little milk to moisten.

Stuff the chicken and roast for 2 hours.
Alternatively, fill the greased mold and cover tightly with foil. Bake with the ckicken.

Marmalade Steam Pudding

A classic pudding that should be brought back.

• 125 gm. butter
• 125 gm. sugar
• 1 orange, rind and juice
  
• 175 gm. flour,
  
• 1tbsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
  
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp orange marmalade

Grease a 1 Lt. pudding basin. Spread 2 tbsp of marmalade on the bottom of the basin.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
Beat the eggs lightly in a separate bowl.

Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Add the orange rind and juice. Now add the flour and eggs alternatively and beat until you have a smooth batter.

Pour the batter into the pudding dish; secure tightly with aluminium foil, making a pleat in the foil to make room to expand. Tie with a string across the top to make it easier to lift when cooked.

Steam for 90 minutes in a large pan or steamer, with water up to half up the bowl.

Remove from the steamer and turn onto a serving plate.
Serve with creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream.

Tart Tatin

This is a classic French dish. I have kept the number of ingredients to the minimum, just like the original recipe. Use puff pastry if you don't like making shortcrust.


Ingredients:
3 apples, peeled, cored and quartered
100 g. sugar
150 g. flour
90 g. butter
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Generously butter a 20cm glass pie dish and arrange the apples in the dish, cut side up.
Put the sugar in a small saucepan and cook over gentle heat until it turns a warm amber colour, it will only take a few minutes so keep an eye on it. Swirl the pan but don't stir. Pour evenly over the apples.
Make the shortcrust pastry. Rub the butter and flour with your fingertips until it resembles fine crumbs. It should now come together into a ball. Cover with cling film and let it stand for about 30 minutes.
Roll out the pastry very thinly, about 2mm between two sheets of cling film. Lift the top sheet of cling film and easy the pastry on top of the apples. Tuck the pastry around the apples and make a few holes with a fork.
Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is golden.
Take the tart out of the oven and let it stand for 20 minutes before you turn it onto a serving plate.
Serve warm or cold, with vanilla ice cream or custard.

Easy Potato Patties

This is an ideal solution for when you have a few leftover boiled potatoes or any pie that has a mash topping. You can make it with leftover cottage pie or even fish pie.

Ingredients:

• 3 boiled potatoes or any quantity of leftover pie made with mash.
• herbs or curry spices, optional
  
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• oil, for frying
  

Mash all of the potato with a fork and add some spices or herbs according to taste.
Shape the mix into even sized patties. You can make them burger size for a main course or croquette size for a snack.
Cover the patties with Breadcrumbs, then some egg, then more breadcrumbs. Put the patties on a plate and let them rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Shallow fry for 3 minutes on each side.
Serve hot with salad or as part of a tapas meal.

Vegetable Fritters

Ingredients:

• 1 chopped onion
• 1 cup cooked spinach or peas
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 beaten egg
• 2 tbsp flour

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl.
Fry spoonfuls of the mix in olive oil for a few minutes on each side until browned.
serve as a snack or side dish.

Curried Cottage Pie

This is a variation on the traditional cottage pie.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 500 gr minced pork or lamb
• 300 gr spinach, chopped
• 1 can coconut cream
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 cm grated ginger
• 4 potatoes, boiled and mashed

Fry the onion in a little olive oil for 5-6 minutes until transparent. Add the minced meat and brown it for 6-7 minutes, breaking the meat with a fork or spoon. Now add the curry powder, salt and pepper, garlic and ginger. Stir it into the meat and add the rest of ingredients.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Check the seasoning.
Spread the meat sauce over the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Spoon the mashed potato over the meat.
Bake in a moderate oven (180ºC) for 20-30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the top is browned.

Apple Charlotte

Here is another way to use up leftover bread in a very tasty hot apple pie.

• 4-6 slices day old bread
• 150 melted butter
• 2-3 apples
• sugar, to taste
• a metal pie mold, about 20cm diameter

Coat the bread slices in the butter. If you don't want to melt it, just spread the slices in butter. Use the bread to cover the bottom and sides of the mold.

Peel and core the apples. Place them in a pan and cook them down with some sugar to taste. You can make this as sweet or as tart as you wish. Once they are cooked, pour the apples into the pie mold, and cover them with more buttered bread slices until they are totally covered.

Press a plate on the pie mold down to compact the apples and bread.
bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden.

Basic Tomato Sauce

This sauce is the base of so many dishes it deserves its own post; so it can be used as reference.
My version of the classic sauce has a dash of vinegar to give this lovely sauce a slight piquancy.

Ingredients:

• 400 gr crushed tomatoes
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• salt and pepper

Gently fry the onion for 5 minutes in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the vinegar and let it reduce for one minute. Pour the tomato and season to taste. Let the sauce cook for 20 minutes.
Serve with pasta, on its own or sprinkled with Parmesan shavings.
Or use as a base for other dishes.

Coconut Crunchy Bites

Make together with Christmas Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 1 egg white
• 60 gr grated coconut
• 60 gr sugar
• pinch of salt

Mix all of the ingredients with a fork until lightly combined. Shape the bites into small balls or sticks. Place on a baking tray and bake in a moderate oven 160ºC for 35-40 minutes until golden.
They will be soft as they come out of the oven and as they get cold they will become crunchy.

Christmas Biscuits

A favourite recipe for all the family to enjoy.
Because there is a egg white left over, I always make them with my Coconut Crunchy Bites.

• 110 gr butter
• 190 gr plain flour
• 60gr walnuts
• 90 gr sugar
• pinch of salt
• 3 cloves
• 1 egg yolk

Pound the walnuts with the sugar and the cloves until they are finely ground. I do this in an electric grinder.
Mix all of the ingredients breaking the butter between your fingertips until the mix resembles fine crumbs. The biscuit mix should come together now, if it doesn't add a few tablespoons of milk.
Shape the biscuits into small walnut size balls, flatten slightly and place them on a baking tray.
Bake for 35-40 minutes at 160ºC, a medium oven. The biscuits should be cooked but still pale in colour.

Chinese Potatoes

Ingredients for 5-6 servings:
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons of finely chopped garlic
7 to 8 potatoes peeled and diced
salt to taste
red chilli powder, to taste
Soy Sauce and grated ginger

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan and add the garlic; when it is slightly brown, add the potatoes, salt, cook on medium high fire till potatoes are done. Once done add the red chillies and grated ginger to taste.
Serve hot with fresh bread and cooked meat. Or as part of a chinese style meal.

Salmon Kedgeree

I like to serve this dish as a light dinner

Ingredients for 4-5 people
2 cups of basmati rice
3 cups of chicken stock
2 tablespoons garam masala
3 tablespoons of powdered ginger
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion
2 hard boiled eggs, cut into 8 pieces
1 fillet of salmon

Put the salmon in a pan with two tablespoons of milk, a pinch of salt and pepper. Turn the heat on, cover the pan and simmer the fish for 5 minutes, until barely cooked. Turn the heat off. When the fish is cold enough to handle, flake it and remove all the bones. Reserve the salmon on a plate.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan and add the spices; stir for 5 seconds, add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until pale. Add the rice, stir it into the spices, pour 3 cups of chicken stock over the rice and cover the pan. Let it simmer for 15 minutes, until the rice is cooked. Turn the heat off, sprinkle the salmon flakes over the rice and decorate the dish with the boiled eggs. Let the salmon stand for a minute or so until heated through. Serve immediately.

Majorcan Beef Stew

This is how my grandmother used to make beef stew.

Ingredients for 6 people

• 1kg. Stewing beef, cut into cubes
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 large tomato, peeled and chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 200ml. stock or red wine
• 5 potatoes, peeled and diced

In a large pan, gently stir fry the onion with the carrot and tomato for 15 minutes. Add the Garlic cloves and bay leaf.
Brown the meat cubes on all sides in a separate frying pan. Add the meat and the wine or stock to the saucepan, season and bring to the boil. Simmer for 2 hours.
At the end of the cooking time, fry the potatoes in a separate pan until cooked through, and tip over the stew just before serving.

Tumbet. Majorcan Vegetable Casserole

This casserole is a very much loved summer dish. It is not a classic casserole with lots of sauce, but a juicy vegetable dish usually to accompany lamb chops or grilled fish.
Ingredients you will need for 6 people

* 2 Eggplants
* 1 large red pepper
* 1 small zucchini
* 4 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 cm. rounds
* 2 cups good tomato sauce
* Salt and pepper, oregano
* 1 tablespoon of bread-crumbs
* Olive oil for frying

Method

First prepare the tomato sauce:
Finely chop one onion an gently fry in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt for 10 minutes, until soft but not coloured.
Add a splash of vinegar and reduce for 5 minutes, this will give a tangy flavour to the sauce.
Now add a 400 gr. can of pureed tomato, bring to the boil and turn the heat down.
Simmer for 30 minutes, season to taste with salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar and oregano. Remove from the heat and reserve.

Now cook all of the vegetables separately

Shallow fry the potatoes in a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of water. Cover the pan and reduce the heat. Gently cook the potatoes around 10 minutes until cooked through. They should be soft, but not coloured. Remove the potatoes from the pan and layer them in an oven-proof dish, season with salt and pepper.

Cook the rest of the vegetables the same way as the potatoes and layer them in the ovenproof dish. Season each vegetable as you build up on top of the potatoes.

Finish the vegetables:
Pour the tomato sauce over the vegetables, sprinkle with the bread-crumbs.
Turn the oven on to 180ºC and bake the tumbet for 30-40 minutes until browned and bubbling.

Serve hot or cold, with cooked meat or fish.