Delightful Recipes…described in the way I cook them
My recipes you will find might sometimes look fancy, sometimes look like nothing…but every meal will be simple, very tasty…and more often than not healthy. I’m far from being a chef and have a normal job…but I like to eat great food that can more often than not be picked up on the way home from work or made with ingredients out of the freezer (Apart from the Powerful Lamb Tagine…an Easter special!)!
Powerful Lamb Tagine Augergine Boats or a straight up Lamb Tagine…don’t worry about not having a tagine to cook
Please note this takes about 6-10 hours to cook…and 15 mins to prep…
So usually my recipes are all about fast meals using frozen veg or things you’d pick up on the way home…but it’s Easter and I’ve got my best pal over for a healthy feast after we did a big walk, so thought I’d prep something that we could work up an appetite for that was still paleo as possible but more importantly still super tasty!
I decided to rustle up my take on a lamb tagine…not expensive to make, tasty as it gets, and perfect food when you’ve got friends over as all the prep and 70%-90% of cooking can be done the day before (I cooked mine for 6 hours the day before and the remaining 3 on the Sunday). Here goes…
You will need to prepare before you cook:
- A big leg of lamb or shoulder (basically a big bit of lamb on the bone)
- 5 carrots chopped
- 4 medium onions sliced
- Mushrooms any type (Not a typical ingredient in this dish but I LOVE a mushroom)
- 4 tomatoes quatered
- Dried chopped apricots (roughly a cup)
- Dried chopped dates or prunes (roughly a cup)
- Ginger (just a thumb sized piece sliced)
- 8 garlic cloves (4 chopped fine and 4 just smashed) (go nuts with garlic if you like…I used a bulb)
- Fresh rosemary
- Salt and pepper (enough to season your lamb)
- Moroccan Rub…Make your own and don’t wimp out with the pre bought from the supermarche…all you need is the following dried herbs and pop them through the pestle and mortar:
- Paprika, Garlic Powder, Rosemary, Mint, Cumin, Paprika (and to be fair…anything else you think might be a nice addition…make it your own and claim victory 🙂
- Throw in an Oxo Lamb stock cube for a flavour enhancer…this is unessential but a good cheat to inject some extra flavour
Method:
- Okay…so firstly…you don’t own a tagine? Throw everything away and order a take away…
- Jokes…
- So you don’t need a tagging for this…get a sizeable roasting dish or tray ready and get ready to stack
- All things being chopped pop in the tray your onions, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes and mix around
- Pour water over the veg into the tray (not enough to cover them but just enough for them to have a paddle…a shallow bath)
- Then pop in the apricots and dates with ginger and the 4 smashed garlic cloves
- Now for your old friend…The Lamb Leg!!!
- Stab the lamb…safely…with a few decent wounds that you will be able to stuff with the remaining garlic and the fresh rosemary
- Season the lamb with the salt and pepper
- Take that lovely rub you made and massage it into the lamb…massage it in like you would massage a lover…or someone you were looking to ease the cramp out of a calf muscle for…you get the drift
- Be sure that you get all the rub all over the lamb and also into those wounds you filled with garlic and rosemary…these are the flavour holes!
- Time to make your roasting tray into a tagine…or something that looks a kin to a pasty
- Get two big pieces of foil and come in from either side making a peak in the middle as in the below (crimp the two bits of foil in in the middle like a pasty and make sure there is no holes)
- Now pop that beautiful piece of art in the oven at 150-160 degrees (increase for non fan by 10 degrees) and leave on the bottom shelf of the oven for up to 10 hours but no less than 6 hours…the longer you cook this on a low heat the better!
- Take that beast out of the oven and when opening your foil be careful not to burn yourself as steam will pour out
- Pull the lamb off the bone and serve in a bowl with all the lovely veggies…as an option serve with some quinoa to bulk out…or if you want a bit of fun…do the next step of the recipe!
- Shred the lamb and take the veg and pop in a pan with some tinned chopped tomatoes
- Pop some halved aubergines in the oven and bake for 15 mins on 200…scoop out the insides and leave the skins and mix the aubergine into the lamb, veg and tomato mix!
- Then pop in the skins like so and bake in the oven for 10 mins
- Serve on a plate with a side of rocket and a splash of balsamic glaze for sweetness around the plate like SO!
- Enjoy and impress your guests for something that is EASY but looks the sh*t!
- You’re welcome!
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Paprika and Chorizo Hake on a Courgetti, Tenderstem, Asparagus and Chestnut Mushroom Stir Fry (Catchy title I know!)
Little bit of pre prep before you go:
- Hake Fillets (One per person…two if you’re hank marvin)
- Chorizo (small sausage size)
- Chesnut Mushrooms
- Asparagus Tips
- Tenderstem Broccoli
- Courgette
- Half a red chilli
- Paprika Powder
- Salt
- Oil (Preferably Coconut)
- Soy Sauce (Light)
Method:
- Sprinkle some Paprika on your Hake Fillets on both sides and some chopped chilli
- Chop the mushrooms, tenderstem broccoli, chorizo
- Spiralize your courgette like an absolute pro (note I am a terrible spiralizer…and SIZE matters!)
- Pre heat a frying pan fired up on the hob (with no oil) and a Wok on the hob with a spot of oil (tea spoon)…get both pans turned up to funk factor 10!
- Pop your chopped chorizo in the frying pan and watch the little rascal release it’s oils into the pan (keep moving the Chorizo round the pan)
- At the same time (not literally but you know what I mean) throw in the mushrooms and tenderstem broccoli into the wok and stir for a minute
- Now move to the side of the frying pan some of the chorizo and gently place the hake fillet in…
- Next up razz in the asparagus to the wok with a splash of soy (important to keep moving the veg in the wok around)
- Turn the Hake fillet (gently using a fish slice) after 2 mins and cook for another 2 mins…moving the chorizo around the pan
- Once you’ve turned the hake fillet throw the courgetti into the wok and mix in with the other veg
- Keep the stirfry on the heat for a further minute moving around the pan and then start to plate up…
- Place your stir fry base on the plate first and then the hake fillet on top of this and finally the chorizo pieces
- This is the kind of meal that in total is going to take 15 mins all in…and if plated up correctly will be a visual treat as well as an absolute taste sensation…I can promise this as I’ve just cooked it!
- Now sit down and enjoy this absolutely belting meal!
Once again remember you don’t have to pop it on the plate like this…although highly recommended…you eat with your eyes as well as your tastebuds
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Tuna on a Frozen Veg Zipper
If you’re anything like me you’ll be a smart cookie and have a freezer full of frozen veg and you’re own spice world (see image at the bottom of recipes)…namely because it means you can come in anytime and make a great base for some meat or just a great general part of your tea that’s tasty and packed with your 5 a day!
If this is your first time making a zipper I’ll do another post about some more zippers but essentially a zipper is a load of frozen or unfrozen veg that you have in all thrown together with a few added spices, herbs or flavour savours…a zipper is generally super healthy and gives you a good portion of your 5 a day! They will be low in cal and low carb so perfect for the clean or paleo eaters amongst us!
You will need to prepare before you cook:
- Decent sized Tuna Fillet
- Lots of frozen veg and herbs (You can use fresh but no need and hopefully these are things you have in your freezer)
- Frozen Onions – 1 mug full (Essential)
- Frozen garlic – table spoon to taste
- Frozen ginger – table spoon
- Frozen basil – table spoon
- Frozen chargrilled vegetables – 2 mugs full
- Frozen mixed peppers – 1 mug full
- Frozen spinach – 1 or 2 mug full up to you
- Frozen peas – 1 mug full (Essential)
- Frozen Edamame Beans – 1/2 mug full (Not essential but tres tasty!)
- Frozen parsley – table spoon to taste
- 1/4 Tin of chopped tomatoes
- Chilli Flakes to taste (From Spice World…please make sure you have your very own Spice World…an essential)
- Sprinkle of salt
- Good few turns of pepper
- Couple of splashes of soy sauce
- 1 x Fresh Chilli (Chopped)
- Prawns (pre marinate in some garlic, chilli and chilli before you start cooking)
- Few salad leaves for decoration
- Oil (Preferably Coconut…)
Method:
- Pop the oil in your pan (just a tea spoon) and turn on the heat to funk factor 10 (basically redders…red hot)!
- Literally throw all the frozen veg and herbs into the pan (in the order above with enough time in between throwing each in for the frying pan come back to heat)
- Then add the 1/4 tin of chopped tomatoes
- Stir up this veg until it looks a little like this:
- Now leave this veg zipper simmering on a low heat in the pan (string occasionally so it doesn’t catch the bottom of the pan)
- Next up…get that griddle pan red hot
- Season the tuna steak and pop it in the griddle pan
- Flip it over after 2 mins and add the prawns
- Cook for a further 2 mins and in the meantime plate up the vegetable zipper and some leaves for garnish
- Now add the Tuna and Prawns to your plate and a drizzle of the juice from the zipper around the plate and some leaves for decoration (If you’re feeling a bit brave you can make it look something like the below but I did this purely to put a smile on a pretty girls face)
- Sit down and make short work of this tasty and healthy treat!
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Spicy Turkey Patties/Koftas
Spicy Turkey Patties/Koftas
You will need to prepare before you cook:
- Turkey mince (lean) as much or as little as you fancy
- Coriander (to taste)
- Half or full onion (Remember to chop into super small pieces)
- Two red and one green chilli (strength to taste…I went for scotch bonnets and know about it this morning)
- 1 raw egg (beaten)
- Chilli Flakes (From Spice World…please make sure you have your very own Spice World…an essential)
- Madrass Powder
- Salt
- Pepper
- Teaspoon of paprika
- Oil (Preferably Coconut…)
- Turn your oven onto medium to hot heat (180 – 200 degrees)
- Prepare yourself a nice salad or something with a bit of crunch to serve these on (I opted for spinach, rockets, avocado, chilli and spring onion which was perfect)
Method:
Take all of the above ingredients (apart from the oil…that’s for cooking) and razz them into your mixing bowl…don’t cook any ingredients before hand and give them a right good mix in the bowl!
- Get your frying pan or griddle pan if making koftas
- Now pop in your oil (only a teaspoon) to the pan
- Shape your turkey mince mixture of goodness into what ever shape you like (I went for patties as they cook quickly fairly thin)
- When oil is hot in the pan place the patties in and cook for 2-3 mins on either side (getting the outside golden brown…or slightly charred as in my picture
- Now they are looking good I’d presume they still have some way to go in the centre, so take them from the pan and into a baking tray or roasting tin or anything you’d pop in the oven
- Leave them in the oven for a good 15 – 20 mins to cook through
- Remove from the oven and chop one in half to check it’s cooked through
- Plate up on top of your crunchy salad
- Sit down and make short work of this tasty and healthy treat
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Spiced Cod on Mushroom Stir Fry
Spiced Cod on Mushroom Stir Fry
You will need to prepare before you cook:
- Decent sized Cod Fillet
- Bag of stir fried veg from the supermarche (French for Supermarket as learnt from Paul Noble…in an earlier blog post)
- Mushrooms (Remember to chop)
- Smoked Bacon (couple of slices will do) and chop into lardons
- Glass of White Wine
- Chilli Flakes (From Spice World…please make sure you have your very own Spice World…an essential)
- Madrass Powder
- Salt
- Pepper
- Fish Sauce or Soy Sauce
- 1 x Chilli (Chopped)
- Couple of spring onions (Chopped)
- Oil (Preferably Coconut…)
Method:
- Pop the oil in your pan (just a table spoon) and turn on the heat to funk factor 10 (basically redders…red hot)!
- Chop your cod fillet into two chunky little jesters and season on both sides with a light smattering of madras powder, chilli flakes, salt and pepper
- Now your oil is hot pop the fillet into the pan and watch it sizzle (flip it over after a minute on one side
- Now pour into the pan that glass of wine (not over the cod…just around it) and turn the temp down to a cool 6 (on a scale of 1-10) and cover with a pan lid or some foil (doesn’t have to be perfect)
- Leave to simmer and cook through the fish
- Now pop on your wok and turn that funk factor up to 10
- Throw in the mushrooms and 1 min later pop in the stir fry mix
- Add a dash of soy or fish sauce
- Turn the stir fry and mushrooms for another couple of minutes…
- In the meantime take the lid or foil off the cod and throw in the bacon lardons to the pan…cook these until nice and golden and majority of the wine is ceased to exist in the pan
- Plate this bad boy up in a bowl popping the fillet on top of the stir fry…
- Add the chopped spring onions and chilli over the cod
- Sit down and make short work of this tasty and healthy treat!
Spice World…in all it’s glory
themediabison.com 