Fame at last!

A nice little article in The Teesdale Mercury, Barnard Castle's local paper, about the cookery classes held during October.

First winter warmer

With the wind blowing from the north, it was freezing over here on the coast today, so it was the first soup and roll of the winter.
The rolls were from a Paul Hollywood recipe, but the leek and potato soup was my own version and the recipe will follow once I've written it up.

Chow mein

Preparation & Cooking: up to 1 hour

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 x 375g packet egg noodles

500g of mixed meat cut into thin strips

250g large packet king prawns shelled and de veined

8 garlic cloves crushed

1 medium cabbage thinly sliced

2 red/yellow bell peppers cut into strips

1 large carrot thinly sliced and halved

6 tbsp water

4 tbsp oil

4 spring onions halved and sliced thin lengthways

Seasoning

4 tbsp soya sauce

3 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tsp brown sugar

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 ½ tsp Chinese 5 spice

1 tsp chilli flakes

Method:

• Cook the noodles as per packet instructions, drain and wash in cold water. Set aside.
• Put all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl, mix well.
• Heat the wok (or large frying pan) with oil till very hot then add crushed ginger and cook till aromatic for a couple of minutes.
• Add meat and prawns until half cooked, then add the vegetables and stir for a few minutes. Add noodles, seasoning and water.
• Stir fry till well combined and fully cooked. Add the spring onions, stir a few times and serve hot!

Note:

• Soya sauce and Oyster sauce have a lot of salt in them so always taste before adding extra seasoning.
• Add small dried chillies at the first stage to give an extra kick to the chow mein.

Vegetable spring rolls

Preparation and cooking: up to one hour

Serves: 6

Ingredients

6-8 sheets filo pastry

2 carrots grated (thick)

1 courgette grated (thick)

1 x 220g tin bean sprouts drained & washed in cold water

1 x 140g tin bamboo shoots drained and thinly sliced

1 x 140g tin water chestnuts drained and thinly sliced

2 tbsp oil

2 tbsp soya sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Heat oil in a wok or frying pan till smoking.
• Add the vegetables and stir fry for 3-4 minutes.
• Add seasoning and soya sauce stir a few times and put aside to cool.
• Cut the filo pastry into wide rectangular strips (16x24) to get minimum 18 - 21 strips depending on size of sheets.
• Take one sheet at a time and place the wide side facing you. Place 1 heaped tablespoon of filling at end nearest to you leaving a gap at bottom end and sides of the sheet.
• Fold in the sides and start rolling the pastry covering sealing the end with a little oil. Make rest of the spring rolls the same way and put seam side down on a baking sheet. Brush lightly with a little oil.
• Heat the oven to 190*C/Gas 5/Fan 170* and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes till golden brown.

Note:

• The filling can be made of meat or even seafood as long as some crunch is provided by adding vegetables.
• Chinese springroll paper is available from speciality shops if you want to be authentic and it should be fried to get best results.
• Sesame oil or peanut oil are used quite a lot to give a distinct flavour to Chinese cuisine.

Chinese night

Chinese was on the menu for the final session at the @lovedalesfood kitchen in Barnard Castle.
Recipes to follow and thanks to everyone who took part, but here's a few pictures.

 

 

Just a taste...

The recipes below are just a small taste of what we've been up to in the Love Food kitchen so far this month.

We end with a Chinese evening tomorrow night and I'll post more recipes and pictures afterwards and I'll also add more of those dishes we prepared at the earlier sessions, so please do keep checking back.

By the way, I've also embraced Twitter as a way of keeping an eye on all things food - so feel free to follow me @nailalaundy

But now, it's down to fish pie for Monday night's tea.

TTFN!

Chicken & Cheese Baked Enchiladas

At our third session in the Love Food kitchen, it was Mexican night!

Chicken and cheese baked enchiladas are a definite winter warmer and are on my top ten list of comfort foods. 

This enchilada has chicken and peppers as a filling with a home-made tomato sauce and lots of cheese to bind the whole thing together. 

A little time is taken over the preparation but the end results is a warm, cheesy, unctuous chicken dish that hits all the right spot.

All smiles at our Mexican night.

Ingredients

Preparation: 1 hours

Cooking: 30-45 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients

800g chicken breast or chicken goujons

4 cups bell peppers cut into thin slices
3 cups grated cheese

12 tortillas

4 cups enchilada sauce

6 tsp enchilada spice

• Pre-heat the oven to at 180°C/160°C fan oven/gas mark 4.
• Slice the chicken into thin strips if using whole breasts.
• Heat the pan till it is hot and add a splash of oil, throw in the chicken and stir-fry over a medium heat for 2 minutes, add the peppers and cook until chicken is browned and thoroughly cooked.
• Mix the enchilada spices with tomato sauce and add 1 cup hot water.
• Pour half of the mixture over the chicken and peppers then add half the grated cheese and stir till everything is combined.
• Put the tortillas in the oven to warm up for a few minutes.
• Spoon the chicken filling onto the middle of each tortilla, wrap them up and place them fold down onto a lightly greased baking dish.
• Pour over the remaining sauce and sprinkle over the rest of the grated cheese.
• Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, until the cheese is brown and bubbling.

Notes:

• For a vegetable enchilada just use a mix of sliced mushrooms, courgettes and aubergines and butter beans.

Beef (meatier taste), Turkey (lighter) or Pork can be used instead of chicken. They can be cooked in strips or minced.

Enchilada Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion finely diced
• 2 tbsp ginger & garlic paste
• 4 tsp chilli powder
• 4 tsp cumin powder
• 5 cups tomato sauce
• 3 cups vegetable stock or water
• Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Cook the onions in hot oil till they turn brown.
Add garlic & ginger paste, chilli powder, cumin powder and cook for 2 minutes.
Add tomato sauce and water to the mix, bring to the boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Season to taste. It can be kept in the fridge for1 week or frozen for 3 months.

Enchilada Spice Mix

Ingredients

• 4 tsp chilli powder
• 5 tsp paprika
• 4 tsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp thyme

Mix all the ingredients together by shaking in a bottle.

Chicken Kebabs in red curry sauce

By the second week of the cookery class at the Love Food kitchen in Barnard Castle, I was much more at ease and confident. 

Once again, it was a busy couple of hours and among the highlights were our chicken kebabs.

The feast we cooked up at the second cookery class

Preparation: 15-20 minutes

Cooking: 30-40 minutes

Serves: 6 people

Ingredients

Kebab

6-8 pieces chicken thighs

Salt & pepper to taste

Paprika

½ cup chopped coriander

½ teaspoon vegetable oil

1 slice brown bread

2 tablespoon vegetable oil for frying.

Red Curry Sauce

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon curry leaves

2 tablespoons ginger/garlic paste

1 ½ tsp turmeric

½ teaspoon coriander powder

½ teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon tamarind sauce

4-6 green chillies thinly sliced

Large bunch of coriander chopped

Method

• First put all the ingredients for the kebab in a blender till everything is minced.
• Put in a bowl and refrigerate.
• For the curry sauce fry curry leaves in vegetable oil in a large pan on medium heat.
• Stir for a few minutes, then add the ginger and garlic paste cooking till the mixture starts browning – another couple of minutes.
• Now add coriander, cumin and tomato paste. Mix well and add a splash of water if the mix is too dry.
• This will take the powdery taste away. Now add yoghurt and mix in well.
• Bring to the boil then let the mix simmer on low heat adding the chillis, tamarind sauce and finally have of the chopped coriander.
• While the sauce is simmering (about 5-8 mins) take the kebab mix out of the fridge and shape into mini football shapes.
• Add 2 tablespoon vegetable oil in a frying pan and gently brown the kebabs on all sides. Put on a baking tray and in the oven at 200* for 10 minutes till the kebabs are cooked.

To serve, put the kebabs on a shallow serving dish, pour the sauce over them and garnish with the rest of chopped coriander.

Everyone loves an onion bhaji!

Another recipe from the first evening at the @lovedalesfood kitchen - quick and easy to make and a favourite to have as a snack or on the side of the plate.

Ingredients

For the batter:

1 ½ cups Gram flour

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp chilli powder

½ tsp garam masala

Cold Water

Two large onions

Freshly chopped coriander

Method:

• Make the batter by first mixing all the dry ingredients together then add enough water to whisk into a thick batter, then let it rest.
  
  
• Slice the onions and mix with freshly chopped coriander. Mix in the batter and deep fry tablespoonfuls of the onion and batter mix in hot oil. Onion Bhajis are ready once they turn golden brown, but drain any excess oil before serving. 
  
  
  
  
  
  

Aloo Paratha (Potato stuffed flat bread)

The last time I led a cooking class was when we lived in Orkney - so that's going back a few years and as you can imagine, I was a little nervous when we met up at the Love Food kitchen in Barnard Castle for the first time.

But we soon got stuck in to a few snacks, including samosas, pakoras, onion bhagis and this one, aloo paratha.

Preparation: 30-40 minutes

Cooking: 5 minutes

Serves: 6 – 8 depending on size

Ingredients

3 cups atta or whole meal flour

1 cup lukewarm water

1 tsp salt

1 cup vegetable oil

2 potatoes mashed with 1 tablespoon butter 

½ tsp turmeric

seasoning

small bunch fresh chopped coriander 

2 green chillies

Oil to brush and cook parathas

Method

• Put atta, salt & add enough water to mix into pliable dough. You may need a little more water but start with half the amount & see how the dough mixes. If dough is too wet then add some more flour.
  
  
• Keep aside to rest while preparing the potatoes.
  
  
• Boil the potatoes and once completely cooked, mash with rest of the ingredients and leave to cool.
  
  
• Divide the dough into 6 or 8 and roll into smooth balls. Now roll each ball out to about 8 cm (about the thickness of a pound coin) and brush a little oil on top.
• Spread a portion of mash potato on the flat bread.
  
  
• Start folding from one side and once in the shape of a tube roll into a coil shape.
  
  
• Heat a dry non stick griddle pan or large heavy frying pan or tawa.
  
  
• Roll each coil shaped ball out to about 8 cm (round) and place on the heated pan.
  
  
• Turn over after about a minute (the cooked side will have started to go white) and while the other side is cooking brush some vegetable oil on the cooked side.
  
  
• Turn this side over to cook and brush the cooked side with some more oil.
  
  
• Press with a flat spoon to brown evenly and turn over a few times to ensure both sides are cooked.
  
  
• The paratha is ready when you cannot see any raw dough and it will turn a nice golden brown. Place on a plate and cover with a tea towel to keep moist while the rest are cooked.
  
  

It's been a while

Yes, there's been another hiatus as far as the blog is concerned - it's been a busy old time with one thing and another, but I'm very much back, with news of an exciting project I have been involved with over the last month.

Thanks to Hazel at an organisation called Love Food (www.lovefood.me @lovedalesfood on Twitter) I got the chance to put on a series of cookery classes throughout October.

Two focused on Asian cuisine, while at last week's concentrated on my twist on Mexican food.

We finish tomorrow night with Chinese.

I have had a lovely group of six taking part and the classes are held in the Love Food kitchen at Woodleigh, former home of the Tourist Information Centre, on Scar Top, in Barnard Castle.

The facilities there are brilliant. I will post recipes of the various dishes we have tackled, but for now here's a picture of us after our first session.

Weekend Fun!

I had the house full of friends to celebrate a very good friend's birthday. The theme was Italian (with a few Asian bits added on request). Here are some pictures I took - unfortunately not all pictures came out well to publish but below is the menu;

Tomato and mozzarella bruschetta
Spicy Italian meatballs in a tomato sauce with spaghetti
Lemon and basil pesto chicken with parpadelle pasta
Mince and onion pizza (hubby's request)

Non Italian
Spicy vegetable samosas
Chicken curry

Dessert - death by chocolate
Decadent chocolate mousse
Chocolate cake
Chocolate chip cookies
Pizza       Trio of dessertSpicy Italian Meatballs in rich tomato sauce

Coming soon

I made a rather nice orange and almond cake the other week.
I have the recipe and pictures saved and with renewed vigour will get round to putting it up here, along with the joint effort that I and my other half prepared on New Year's Eve (stuffed baked garlic mushroom; chicken casserole with chunky roast chips and a very lemony lemon tart)...

Back in business

I didn't realise it had been September since my last blog post.
Since then, I've embraced the wonderful world of Twitter (@nailalaundy) but to be honest I'm still getting the hang of it.
Anyway, it's back to the blog and here are some pictures of what's been cooking lately...

This is an intense curry sauce I created for a couple of my colleagues at work.

 These were a batch of chocolate chip cookies that went down well with my other half's workmates...

 Everyone loves a gooey, sticky, lemon drizzle cake (the recipe is below)...

 And these were out of the oven today!

Snowing outside, so what better than shepherd's pie for tea!