recipes

Stats
Serves: 2
Prep Time: 10 mins

Ingredients
1/4 fresh pineapple, chopped into small chunks
4 spring onions, chopped finely
1 red chilli, seeded and chopped finely
20 cherry tomatos, chopped finely
1 tsp white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp light soy sauce

Method
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix well and leave to stand for half an hour.

Notes
Leave the seeds in the chilli if you want more of a kick to the salsa.

The salsa goes really well on a butterflied chicken breast that's been coated with cajun seasoning and grilled. Serve with stir-fried noodles, brocolli and peppers.

Stats
Serves: 2
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 1hr 30mins

Ingredients
6 sausages
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
5 shallots, coarsely chopped
2 green peppers, sliced
50g Pearl Barley
Knob of butter
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 pint chicken stock
200g Anya potatoes, chopped into 2cm(ish!) chunks, skin on
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tin lentils

Method
1. Start cooking Pearl Barley as per instructions (usually bring to boil in cold water, discard, rinse and start simmering with fresh cold water)
2. Brown off the sausages with the butter on the hob in a casserole dish
3. Add the garlic, onion and shallots and cook on a low heat until softened (You may need to remove the sausages if they get too brown!)
4. Add the potatoes and chopped peppers and make sure they're coated with the butter and sausage fat
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, lentils, chicken stock and return the sausages if removed earlier
6. Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer for five minutes
7. Add the pearl barley (once drained)
8. Cook in oven at 180 degrees C for an hour without the lid on

Notes
Most people say that you should get really good sausages for this, but any will do really. The one exception to that is to NOT use "value" sausages. So, hit the middle ground, not really cheap sausages, but also don't worry about using "[Supermarket] Finest / Taste the Difference" level.

Stats
Serves: n/a
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients
1 Chicken carcass, with wings, giblets not required
1 carrot, chopped in half
1 onion, quartered
2 tablespoons of black peppercorns, roughly crushed

Method
1. Cut the chicken carcass into four or more pieces and place in a stock pot, add any bits of the chicken not being retained for eating such as the skin from the breasts
2. Add all other ingredients and cover with water to an inch over
3. Bring to the boil, then simmer for the duration
4. Strain, cool and use

It really is that simple and tastes a thousand times better than stock cubes

Based on a recipe I found on the web at some point, but now tweaked to my liking.

Stats
Serves: 2
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
2 pork loin steaks
1 tin chopped tomatos
1/2 red onion, sliced
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1tsp onion salt
5 fresh basil leaves, torn
1 large clove of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp Olive oil

Method
1. Heat the olive oil and garlic in a saucepan, add the meat and cook for a minute or two on either side until sealed
2. Turn the heat down, add the onion and peppers and allow to sweat slightly for 5 minutes
3. Add the chopped tomatoes, onion salt and basil leaves, stir it all up a bit and cover
4. Cook on a low heat so its just simmering for the remaining 15 minutes

It's really nice served with mustard mash that's only lightly flavoured with Dijon mustard, and broccoli and carrots.

Stats
Serves: 2
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 to 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 full-size tin of chopped tomatos
1/2 red onion coarsely chopped
1 clove of garlic, pureed / chopped finely
2 bids-eye chillis, chopped (or less depending on taste)
4 or 5 leaves of fresh basil, shredded
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 heaped tsp of tomato puree

Method
1. Sweat the onion in a saucepan with the olive oil till its soft
2. Add the tomatos, chopped chillis, basil and garlic and tomato puree to the pan and cook on a low heat till its reduced down to a thickish sauce

Other Ideas
Instead of sweating off the onion in olive oil, roast the onion in large chunks along with chunks of a red pepper, in olive oil, then skip straight to step 2 and add the red pepper and onion at the same time

Stats
Serves: 2
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 to 20 minutes

Ingredients
250g Haddock, skinned and cut into 1.5cm chunks (not too neat!)
75g creamed coconut, grated
3 tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1tsp dried coriander
1tsp cumin
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
20 fine green beans, trimmed and halved

Method
1. Lightly fry the garlic, spices, salt and onion in the oil for three to five minutes, or until the onion has softened.
2. Stir in the tomatoes, add coconut and cook for two to three minutes.
3. Reduce the heat down, add fish and fine beans to the pan.
4. Cook for a further ten minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.
5. Serve with plain boiled rice as there's more than enough flavour and texture in the curry without adding anything via the rice.

Tip
To skin the tomatoes, place them on a chopping board upside down (stalk side down) and make score a cross, only slightly penetrating the skin that extends about 2cm out in each direction from the centre of the tomato. Place them all in a shallow dish and cover in boiling water fresh from a kettle for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the water and the skin should peel off with ease.

Very tasty, a bit fiddly to make but well worth the time taken!

Stats
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins

Ingredients
100g Cooked Chicken
1 tablespoon Oil
2 rashers streaky bacon, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 level tablespoons plain flour
3 cooked carrots, diced
300g cooked, diced, skin on Anya potatos
100g mixed sweetcorn and peas, cooked
1 pint chicken stock
0.5 pints milk
salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Cut chicken into 1cm cube sized pieces
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan, fry the bacon in it until softened
2. Add the onion and cook till the onions started to brown
3. Sprinkle with flour and stir in the chicken, carrots, potato, sweetcorn, peas stock and milk
4. Bring to the boil and then simmer on a low heat until the vegetables are tender

Simple, tasty and well worth giving a try!

Stats
Serves: 1
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 10-15 mins

Ingredients
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 Salmon Fillet
2 tsp Rocket Pesto
Parmesan Shavings sufficent to cover the fillet

Method
1. Brush the Olive Oil on the top of the salmon fillet and the bottom (to prevent sticking!)
2. Under a moderate grill, cook the salmon fillet till it's two or three minutes off done
3. Cover the top of the fillet with the rocket pesto and then layer the parmesan shavings on top
4. Cook for two to three minutes till the parmesan has melted
5. Serve with steamed vegetables

Stolen unashamedly from a copy of Men's Health for fear I'll loose the magazine and not be able to make it again, this recipe is amazingly tasty and well worth the waiting time!

Stats
Serves: 6
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 3 hours

Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
6 lamb shanks, trimmed
3 carrots, sliced
3 sticks celery, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
150ml balsamic vinegar
2 bay leaves
2x410g cans cannellini beans (butter beans are better though!) drained and rinsed

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170c/gas mark 3. Heat the oil in your pot. Add the lamb shanks in batches and brown all over. Remove from the pan and set aside.


2. Put onion, carrots, celery and garlic in the pot. Add lamb, tomatoes and vinegar, and stir. Season with salt and pepper and add the bay leaves. Boil, cover and cook on hob for 5 minutes, then in the oven for 1.5 to 2 hours.


3. Remove the dish from the oven and add the beans. Cover and put back in the oven for a further 30 minutes, then serve.