0 Prawn, aubergine and green bean curry

After all that rich festive food, has you got a craving for something a little different, well I have just the recipe for you. A delicious prawn, aubergine and green bean curry, rich in tasty vegetables ideal to serve with rice for an informal supper.

Its so darn easy as well, and can be on the table in about 30 minutes start to finish, if you want to impress your guests why not whip up some roti or naan to serve alongside this dish.

What you need

• Bag of frozen raw king prawns - defrosted or fresh prawns
• 1 onion - peeled and roughly chopped
• Good handful of chopped green beans (I used frozen homegrown)
• 1 aubergine - topped tailed and cut into chunks
• 2 tomatoes- chopped
• Squirt of tomato puree (or you could use passata)
• Fish stock or coconut milk if you like a creamy finish (I do)
• Salt and Pepper
• Curry paste (from a jar or make your own)
• A little coconut oil or vegetable oil

What you do

• Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and fry until softened and translucent
• Add the curry paste to the pan and cook for a few minutes to release the flavours, add the aubergine to the pan, stir fry adding a little more oil if necessary.
• Once the aubergine is starting to soften add all the other ingredients to the pan except for the prawns
• Cook until the sauce starts to reduce and the vegetables are cooked, add the prawns and simmer until they are cooked through.
• Serve strewn with fresh coriander and the accompaniments of rice and roti
• Enjoy

Detail: Prawn, aubergine and green bean curry

0 Ragbag pasta with roasted courgette, basil and mint

Well its that time of year again when our courgette plants are yielding a courgette a day and my quest is to find new and novel ways to serve this vegetable. This recipe came about as a way to use up the part bags of pasta that you often find lurking in the cupboard waiting for a little love, it works fine with gluten free pasta which I find remains al dente for longer than normal pasta.

I also spotted that this months cooking with herbs had the theme of basil, at its peak flavour wise at this time of year, I combined it with mint for a pesto flavour twist and lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. A delicious, frugal and tasty dish, rich in courgettes and herbs. This dish is healthy and fresh tasting and makes use of some great seasonal ingredients that just sing summer.

What you need

• Courgettes (Zucchini) - approx 3 medium sized cut into 2cm slice, cut in half
• Olive oil - good drizzle
• Fresh basil- 3 sprigs
• Fresh garden mint - 3 sprigs, leaves picked off
• Parmesan cheese - handful
• Cooked pasta (cooked to the instruction on the packet)
• Black pepper - freshly ground

What you do

• Toss the chopped courgettes with olive oil and place on an oven tray

• Roast in the oven at 180c for about 40 minutes or so until the courgettes are softened and tinged golden brown
• Whilst the courgettes are roasting, cook the pasta so that it ready when the courgettes are ready.

• Drain the pasta and toss with the roasted courgettes and oil , add the cheese and the herbs torn into small pieces

• Toss and then serve with freshly ground black pepper

I'm including this post in this months cooking with herbs, whose theme this month is basil. Created by Lavender and Lovage and hosted also this month by Karen too.

             
                                                         

I am also linking to Pasta Please created by Tinned Tomatoes and Hungry Healthy Happy, hosted this month by Hungry Healthy Happy, the theme is a pasta dish healthy or lightened.

                                          

And also to Eat Your Greens over on Allotment2Kitchen.

                                           

Detail: Ragbag pasta with roasted courgette, basil and mint

0 Quick hollandaise sauce

Hollandaise sauce is a great recipe to have in your arsenal, this versatile sauce is often thought to be difficult to make but if you have a food processor to whisk it up in you shouldn't have any issues with your sauce splitting or your sauce failing to thicken.

The origins of Hollandaise is a debated hotly and is claimed by both Holland and France, well whatever I say. All I know that this is a great accompaniment to fish (particularly salmon and as pictured), asparagus (as pictured), eggs benedict and the basis of other great sauces such as bearnasie.

The sauce in the photograph is a foaming hollandaise, where the whisked egg whites are folded back into the sauce, this is a surefire way of ensuring you sauce doesn't split, especially if you need to re heat it.

Oh and just in case you were wondering that lovely local asparagus too and some garlic and rosemary potatoes.

What you need

• 2 eggs - seperated
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 dessert spoon of white wine vinegar
• Rough 3 oz of butter
• Salt and pepper

What you do

• Place the egg yolks in the bowl of your food processor (my magimix has a dinky little bowl which fits inside the large bowl, that is the perfect size)
• In a small bowl, I microwave the lemon juice and vinegar for 30 seconds, until warm. Add this to the egg, whizz in for a few seconds
• In the same bowl melt the butter, and slowly with the processor whizzing drizzle in the butter, until you have a thicken emulsion. Don't hurry this step take your time, all of a sudden you will have a lovely glossy sauce.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• If you want to make foaming hollandiase, whisk up in a bowl the egg white until at the soft peak stage and fold into your golden sauce.
• Serve warm or cold with fish, asparagus or over egg benedict.

Detail: Quick hollandaise sauce

0 Teryaki Chicken

Chicken Teryaki is a staple dish in the LF household, I think mainly due to the fact that its an easy dish to whip up after a busy day at work, it also tastes amazing and the only thing that you need to think about is ensuring that I have got the chicken breasts out of the freezer to thaw before I go to work. I love to serve this with egg and pea fried rice which is great as it uses frozen peas and is made with all storecupboard ingredients. I always have fresh ginger in the vegetable rack so I can make terayaki when ever the mood takes me, it lasts very well if kept in a cool dark place.

Terayaki is a Japanese method of cooking which creates a glaze of soya sauce (or if you are gluten free Tamari works fine), apparently the tera part means shiny and the yaki is the cooking method. The glaze here is from soya sauce, mirin and some brown sugar. I am sure the dish would work well with prawns or salmon also.

What you need

• 2 large skinless chicken breasts - chopped into bite sized chunks
• About 50g brown sugar
• 80ml mirin (rice wine)
• 60ml soya sauce or tamari (check thats is Gluten free)
• Salt and pepper
• Small piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated -about a thumb sized piece
• 1 medium red onion or 6 spring onions - peeled and chopped finely (I have used welsh onions too)
• 1 clove of garlic - peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp seasame seeds - toasted
• Seasame oil or wok oil

What you do

• Firstly ensure you have all your ingredients ready to hand, prepared and ready to go as this is a really quick dish
• Start by heating the oil in the wok / frying pan
• In a bowl mix the brown sugar, soya sauce and mirin to make a sauce
• Fry off the chicken pieces , sprinkled with a little salt and pepper until golden
• Now add the ginger and garlic to the pan and cook for a minute or so
• Add the sauce mixture to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes as the sauce starts to reduce and thicken and become glossy.
• Add the onions to the pan and cook until they have wilted.
• The chicken should now be cooked, remove from the hob and sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds
• Serve with fried rice immediately

Detail: Teryaki Chicken

0 Five minute microwave chocolate pudding

This handy little pudding is a great recipe to have in your collection, ideal when you want a warm dessert on the spur of the moment , using all store cupboard ingredients. I first saw this on youtube several years ago, just serve with your favourite accompaniment custard, cream, ice cream, yoghurt or creme fraiche they all work.

The secret is making sure that you have throughly mixed the dry ingredients before adding the wet ones. I use a fork to throughly blend the ingredients, it works perfectly everytime. I tend to make mine in a large soup cup. As you cook it in the microwave its also ideal in hot weather as you have no steaming pans or hot ovens to bother with.

What you need

• 4 tbsp self raising flour
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 2tbsp cocoa 
• 1 egg (free range)
• 3 tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp sunflower oil
• Optional extras , splash of vanilla, choc chips
• Mug or bowl

What you do

• Throughly mix the dry ingredients in your bowl / mug with fork
• Then add the rest of the ingredients , again mix throughly making sure you have no dry patches
• Microwave for approximately 3 minutes (900W ) until well risen
• Serve and eat !

Please note that this doesn't keep well and should be eaten almost immediately

Detail: Five minute microwave chocolate pudding