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 Roasted aubergine and tomato soup

We have another super easy soup recipe for you, this time using a bargain aubergine (eggplant for our American friends) unusually made in the oven, this recipe is based on a Hugh Fernley Whittingstall recipe.  Its frugal and very very tasty and the soup has a lovely comforting flavour, great for a cold winters day.

What you need

• 1 aubergine (chopped into chunky pieces)
• Olive oil or rapeseed oil
• 1 heaped tsp vegetable stock powder ( I use Essential Cuisine)
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• Couple of cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• Water
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh thyme or basil leaves to garnish

What you do

• Preheat your oven to 180c
• Place the chopped pieces of aubergine in a roasting dish and toss with a little oil
• Roast for 20 minutes or so until the aubergine is soft and starting to colour a little
• Add the contents of the tin of tomatoes to the dish, plus the garlic and thyme to the dish
• Also add 1 tin of warm water and your vegetable stock cube / powder to the roasting pan
• Return the roasting pan to the oven for another 20 minutes
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly, then blitz with a hand blender or in a liquidiser or food processor until you achieve your desired consistency
• Place the soup in a saucepan and warm gently until piping hot, taste for seasoning.

This dish would also make a perfect starter to any festive celebrations as its a no worry, no hassle and could be made a head and stored in the fridge. Vegan, gluten free and very healthy its a great contrast to the rich festive fare, but its equally suited to make at any time of year.

Detail: Roasted aubergine and tomato soup

0 Rustic courgette bake

This weekend we have finally pulled up the last courgette plant of the season, as part of the tidy up a couple of large courgettes were discovered in the undergrowth. So this recipe makes the best of the last of this seasonal bounty, with its roots fairly in the Mediterranean this dish gives a heavy nod towards Lancashire too as its features lots of local produce.

I love dishes like this where everything is placed in one pot and the oven does all the work, if you haven't got some homemade tomato sauce to hand then a jar of quality passata works great. I also raided the herb garden for my herbs, selecting sage, rosemary and thyme and a little oregano to be added to the dish.

What you need

• Couple of courgettes, washed and sliced length ways into strips
• 1 large red onion - peeled and sliced into finely fine halves (local grown)
• 1 jar passata or similar quantity of homemade tomato sauce (homemade)
• Selection of fresh herbs - rustically chopped (homegrown)
• Salt and pepper
• Local Cheddar cheese - coarsely grated (local)
• Yogurt - thick Greek style (local) about 200 ml
• 1 egg - free range (home laid)
• Large cast iron skillet / ovenproof dish
• Oil (olive or rapeseed)

What you do

• Preheat the oven to 200c (fan)/ 220c (non fan)
• Add a little oil to pan and gently saute to courgette strips and onions.
• Now layer up with tomato sauce on the base, courgettes and onions, herbs, and then repeat.
• Mix the yogurt and egg together, top of the dish and then finish with grated cheese
• Strew with more herbs
• Bake for 20 - 30 minutes until golden and bubbling and the courgettes are meltingly soft
• Serve with crusty bread for mopping up all the lovely juices

                         

We are linking up to Cooking With Herbs - who's theme this month is Scarborough Fair. This dish contains Sage, Rosemary and thyme, created by the lovely Karen over at Lavender and Lovage and hosted by her too this month.

                                                   

                                                                 

We are also linking up to Extra Veg hosted this month by A Mummy too

                                                      

And finally Simple and in Season created by Reb Behan and hosted this month by her too.

                                                            

Detail: Rustic courgette bake

0 French bean, tomato and cumin salad

I love using fresh seasonal produce in recipes and its even better if that produce is freshly picked from the garden. As per usual I am fighting a loosing battle with the courgette plants in the garden and it was whilst picking the a fore mentioned vegetable, I spotted that my lovely golden french bean plants were starting to crop. I find French beans are always better eaten young and the golden variety we are are growing this year is pleasantly waxy.

This is a great dish to serve along side a grilled steak or chicken fillet or just on its own with other salads and has a pleasant aromatic spiciness which is lovely warm or cold, it also usefully uses a few small tomatoes too homegrown if you have those too. It would be a great take along dish for a bbq or party, much more exciting than the standard coleslaw.

What you need

• French beans - topped and tailed (not too large pods)
• Butter - a good sized knob
• Tomato - 1 large or couple of small - chopped 
• Clove of garlic - crushed
• Freshly ground cumin - 1 tsp ish
• Salt - pinch
• Pepper - to taste
• Fresh coriander leaves

What you do

• Simmer the prepared beans in a little salted water until tender, but still with a little body.
• Drain the beans and place in a small frying pan and cook with the butter, garlic, chopped tomato and cumin.
• Cook for a few minutes until the tomato pieces are softened, remove from heat, season to taste.
• Serve strewn with fresh corainder leaves

I'm joining in the foodie fun this month over on Tinned Tomatoes for No Croutons required.

                                                            

We are also linking up to Eat your Greens over at Allotment 2 kitchen

And finally we are linking up to The Spice Trail who's theme this month is Beach BBQ, hosted over on Bangers and Mash.                                                          

                              

Detail: French bean, tomato and cumin salad

0 Rocket, roasted tomato, basil and feta salad

This salad is seriously amazing for two main reasons firstly its tastes great and secondly as it uses plenty of rocket (arugula for our American friends), the reason why I like this is because we have a forest of of rocket growing in the vegetable garden. I enjoy rocket salads as our homegrown wild rocket has a spicy Parmesan cheese edge to its flavour so its great in combination with other Mediterranean salad ingredients. This salad is a mish mash of Italian and Greek flavours and screams languid hot summer days to me.

I am sure I can almost here Spanish guitars and feel Balearic breezes through the trees.....

I am sure if you didn't fancy roasting the tomatoes that some good sun dried tomatoes would be nearly as good in this dish, plus you could swap out the feta for local goat cheese, serve with chilled white wine and good bread, simple grilled meats or fish and good friends.

What you need

• Rocket (Arugula) - a good handful for each person
• Basil- a few sprigs - leaves picked off
• Feta or goats cheese - 1 block serves about 4 - chopped or crumbled
• 6 - 10 baby plum or cherry tomatoes - halved
• Extra virgin olive oil ( extra virgin rapeseed would also be good)
• Sprig of fresh thyme - leaves picked off
• White wine vinegar / balsamic vinegar / red wine vinegar
• Pinch of sugar
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

What you do 

• Heat your oven to 220c
• Toss the tomatoes in a little of the olive oil and place in a small oven tray, sprinkle with the thyme and a little sugar and season with salt and pepper.
• Roast for about 30 minutes or so until the tomatoes are slightly charred and soft (like in the bottom image)
• Cool ( you can store in the fridge for a while if you like, no snaffling !)
• iMake a dressing of the pan juices, a good slug of olive oil and some vinegar (you are going for 6/1 oil to vinegar ratio), taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
• To assemble the salad, toss the rocket in the dressing , then top with the cheese and roasted tomatoes and drizzle with a little more of the dressing.
• Strew with basil leaves
• Serve immediately and devour greedily.

I'm linking up to Simple and in Season, created by Ren Behan and hosted this month by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary.

                                            

I am also linking to Extra Veg created by Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy and hosted this month over at Maison Cupcake.

Detail: Rocket, roasted tomato, basil and feta salad

0 Hunters Chicken

This is a quick and easy recipe that can be on the table in about 40 minutes from getting home from work. Utilising store cupboard ingredients its a recipe that can pep up boring chicken breasts into a tasty evening meal, economy wise its pretty good too as it can also be used for emptying the fridge of the last couple of rashers of bacon and that small square of cheese languishing in the back of the fridge.

We always serve this with a rocket salad and if you have hungry bellies to fill a jacket potato would be good too.

What you need

• 2 skinless chicken breasts
• 6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
• Cheddar cheese - grated

BBQ sauce

• Tomato sauce (homemade in my case)- about 1/2 cup
• Vinegar ( I used homemade blackberry vinegar) - about 1/4 cup
• splash of worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp smoked paprika

Pre heat oven to 180c

• Wrap the chicken breasts with the bacon and place on your baking tray
• Sprinkle with grated cheese and pop in the pre heated oven for 15 minutes
• Whilst this is baking mix all the sauce ingredients together until you have a smooth sauce
• After the 15 minutes have passed, spoon the sauce over the chicken and bake for a further 20 minutes
• Serve with salad and spoon over the excess sauce

Detail: Hunters Chicken

0 Jamie Oliver -squash and spinach rotolo from Save with Jamie

Mr Lancashire Food has been oh so kind and bought me an early christmas pressie already, the latest work from Jamie Oliver (JO). Save with Jamie, features a selection of frugal recipes which aim to be popular with all the family, first impressions suggest this will be as popular as all his other books, of which I have quite a few.

To a lot of people Jamie Oliver can be a bit like marmite, you either love him or you hate him, personally I think that despite JO being a multi millionaire he has his feet firmly placed on the ground and admire the works he has done with young people and also with families encouraging them to get home cooking again.

The first recipe I chose to attempt from this book was his squash and spinach rotolo, JO's books always have a good Italian content and this one is no different, he has re invented one of his previous recipes from Jamie's Italy and made it more frugal by upping the vegetable content and more healthy too.

The recipe for the rotolo can be found here and its a recipe I would definitely make again as it made tasty supper dish, as always JO recipes are generous. 

Its a lovely book, my only compliant is that its a bit lacking on the dessert front, otherwise it a great book and one that I am happy to have on my bookshelf. In the next few weeks I'll be cooking more from the book, again like some of his other books he uses mothership recipes to springboard to linked recipes using the leftovers from the mothership in other dishes. There is plenty of vegeterian choice as well as meat and fish dishes and most of these are pretty frugal. 

On another note this is a cracking photo by Mr LF, in my humble opinion even better than the one in the book by the mighty Mr David Loftus no less. 

                                   

Detail: Jamie Oliver -squash and spinach rotolo from Save with Jamie

0 One pot pasta

I initially spotted a version of this recipe on Martha Stewart's website, intrigued I thought I would give this a go. Apparently cooking pasta and its sauce in the same pan is a traditional way of cooking pasta in the Puglia region of Italy, given that I love Italian food and its saves washing up what had I to lose. I haven't slavishy followed Martha's recipe and have created my own variation.

What you need

I am making a meal for 2 people

• 3oz of dried pasta per person (penne, spaghetti, farfelle, etc)
• Tin of chopped tomatoes
• Handful of fresh basil
• Pinch of dried oregano
• Pinch of chilli
• Chopped sun dried tomatoes (optional)
• 2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
• 1 small white onion - finely sliced
• Glug of olive oil
• 2 cups of vegetable stock
• Salt and pepper
• Parmesan cheese - to serve (freshly grated)

You will also need a large heavy cooking pot, I used my cast iron pot with a lid.

What you do

• Place everything in pan (except the parmesan)
• Bring to the simmer, cover and stir to prevent sticking every few minutes.
• Once the pasta is nearly tender, remove the lid, give it a stir and then continue to simmer until most of the moisture have come off the dish.
• Serve at once with freshly grated parmesan.

I was impressed by this dish as the pasta is cooked al dente and has a lovely creamy coating sauce on it. You could also add chopped cooked chicken, bacon or prawns at the end of the cooking if you want to up the protein content of the dish. Why not give it a try.

Detail: One pot pasta

0 Tomato focaccia

We love focaccia of all types and being lucky enough to have picked a large bowl of cherry tomatoes from the garden, we decided to use some of our bounty in a lovely fresh focaccia. Focaccia is a great bread to make and share with friends, especially if you have some great oil and vinegar to serve with it. Serve on a platter fresh from the oven Italian stylee, another bonus of this recipe is that you can use handfuls of fresh herbs just picked from the garden, I love this time of year when the garden is bountiful !

What you need

• 20g dried yeast
• 2 tsp sugar dissolved in warm water - 300ml
• 450g strong white bread flour (organic if you can get hold of it)
• Fresh thyme - picked and roughly chopped - 1tbsp
• Fresh rosemary - picked and roughly chopped - 1tbsp
• 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 4 good tbsp extra virgin olive oil - the best you can afford it does make a difference
• cherry tomatoes - halved if large
• Extra virgin olive oil - for sprinkling
• Sea salt - proper crystal flakes for a great finish

What you do

• Mix the yeast into the sugared warm water, leave to one side until the yeast is frothy, you are now ready to bake
• Place the flour, herbs and salt into a large bowl, ensure the salt is well distributed throughout 
• Make a well in the centre and mix in half of the yeast mixture, mix with your fingers , keep adding liquid and mixing, now add the olive oil, still mixing and semi kneading until you have a soft slightly sticky dough.(Depending on your flour and the weather will depend on whether you need all the liquid)
• Lightly flour the work surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes until you have a soft elastic dough.
• Put the dough in lightly oiled bowl and cover to rise until doubled in size, in a warm kitchen this will take approximately an hour.
• Meanwhile oil your baking tray or roasting dish with a little olive oil, remove dough from bowl and place in roasting dish, squishing with your fingers to one level and to the edges and corners of the pan.
• Cover the pan with a large plastic bag or clingfilm which you have lightly oiled to prevent the dough from sticking to it when rising.
• Let this prove for about 30 minutes
• Pre heat the oven to 190c 
• When ready to bake, press the your fingers all over the dough to make little dinks in the dough for the tomato pieces, once you have used all the tomatoes, sprinkle with a little more olive oil and some sea salt flakes.
• Bake for approx 30 minutes or so until golden and well risen
• Delicious hot or cold, once baked and cooled it also freezes well, double wrapped in foil

The fabulous photography is once again by the talented Mr Lancashire Food 

Detail: Tomato focaccia

0 Baked sausages and sweet baby tomatoes

Who doesn't like sausages ? I love this dish as its one of those which you can pull together in a few minutes and then bung in the oven for an hour or so whilst you do something else, yet the results taste like you have been slaving our a hot stove for hours. The other great thing is if you have any leftovers (unlikely but you never know) is its fab served with pasta the next day. Loosely based on a JO recipe this is a great italian style family friendly dish.

You will need

• Quality sausages (high meat content ) - ask your local butcher
• Small cherry tomatoes / cherry plum or similar
• 2 garlic cloves - peeled and finely chopped
• Selection of fresh garden herbs (bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, oregano in my case)
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Oven proof dish of appropriate size

What you do

• Place the sausages, tomatoes in your ovenproof dish, sprinkle with the herbs and garlic and tuck in the bay leaves and rosemary, drizzle with oil and balsamic vinegar and a little black pepper
• Bake in a preheat oven at 180c for approx 45 minutes until the sausages are cooked and the tomatoes  soft and a little caramalised
• Serve with your choice of chunks of bread, mashed potato, pasta or in our case potato wedges.

We had this dish served with sumac potato wedges and rocket salad

Detail: Baked sausages and sweet baby tomatoes

0 Fresh handmade tagliatelle and tomato sauce with sun dried tomatoes and creme fraiche

We are so happy to be invited to take part in a one off return of #BoothsCheers for the launch of Booths family of won label Italian wines. The selection includes a Chanti, Gavi Gavi, Pinot Grigio and a Prosecco all carefully sourced for the finest Italian vineyards by Booths.

We have devised this quick supper dish to perfectly complement the Pinot Grigio which is delicious chilled, the slight acidity of the wine perfectly cutting the creamy edge to the tomato sauce. The pasta of course is homemade using our homelaid eggs.

Pasta Ingredients ( per portion)

• 100g pasta flour
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt
• splash of water 

Pasta Method

• Sieve your flour and salt onto your work surface making a volcano crater like hole in the middle for your egg(s)
• Drop your egg(s) in to the hole

• Mix with your fingers until you have combined all the egg and have a soft sticky dough
• Knead this for about 5-7 minutes
• Leave to rest for approx 15 - 20 minutes , wrapped loosely in cling or a plastic bag, divide the dough by half to ease rolling out.
• If you don't have a pasta machine then you are now going to roll the pasta out manually, roll up your sleeve and flour your work surface well, Roll out until very thin and you can see a tea towel through the rolled out dough. 
• If using a pasta machine then put the dough through the machine on each setting approximately 5 /6 times, until the dough is smooth and very thin.

• Now leave the dough to dry for 10 minutes or so, on a clean  tea towel

• Cut the pasta into your desired shapes, I used my machine to make tagliatelle

• Toss in flour or polenta until ready to cook

• Cook by adding to boiling salted water , the pasta is cooked when it rises to the top of the water
• Drain and do as the italian's do and tosh the pasta with the sauce in the pan
• Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

Sauce Ingredients

• 1 clove of garlic - crushed
• 1 tin of tomatoes - crushed
• 1tbsp tomato puree
• 3 tbsp creme friache
• 1 tbsp sun dried tomatoes - chopped
• Flat leaf parsley - chopped
• Salt and Pepper
• Olive oil or oil off sun dried tomatoes
• Splash balsamic vinegar

Sauce Method

• Heat a little oil in a saucepan and gently fry the garlic until lightly golden
• Add the tin of tomatoes and the tomato puree to the pan, cook on a gentle simmer for 5 minutes
• Next add the sun dried tomatoes and the splash of balsamic
• Cook for a couple of minutes longer, remove from heat and stir in the creme fraiche and parsley
• Bring back to hot , but don't boil as your creme fraiche may split.
• Taste for seasoning and dress the pasta.

Serve with freshly grated parmesan and a glass of #BoothsCheers Pinot Grigio 

Detail: Fresh handmade tagliatelle and tomato sauce with sun dried tomatoes and creme fraiche

0 Lamb and Butter bean casserole

The season of stews and casseroles is now well established and more and more I am craving comfort food , you can't beat that smug satisfied feeling of walking through the door after a busy day at work to be greeted by the aroma of a wholesome stew or casserole ready in the slow cooker. Lamb is one of my favourite meats as it reared so well locally , the butter beans are  to provide a lovely nutritious plumper to the casserole.

If you don't have a slow cooker don't despair this casserole also cooks beautifully in the oven too in about 2 1/2 hours, so its just a case of planning ahead a bit.

Ingredients

• Diced casserole lamb - ask your butcher for whats best value
• Butter beans - either a drained tin, or  dried and soak your own overnight until plump
• 1/2 a can or bottle of beer - I used Murphy's stout but  a mild is nice too, or even a local brown ale, just watch the sweetness of the resulting sauce
• Stock - lamb or vegetable, I used E cuisines - vegetable - 150mls approx
• 2 sticks of celery - chopped
• Tin of chopped tomatoes
• Onion - peeled , sliced and roughly chopped
• Garlic - couple of cloves- crushed
• Parsley - fresh or dried
• Thyme - fresh or dried
• Bay leaf
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Sunflower oil

Method

• Heat a little oil in a large frying pan
• Fry off the diced lamb until it is well coloured, drain and remove from pan to your waiting slow cooker. If you are using a slow cooker your  ovenproof casserole dish.
• In the same pan, now add the celery, onion and garlic and cook until softened, again add to your slow cooker or dish.
• Now de-glaze the pan with your beer, tomatoes and stock , bring this to a gentle simmer and add all the other ingredients to the pan, except for the butter beans.
• Pour this into your slow cooker or oven proof dish, add the butter beans and stir to mix together.
• Cook on high in to your slow cooker for approx 6 hours ( could be longer) or if using a conventional oven for approximately 2 1/2 hours on 150C fan
• Your casserole is ready when the lamb is melting tender and the beans soft and yielding.
• If using a regular oven you may need to add more stock if the casserole becomes a little dry
• Serve accompanied by some great bread and green vegetables.

Detail: Lamb and Butter bean casserole