Month: June 2015

My weekend in pictures

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Thursday: Half price Itsu, Paddington central, Post work   Homemade Top Corn – coconut oil, brown sugar and cinnamon   Friday: Bodeans BBQ, Soho – ribs, pulled pork, brisket, cornbread muffins and wet fries  Saturday (fast day) – post run soup. Looked DISGUSTING, tasted quite pleasant. Sauteed red onion, garlic and courgette in olive oil. Add fresh spinach, nutmeg, salt and pepper, fennel seeds, stock cubes and water. Simmer for 10 minutes, blitz and finish with Greek yoghurt.   Fast day dinner: 500 calories a day is absolutely killer for someone who is obsessed with food. I decided to go against all my food instincts and wolfed down boiled eggs on frozen veg. After a day of starving, was bloody delicious.  Sunday BBQ: I have no idea what the rules are. Advertisements

Avocado & lemon pesto spaghetti with Parma ham

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This delicious pesto dish is ready to eat in the time it takes to cook the pasta and is a great way to use up really ripe avocados. I use a couple of tricks to make this recipe extra special – using avocado creates a light and creamy pesto, and is a healthier alternative to cream or oil. I also add a little of the starchy cooking water to the sauce to help it to coat all of the spaghetti. Serves 4 Ingredients: 300g spaghetti a large bunch of fresh basil 2 garlic cloves 50g pine nuts, toasted 50g parmesan cheese, grated 2 avocados, really ripe ½ lemon, zest only 4 slices of Parma ham salt and pepper (You will need a pestle and mortar or a food processor) Preheat the grill on a medium heat and boil a kettle. Add the spaghetti to a large pan of salted boiling water and cook according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile, roughly chop up the basil and add to your pestle and mortar with the garlic, parmesan, …

green coriander chutney

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I’m working on some lovely Indian dishes in my little old kitchen at the moment and here’s a little taster of things to come. A punchy, green chutney full of chilli, curry leaf, lemon and herbs! It’s perfect with poppadoms, naan bread, drizzled over BBQ meat or kebabs or stirred into soup or dhal! Serves 4 1 big handful of coriander 1 sprig of curry leaves 1 garlic clove 2 green finger chillies 1 sprig of mint mint the juice from ½ a lemon a glug of groundnut oil a pinch of salt a pinch of sugar Roughly chop the herbs, chillies and the garlic and blend everything in a mini food processor to a puree. Taste and add more seasoning if required. Done.

Black & White Pudding Pasties

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Hello, I’m Beth and I’m addicted to black pudding. I regularly exceed my RDA of iron and I am constantly looking for new ways to get my next fix. Last weekend, with an abundance of black and white pudding I have in my fridge from The Bury Black Pudding Company, I decided to find another excuse to ‘go to town’ on blood pudding and created the perfect lunch for my cousins to enjoy whilst working hard on their allotment! If you’ve never had white pudding i’d highly recommend it. It’s like black pudding, but without the blood (so basically a sausage, with plenty of pepper, spices and a firm, meaty texture). Ingredients 1 onion 2 medium potatoes 1 large black pudding sausage, chubb 1 large white pudding sausage a good glug of rapeseed oil 1 tsp English mustard 1 bay leaf a small sprig of thyme a handful of parsley 5 sage leaves 1 sheet of shortcrust pastry 1 egg salt and pepper a punnet of cress, for garnish Preheat the oven to 180°c Peel and dice up the …

My store cupboard essential: what’s yours?

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Oh boy, do I love a good chutney tray in an Indian restaurant (yes I do).  At home, I have spent many years buying pre-made Sharwoods poppadoms (around £2 for 8 poppadoms). I now realize that i’ve been CONNED. If you’re like me and didn’t know that popping your own poppadoms was so easy then take my hand and let’s float away into the future of fast, healthy, cheap snacking. MY STORE CUPBOARD ESSENTIAL: RAW POPPADOMS These babies are an absolute gem: 1 pack of 15 costs £1! (more than half the price of ready made) each poppadom has under 30 calories (that’s less than a small bag of popcorn) heat for 15 seconds in the microwave (and their ready to eat straight away) you can rub each side in butter, coconut oil or ghee (for a richer taste) you deep fry in hot oil for a couple of seconds (Indian restaurant-style) Save a couple of quid on a takeaway and make your own If you’re craving a packet of crisps, whip up a couple with a jar of …