Shrimp Creole

This was someone a little bit different, I've been trying a few Southern classics recently to go with a packet of dirty rice I bought from the States and this was really gorgeous, lovely and spicy and it went perfectly with the rice.

Shrimp Creole (from Deep South Dish)

(Serves 4-6)

 

31-35 prawns, peeled and deveined

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp butter

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

2 800g tins chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp plain flour

2 tbsp water

1/2 tsp Cajun or Creole seasoning

couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce

couple dashes of hot sauce, optional

1 spring onion, sliced

1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

 

In a large frying pan heat the oil and butter together over medium heat. Add the onion, green pepper and celery and saute until tender, about 5 mins. Add the chopped tomatoes to the veggie mixture. Add the salt, cayenne pepper, garlic and bay leaf and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 30 mins, or until reduced and thickened.

Mix together the flour and water and stir into the tomato mixture. Continue cooking for another 5 mins. Sprinkle the prawns with the Cajun seasoning and add it to the tomato mixture. Add a couple of shakes of the Worcestershire sauce and the hot sauce, and stir together. Cook for another 5 to 6 mins, or until the prawns are pink and cooked through. Stir in the spring onion and parsley and keep on low until well incorporated and heated through. Serve over rice.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

A few weeks ago there was a bake sale at school in aid of Great Ormaond Street Hospital. Any offerings had to be healthy. I made some White Chocolate Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, the addition of the pumpkin making them more healthy although with all the sugar I'm not so sure! The sale did really well and made £430! This cause is one that is very close to my heart, I had a couple of operations there as a child, so I was very pleased at how well the parents did.

 

White Chocolate Pumpkin Snickerdoodles (from Sally's Baking Addiction)

(Makes about 20)

 

115g unsalted butter

50g light or dark brown sugar

175g granulated sugar, divided

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 tbsp pumpkin puree

190g plain flour 

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon, divided

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

100g white chocolate chips

Melt the butter in the microwave. In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, the brown sugar, and 100g of the granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the vanilla and pumpkin until smooth. Set aside.

Sieve the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 and 1/2 tsp cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice into the wet mixture and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft. 

Fold in the white chocolate chips. They may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to disperse them evenly throughout the dough. Cover the dough and chill for 30 mins, or up to 3 days. Chilling is important to enable to dough to be used.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix together the remaining 75g of the granulated sugar and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Roll the dough into balls and then roll the dough balls generously in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and arrange on 2 baking sheets. Slightly flatten the dough balls because the cookies will only slightly spread in the oven.

Bake the cookies for 8-10 mins. The cookies will look very soft and underbaked. Keeping them in the oven for longer may dry them out.  Remove from the oven.

Allow the cookies to cool for at least 10 mins on the cookie sheets before transferring to a wire rack.

Meal Planning Monday

This is just a really quick post as I ran out of time yesterday to type up a proper post. So this is my plan for the week, minus any links, I'll try to go back later in the week and put them in. Uber busy week this week!

Monday

Chipotle Chicken and Avocado Wrap (What Katy Ate)

Prawn and Veg Enchiladas

Tuesday

Smoked Mackerel Potato Salad

Ratatouille with Saffron Rice (Jamie's 15 Min Meals)

Wednesday

Couscous Salad with Turkey and Veg (WW Own)

Salmon and Broccoli Pasta Bake with Salad and Garlic Bread

Thursday

Tuna Pasta with Lemon, Olives and Cucumber

Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Friday

Superfood Salad with Feta and Mint (Amazing Grains)

Home

Pasta with Sausage, Swiss Chard and Pesto

This was a really simple pasta dish to make, delicious flavours especially with the chard from the garden. The original recipe used red presto and I swapped it for green pesto.

Pasta with Sausage, Swiss Chard and Pesto (adapted from Thyme for Cooking)
(Serves 2)

4 sausages

3 medium shallots, chopped

180g swiss chard, chopped

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp pesto 

120g dried fettuccini

Cook the pasta according to packet instructions. Grill, fry or bake the sausages then slice into 1 in slices.

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the paprika, shallots and chard stalks and sauté for 3 mins. Add the chard and sauté for 5 mins longer.

When the pasta is done, drain, reserving a few tbsp of pasta water.  Add the pasta to the frying pan along with the sausages and the pesto.

Stir to combine, adding a bit of pasta water to thin if needed. Serve.

Tuna, Anchovy, Sun Dried Tomato and Cannellini Beans

I've tried a few combinations of beans and tuna salad and this one is really lovely, it looks like it should be really oily but it's not at all. The dressing is actually really lovely and light.

Tuna, Anchovy, Sun Dried Tomato and Cannellini Beans

(from Grains - Molly Brown)

(Serves 4)

1 250g tin tuna in spring water

2 400g tins cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

75g sun dried tomatoes

16 anchovies, chopped

1 red onion, finely sliced

40 black olives, pitted and halved

3 tbsp parsley, chopped

salt and pepper

180ml olive oil

juice 1 lemon

2 tsp Dijon mustard

Put the tuna, beans, tomatoes, anchovies, onion, olives and parsley into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix together the olive oil, lemon juice and mustard in a small bowl. 

Pour the dressing over the bean and tuna mixture, being careful not to squash the beans. Season if necessary.

Jamie's 15 Minute Meals: Lamb Lollipops with Curry Sauce and Rice andPeas

This was deceptively easy, the recipe looked very complicated but wasn't at all. I've find that a lot with these Jamie recipes, the ingredients list is very long but the recipe is really simple if needing quick work to get everything ready on time. This one was absolutely delicious and just the idea of lamb lollipops is so cool! I am still a bit dubious about adding uncooked lentils to the rice and then only cooking them for five mins but it doesn't seem to have done me any harm!

Lamb Lollipops with Curry Sauce and Rice and Peas

(from Jamie's 15 Minute Meals)

(Serves 4)

Rice and Peas
300g basmati rice
8 cloves
40g dried red split lentils
300g podded raw or garden peas

Lamb
8 large lamb cutlets on the bone, trimmed of fat
1 tbsp garam masala
olive oil
4 spring onions
1 fresh red chili
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
4 jarred red peppers
1 heaped tsp runny honey
balsamic vinegar
3 sprigs of fresh coriander

Curry sauce
2 tbsp korma paste
1 400g tin of light coconut milk
1 lemon

Garnishes
2 uncooked poppadoms
fat-free natural yoghurt

Put 1 mug of rice and 2 mugs of boiling water into the medium pan with a pinch of salt and the cloves, then put the lid on, stirring occasionally. Rub the lamb with salt, pepper and the garam masala, bash and flatten them with your fist, then put into one of the hot frying pans with 1 tablespoon of oil, turning when gnarly and golden brown.

Put the korma paste and coconut milk into the other frying pan with the juice of 1/2 a lemon, stir together, bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes, then turn the heat off. Mix the lentils into the rice. Trim and slice the spring onions, chili, peeled ginger and peppers, then toss in with the lamb. Stir the peas into the rice and lentils.

Pour half the curry sauce into a bowl (pop the rest in the fridge to use another day). Break up the uncooked poppadoms and pop in the microwave (800W) for a minute or two to puff up. At the last minute, toss the lamb with the honey and a splash of balsamic. Serve the lamb scattered with coriander leaves and scrunched-up poppadoms, with the rice and peas, yoghurt and lemon wedges on the side.

Salami and Sesame Potato Salad

I made a few changes to the original recipe mostly because I knew I wanted to eat it cold rather than warm. My potatoes melted rather quickly but the salad was tasty, kind of bog standard for what I make normally with the lemon mayonnaise but the salami was a bit different and I had really good garlicy salami.

Salami and Sesame Potato Salad (froim The Good Food Channel)

(Serves 4)

800g waxy new potatoes, cut into even sized pieces

4 tbsp mayonnaise

juice 1 lemon

150g salami, thinly sliced

small bunch of dill, chopped

salad leaves

2 tbsp seeds

Put the potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to the boil, then cook until tender. Drain and set aside.

Heat a frying pan to medium heat, add the sesame seeds and toast for about 6–8 mins, until golden. Set aside.

Mix together the lemon, mayonnaise and dill together and season.

Arrange the salad leaves in a serving bowl, toss the potatoes and salami with half of the lemon mayonnaise and pile on top of the lettuce. Scatter with the sesame seeds serve.

Breton Tuna and Bean Gratin

I made a few changes to this recipe, I used creme fraiche instead of cream and cannellini instead of haricot beans but given that I made a purée with them it didn't much matter! This was a really delicious gratin, lovely with a crash green salad.

 

 

Breton Tuna and Bean Gratin (from Grains, Seeds and Legumes by Molly Brown)

(Serves 4)

1 onion, finely chopped

6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 1/2 tsp oil

2 400g tins haricot beans

salt and pepper

2 tbsp creme fraiche

2 tbsp milk

1 tin tuna in olive oil

1 tsp chilli flakes

40g grated Gruyere or cheddar

2 tbsp coarse white breadcrumbs

15g butter

1 tbsp chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 180C. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium low heat and sauté the onion until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and cook for another 4 mins or so. Drain one of the tins of beans and add to the pan, then add the remaining tinned beans and their juices. Season well and set the pan over a low hear so that the beans can meld with the onion.

Transfer the beans and onions to a food processor and blitz to a purée. Add the creme fraiche and milk and mix them in. Tip the mixture into a bowl and add the tuna and its olive oil, the chilli and half the cheese. Stir together. Scrape the mixture into a small oven-proof dish and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and the rest of the cheese on top. Bake for 25-30 mins until golden on top, sprinkling the parsley over 5 mins before the end of cooking. 

Spelt, Beetroot and Goat's Cheese Salad

The inspiration for this came from a Waitrose ready to go meal and I used the ingredients on the packet   minus the rubbish to make my own version. The original has lentils in it but I didn't have any so I left them out. The salad was ok, not the best thing ever but decent.

Spelt, Beetroot and Goat's Cheese Salad

(Serves 1)

1 small beetroot, quartered

50g spelt 

1 tbsp mayonnaise

1 tbsp creme fraiche 

Squeeze lemon juice

handful mint, chopped

handful spinach

25g goat's cheese, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Put the beetroot in the middle of a piece of tin foil drizzle with balsamic vinegar scrunch the tin foil over the top of the beetroot and bake in the oven for 1 hour until soft. Leave to cool.

Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the spelt and cook according to packet instructions. Drain, run under the cold tap, drain again well.

Mix the mayonnaise, creme fraiche and lemon together in a bowl. Chop the beetroot into small pieces and add them and the spelt and mint to the mayonnaise mixture. Mix well to combine. Add in the spinach and goats cheese and stir gently. Pack into a lunch box or serve.

Crab and Sweet Chilli Pasta

This is a bit of a different pasta sauce. The addition of the sweet chilli was really interesting and lightly spicy. I used tinned crab rather than fresh as it's much cheaper but it was a really fresh and delicious sauce.

 

 

Crab and Sweet Chilli Pasta

(Serves 4)

I tbsp olive oil

200g red peppers, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 onion, finely chopped

4 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

100ml fish stock or water

400g tin chopped tomatoes

350g fresh crab meat

250g spaghetti

1 tbsp chopped coriander

salt and pepper

Heat some oil in a pan and add the peppers, garlic, onion and a pinch of salt. Cook over a medium heat until soft. Add the sweet chilli sauce, fish stock and chopped tomatoes. Simmer for 20 mins.

Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta according to packet instructions. Add the crab and coriander to the sauce then stir in the pasta. Toss together well, season and serve.