Tuna Kebabs

For the Friday of the last Bank Holiday I had a home made takeaway of kebabs and rice. I went for Tuna with an Asian feel and peppers and cherry tomatoes but you could pretty much use any veg that's good on a kebab. I served it over egg fried rice with salad.

Tuna Kebabs (from Better Recipes)
(Serves 4)

4 tuna steaks, cut into chunks
2 onions, quartered
2 peppers, cut into large chunks
8 cherry tomatoes

For the marinade
1/2 bunch coriander, chopped
30ml toasted sesame oil
juice 1 limes
1 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 piece ginger, grated
1 tbsp soy sauce

Mix together marinade ingredients.

Thread the tuna and vegetables onto skewers. If using bamboo skewers, soak in water for 5 minutes before so they do not burn. Pour half the marinade over the skewers and refrigerate for half an hour.

Preheat the grill and grill kebabs for 5-7 mins per side. Serve.

Butterscotch Oat Bars

I made these for my Staff Meeting this week and they went down a treat. I wasn't at the meeting but I got lots of compliments when I got back. They are yummy and you can now find butterscotch chips in Sainsburys.

Butterscotch Oat Bars (from Jay's Baking Me Crazy)

155g plain flour
180g oats
½ tsp salt
115g butter
130g butterscotch chips
200g brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla

For the glaze
50g brown sugar
2 tbsp water
90g butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 23cm x 23cm pan with baking parchment.

Put the butterscotch chips in a large bowl. Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until nutty brown in color, about 10 mins, stirring regularly with a whisk to prevent burning.

Pour the butter over butterscotch chips and stir until chips are completely melted and smooth.

Stir in sugar and mix until dissolved. Add the vanilla and the egg and mix well. Stir in the flour, oats and salt.

Press into the greased and lined pan and bake for 18-20 mins.

When you take the bars out of the oven, make the glaze. Mix the water and brown sugar in a microwaveable bowl and microwave for 30-60 secs or until it starts to just boil.

Remove from the microwave and add the butterscotch chips, stir until completely smooth. Pour over the warm bars. Leave to cool fully, at least 2 hours, before cutting into squares.

Squash and Lentil Curry

To go with the Saag Paneer I made a Squash and Lentil Curry, it was gently spicy rather than mega spicy but the flavour was delicious.

Squash and Lentil Curry (from Oh She Glows)
(Serves 4-6)

1 tsp oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp curry powder
1l vegetable stock
200g red lentils
1 butternut squash, cooked
fresh grated ginger, to taste
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Saute for about 5 mins over a low-medium heat.

Stir in the curry powder and cook for another couple of mins. Add the stock and lentils and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 mins.

Stir in the cooked butternut squash and cook over a medium heat for about 5-8 mins. Season with salt, pepper, and add some freshly grated ginger to taste.

Meal Planning Monday

Another Monday. So last week was busy, at the minute it slows down in June so I'm looking forward to the rest!

My veg bag arrived and this week I got cauliflower, mushrooms, salad leaves, carrots and dried chilli. I'm getting a bit bored of cauliflower, but I'm sure I can think of something to turn it into. 

This is what my garden looks like. I love this time of year and get all excited when the tiny plants start pushing through the soil.

On Saturday night my sister came over and we had a barbecue in my back garden, one of the highlights was definitely making s'mores. We had some with milk chocolate and some with white reeses pieces. Yum!

Yesterday I went to a talk at The London Library on building a character. The speakers were Nicholas Hytner, Simon Callow, Simon Russell Beale, Natascha McElhone and Harriet Walter and I did swoon just a bit! Afterwards we went for tea in The Parlour in Fortnum and Mason. I had the Pavlova with Passionfruit Curd and Raspberries, which was delicious. 

This week is busy too, tonight I'm free, tomorrow I have a mentor meeting, Wednesday is Big Dance rehearsal, Thursday I am going to Denim N Dine (a pop-up by Pedro Passinhas, which I am very excited about), Friday I am going to a friends house for dinner and I am going to my parents for the weekend. Like I said, I'm looking forward to doing very little in June!!

Monday 

Zesty Macaroni Cheese

Warm Mackerel with Potatoes and Wild Garlic

Tuesday 

Carrot, Parsnip and Lentil Casserole with Salad

Chicken Sausage Sandwich with Crisps 

Wednesday

Mediterranean Quinoa Bowls 

Goose Curry with Rice

Thursday 

Smoked Salmon, Vegetable and Barley Chowder

Out at Denim n Dine

Friday

Kielbasa, Potato and Sauerkraut Soup
Out at a friends

Secret Recipe Club: Saag Paneer

It's time for Secret Recipe Club again. I was going to sit this month out as I'm changing groups but then there was a orphan in my new group and I wanted to help.

So this month I got Ellie from The Hobo Kitchen, I could have chosen lots of her recipes but I went for a curry and saag paneer. Partly because it meant that I could do something I have wanted to do for aaaages, make paneer from scratch and I did just that! The recipe was posted a couple of days ago. It was yummy, I served the saag paneer in dosas, which are a kind of Indian pancake and accompanied it with a squash and lentil curry. Yum!

Saag Paneer (from Hobo Kitchen)

(Serves 4)

400g paneer, cubed
200g spinach
1 chilli, deseeded and chopped
2 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, grated
1 inch ginger, grated
2 tsp coriander powder
2 1/4 tsp cumin powder
1 1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
3/4 tsp garam masala
salt

Put the spinach and the chilli in a food processor and blitz until pureed.

Put the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the paneer. Fry until golden. Then remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel.

Add the onion and grated garlic and ginger to the oil and fry until the mixture is lightly browned. Add all the spices except the garam masala.and stir. Leave the mixture to cook for about 5 mins, stirring occasionally.

Add the spinach to the onion mixtures and stir to combine. Season with salt. Lower the heat to a simmer. Let the mixture simmer for about 5 mins. Stir in the garam masala and the paneer. Leave all the ingredients to simmer for another five mins. Serve.

An InLinkz Link-up

Paneer

I have been wanting to make cheese for a while, and this was really simple to make. I would say that you need a very large pan as when my milk boiled it rose out of the pan and splashed all over the hob! Paneer is bland, so it needs lots of spices to give it flavour, I turned it into a recipe that will post in a couple of days time.

Paneer (from BBC Food)
(Makes 250g)

2 litres whole milk
200-250ml fresh 'live' yoghurt, or 2 tbsp lemon juice

Bring the milk to the boil in a heavy-based saucepan.

Once the milk starts to boil and rise up, stir in the yoghurt or lemon juice. Keeping the milk on the heat, stir gently to help the milk curdle; it should only take about a minute. If it does not separate, add the rest of the yoghurt and keep stirring. The curds will coagulate and separate from the watery whey.

Remove from the heat. Line a large sieve with muslin or cheesecloth and place over a large bowl or saucepan. Strain the cheese into the sieve and run some cold water through it. Discard the whey or use for another purpose.

Wrap the cheese in the cloth and hang from the kitchen tap over the sink to allow the excess water to drain for 20 mins. Then, keeping it fairly tight, put the paneer onto a clean work surface. Place a heavy weight on top for 30-40 mins, or until it is flattened into a firm block.

Store any unused pieces in the fridge in water and cover. You can also freeze the paneer in an airtight container. Defrost before use.

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

I made this salad using up the ends of jars and things in the fridge. It was very tasty and very simple to make. 

Mediterranean Pasta Salad
(Serves 1)

50g pasta shapes
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
8 olives, halved
2 artichoke hearts, quartered
1 spring onion, sliced
1/4 bag baby spinach
1 tsp capers
20g feta cheese
1 tbsp pesto
1-2 slices parma ham, torn into smaller pieces

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

Put all the ingredients up to the cheese in a bowl and stir gently to combine. Put into a bowl or lunchbox and top with the parma ham. Serve.

Tzatziki Pasta Salad

I love a pasta salad and this was delicious.

Tzatziki Pasta Salad (from Spicy Southern Kitchen)
(Serves 4)

For the dressing

100g plain Greek yoghurt
35 ml mayonnaise
20g feta cheese
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

250g dried pasta, cooked to al dente
170g marinated artichoke hearts, drained, halved or quarted
16 black olives
12 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
1 small cucumber, diced
4 spring onions, sliced
40g feta cheese
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta according to packet instructions.

In a bowl, stir together greek yogurt, mayonnaise, feta cheese, garlic, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil to make the dressing.

In a large bowl, combine the pasta, artichoke hearts, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, cucumber, and spring onion.

Pour the dressing over the pasta mixture and toss to coat, put into a serving bowl. Sprinkle the rest of the feta and the fresh dill on top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Meal Planning Monday

Last week was fab, with lots of cake! On Monday I went pond dipping with the Nursery children at school and we saw a peacock, which was quite spectacular.

On Tuesday I met a friend for Vietnamese food, the only thing I managed to take a picture of were some rice paper rolls, delicious.

Afterwards we went for cake at Cutter and Squidge and had Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake and Eaton Mess Cake.

Yesterday I went to the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park to see the Cherry Blossom, it was beautiful.

After that we went to Primrose Bakery for cake. I had Cookie Dough Layer Cake and a Coffee Milkshake.

This week is once again busy. Today will be taken up with cooking and gardening. Then theatre Tuesday and Thursday, Big Dance rehearsal on Wednesday and then I am going to a talk at the London Library on Sunday.

Monday
Partridge Fajitas
Stuffed Swordfish with Garlic Mash

Tuesday
Vegan Garam Masala Carrot Soup with a Scone
Out before the theatre

Wednesday
Crab Sandwich with Crisps
Goose Curry with Rice

Thursday
Jerusalem Artichoke and Rosemary Soup with a Scone
Out before the theatre

Friday
Mushroom and Spinach Quiche with Salad
Curried Duck Breast with Mango Mayo

Saturday
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
Pulled Goat Sandwich with Cranberry Chipotle BBQ Sauce

Sunday
Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Sandwich with Crisps
White Chicken Chilli with Rice

Chicken Stock

When I have a roast chicken I like to use every part of the chicken, so I always make stock with the bones. It also tastes better! This recipe comes from my Mum, it's the one she has been making for years and so I have no idea where it originally came from. This time round I used the stock in soup and I froze the leftovers.

Chicken Stock

1 chicken carcass from a roast chicken
2 carrots, cut into large chunks
1 potato, quartered
1 onion, quartered
2 bay leaves

Put all the ingredients into large pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for an hour, skimming the scum and fat off the top occasionally.

After an hour, drain through a sieve into a bowl, keeping the liquid, leave to cool. Put into the fridge overnight and all the fat will float to the top. Skim off the fat with a slotted spoon and your stock is ready to use.