Noodle Bowl Salad

I am having a love affair with rice noodles at the moment, I could eat them all day everyday. One of my favourite recipes is Chinese Sausage with Barbecue Sauce, Noodles and Greens, Stir Fried Fish with Dill and Rice Noodles is also fantastic, and in this weather you can't beat Thai Yellow Prawn Noodle Soup. But this recipe is for cold rice noodles in a salad. It includes many of my favourite ingredients, hot smoked salmon, sugar snap peas and that lovely Asian dressing. I also added some cooked greens to the dish and it was delicious. I took this for lunch and packed the dressing in a separate pot as I find if I add it in the morning it makes everything mushy.

Noodle Bowl Salad (adapted from Good Food Magazine July 2004)
(Serves 2)
(12 WW ProPoints per serving)

120g dried rice noodles
200g sugar snap peas, sliced lengthways
4 spring onions, thinly sliced diagonally
pack coriander, roughly torn
100g pack hot smoked flaked salmon

For the dressing
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp clear honey
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp groundnut or sunflower oil
1 plump garlic clove, finely grated
knob root ginger, coarsely grated

Drop the noodles into a large bowl, then pour over enough boiling water to cover, leave for as long as directed on the packet. With 4 mins to go tip in the sliced sugar snap peas. Drain in a colander, put under cold running water to cool off, then drain again.

Meanwhile, mix the dressing ingredients. Pile spring onions, coriander and salmon onto the noodles, pour over the dressing and toss everything together.

Nigella's Mexican Lasagne

I've always wanted to try constructing a lasagne with tortillas rather than pasta and I got around to trying it a couple of weeks ago. This is a delicious vegetarian Mexican feast courtesy of Nigella and is much simpler to make than it's taste suggests. I may try making a chicken fajita version of this next as those tortillas soak up so much lovely flavour.

Mexican Lasagne (from Nigella Kitchen)
(Serves 8)
(12 WW ProPoints per serving)

For the sauce
1 tbsp garlic oil
1 onion, chopped
1 pepper, chopped
2 chillies, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp coriander stalks, finely chopped
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes, plus 400ml water swilled from the empty cans
1 tbsp tomato ketchup

For the filling
2 x 400g cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 x 250g cans sweetcorn
250g cheddar, grated
1 packet soft tortillas

Preheat the oven to 200C.

To make the sauce, heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions, pepper and chilli. Add the salt and cook gently for 15 mins and, once soft, add the chopped coriander stalks.

Add the chopped tomatoes, then swill the cans out with water and add this too. Spoon in the ketchup and let things come to simmer, leaving the sauce to cook whilst you prepare the filling - about 10 mins.

To make the filling, mix the drained beans and sweetcorn in a bowl. Add most of the cheese, reserving some to sprinkle on top, and mix.

Assemble the lasagne by spooning over about a third of the sauce into the bottom of your ovenproof dish, then layer on 2 tortillas so that they cover the sauce, overlapping slightly.

Add a third of the beans and cheese mixture, covering the tortillas, and then quarter of the remaining sauce and another 2 tortillas.

Repeat with another third of the beans and cheese, some more sauce before layering on another 2 tortillas.

Finally add a last layer of beans and cheese, nearly all of the remaining salsa and cover with the last two tortillas. Spread the last bit of salsa over the tortillas and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake in the oven for 30 mins and let it rest for 10 mins before serving. Serve with guacamole and sour cream.

Courgette and Carrot Mini Muffins

I have to say that I don't usually frequent the CBeebies website, but for healthy and exceptionally easy recipes they come up trumps. I have spent the last few months eating WeightWatchers snacks, which are, if I'm honest, not the most palatable things in the world. Don't get me wrong some of the biscuits are pretty good, but if I have to be committed to a life of nougat instead of that nice Kitkat chunky for a chocolate bar, and cakes that don't just look, but also taste flat, you may as well shoot me now.

So I have been on mission to find cake that is about 2-3 points, which is the average pointage of my afternoon snack. It's been a hard call, almost all cakes, even that on the WeightWatchers website, are 4 or higher. This is not so on the CBeebies website where they are trying to promote healthy eating among pre-schoolers. The portions are smaller, therefore the points are smaller and with my huge courgette crop, these muffins gave me the perfect answer to my quest. They are also the easiest and quickest cakes ever, taking about 20 mins from start to finish.

Courgette and Carrot Mini Muffins (from CBeebies)
(Makes 9)
(2 WW ProPoints per serving)

1 egg
1 courgette, grated
1 carrot, grated
2 tbsp milk
1 heaped tbsp raisins
1 tbsp sunflower oil
75g plain flour
15g light soft brown sugar
1 level teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 220ºC.

Break the egg into the bowl and whisk it with a fork. Add the grated courgette, grated carrot, raisins, milk and sunflower oil.

In the other bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and baking powder.

Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and give it a good stir.

Spoon the mixture into small muffin cases in a muffin tray. Place the tray in the oven and bake for 12–15 minutes. 

Smoked Haddock and Sweet Potato Pie

I am loving sweet potato at the moment and I bought a load of smoked haddock when it was on offer so when I found this fish pie recipe I had to make it. It's so simple yet so tasty. You could add pretty much any veg instead of spinach, leeks would work well I think. I served it with a large green salad.

Smoked Haddock and Sweet Potato Pie (adapted from The Ultimate Philadelphia Cookbook)
(Serves 4)
(11 WW ProPoints per serving)

 1kg sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3 cm cubes
120g soft cheese with garlic and herbs
300g undyed smoked haddock
300g haddock loin
100g spinach
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp old bay seasoning

Preheat the oven to 190C. In a large saucepan cover the potatoes with water, bring to the boil and cook for about 10 mins or until soft. Drain well mash with 20g of the soft cheese. Set aside

Place the fish in a steamer and steam for 8-10 mins or until just cooked, add the spinach to wilt for the last couple of minutes.. Remove the skin and any bones, flake the fish and place in a large ovenproof dish.

Combine the remaining soft cheese and milk and spoon over the fish. Sprinkled with the Old Bay Seasoning and top with the mash sweet potato and bake for 20 mins until the sauce is bubbling around the edges of the dish and the potato is browned.

Curried Chicken Pasta Salad

This is a smashing pasta salad. The flavour combination is wonderful and the lovely sultanas add a nice sweetness to the dish.

Curried Chicken Pasta Salad (adapted from Good Food Magazine August 2012)
(Serves 4)
(13 WW ProPoints per serving)

240g dried pasta                                                                                            
4 tbsp light mayonnaise
4 tsp curry paste
150g pot natural yogurt
juice ½ lemon                                                 
2 tbsp mango chutney
50g sultanas                                                                                                                                          
½ cucumber, deseeded and diced
2 chicken breasts, shredded into chunks                                        

Boil the pasta in salted water for 8 mins. Drain, then cool under the cold tap.

Meanwhile, mix the mayo, curry paste, yogurt, lemon juice, chutney and sultanas with plenty of seasoning. Add the pasta, chicken and cucumber, and toss everything together to coat in the curried mayonnaise. Pack into a container or bowl.

Orange Sole with Summer Veg

This was one of my last meals using produce from the garden, pretty good going in October. It features courgettes and tomatoes from the garden as well as the potatoes. It was lovely dish that reminded me of the bounty of summer in cold rainy October!

Orange Sole with Summer Veg (from WW Cooking for One)
(Serves 1)
(4 WW ProPoints per serving)

cooking spray
1 small courgette, cut into matchsticks
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
50g sugar snap or mange tout peas
1 small orange
2 spring onions
25g fresh breadcrumbs
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
150g sole fillet
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Spray a shallow oven proof dish with cooking spray and put the courgettes, tomatoes and mange tout into it, spreading them over the base.

Finely grate the zest from half an orange and put it in a bowl. Squeeze the juice and add half to the bowl with the spring onions, breadcrumbs and the parsley. Season and mix together. Put the fish fillet on a work surface, skin side up, and spread the stuffing on top. Roll up and place on top of the veg. Sprinkle with the remaining orange juice.

Cover the dish with a lid or a piece of foil and bake for 25-30 mins or until the fish is done to your liking. It should be opaque and flake easily. Serve.

Courgette and Halloumi Skewers

I am having a wonderful, if busy half term so far. My mum is staying for a few days and on Monday we went to the V&A to see both the Ballgowns exhibition and the Hollywood Costume exhibition. The Ballgowns exhibition was wonderful in parts and there were some spectacular dresses with the more modern seeming to get more unwearable. There was a fantastic dress which was in material that looked like a quilt belonging to my Grandmother, and which had a fairytale scene on it with flaps sewn on, like in a kids story book, which opened to reveal little animals or faces. It was just fantastic. The Hollywood Costume was crowded, so many people, but we managed to have a quick look round and there is everything from Indiana Jones to Darth Vader and Harry Potter to those infamous ruby slippers!  I can't wait to go back and have another proper look round.

The afternoon was spent shopping for new work clothes for me as I have dropped two dress sizes with my diet and nothing I own workwise fits anymore! I look like a drowned rat! So we went on a mission and came back with a skirt, two tops and a dress! Very Happy, now if I only I could find a pair of trousers that fit!

This is a really really simple dinner but oh so tasty. I made a little tzatziki as a kind of dip as I feared that the halloumi would make the meal too dry. I served the skewers with rice and it had a lovely Greek feel to it.

Courgette and Halloumi Skewers (from Good Food Magazine August 2012)
(Serves 4)
(7 WW ProPoints per serving)

1/2 tsp chilli powder
small handful mint, chopped
zest and juice 1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
2 courgette, cut into rounds
225g pack of halloumi, cubed

Mix the chilli, half the mint, lemon zest and juice, oil, courgettes and halloumi. Leave to marinate for 30 mins. Soak 8 wooden skewers for 20 mins.

Thread the courgettes and halloumi onto the skewers. Cook under the grill, for 7-8 mins, turning halfway through and basting with the remaining marinade. Scatter over remaining mint.

Game Cookery at Audley End

I spent this afternoon at the beautiful Audley End House near Saffron Walden, Cambridgeshire. As a member of English Heritage I was invited to an afternoons talk and demonstration about Game Cookery given by Food Historian Dr Annie Gray. English estates were famed for their game, if you could shoot it, they would eat it, everything from larks and herons to rabbits and partridges. Game would have been served at every meal when it was available and when it wasn't rabbit (not considered game in the past) or chicken would have been served.

We started off in the stunning historic kitchens, where Annie explained about the running of the kitchen. The kitchen sports a huge range as well as a roasting range, one of the most important things in an English Country House kitchen. It also has the huge range of copper pots and pans expected. The kitchen dates to the 1880s and at that time was run by Avis Crocomb with a host of staff beneath her.



As well as the fairly modest kitchen there was a pastry room complete with marble slabs.

There would have been many other rooms making up the kitchen complex and we got to see into one of the larders, where someone had been busy bottling and preserving.

  

After that we moved into the demonstration room where Annie showed us some butchery techniques as well as how to make three historic game recipes.

For most of the 19th century something called service a la Francais would have been in operation. This meant that all the dishes for a particular course would have been laid out at the same time and each guest would have helped themselves. They would all have had very similar dishes close to them on the table and this would have included both savoury and sweet dishes on the table at the same time. This was replaced with service a la Russe, where courses were brought one after the other, easier for the cook but not as spectacular for the diner.

The first butchery technique we saw was how to joint a rabbit:

Which went in to making white soup:

This was one of Avis Crocomb's recipes and would have been laid out near the ladies at the table, as the white denoted purity and all things feminine. The men would have had a brown soup placed close to them, showing their manliness! The only difference being that the ingredients for the brown soup would have been fried before being made into soup and those in the white soup had not. The process for making this soup involved sieving the meat, which is very hard work!

The second recipe we were introduced to was potted meats, which is basically cooked meat pounded in a pestle and mortar with large amounts of butter, mace, cayenne pepper and ground cloves. She showed us how to make potted pigeon.

This was just one of the ways Victorian cooks would have used leftover meats. After a meal was consumed by the Lord and Lady of the house, the higher servants would use the leftover meats the next day made into a new and different dish and then the lower servants/kitchen staff and so on down the pecking order to putting the real leftover food into buckets and taking it out to the poor in the local villages. They really didn't waste anything.

The piece de la resistance of the afternoon was a Game Pie.

She showed us how to debone a chicken whilst keeping the chicken whole (this has a chefy name but I can't remember what it is), she had also done this with a pigeon and a partridge. She also made the pastry case which was like a shortcrust pastry but taken a step further as she smeared the dough with the heal of her hand giving it a play dough texture. This was put into a mould as the Victorians loved fantastic looking pies. Sausagemeat was put on the bottom of the pie, the three birds were placed one on to of the other, folded up and then placed in the mould. The Victorians liked their pies high so the meat came a couple of inches above the top of the mould and then a pastry lid was placed on top and the whole thing was baked and it looked like this inside:

It was absolutely fantastic, and would be lovely served with a nice chutney.

The afternoon was wonderful, Annie was a fantastic demonstrator and so knowledgeable about social history aspect, as well as the cookery aspects of the demonstration and we got to try a little bit of everything she cooked. We also had the Kitchens to ourselves as Audley End is not open on Tuesday's so it was lovely to go behind the scenes without lots of people milling round.

Disclaimer: I chose and paid to go on this course, All opinions are my own and no-one has given me any money to say nice things!

Brown Rice Biriyani Salad

I am now on half term! It's so nice to be free for the next couple of weeks. I seem to be about two weeks behind in cooking meals and then actually getting around to posting them, but hopefully with the break and eating out a bit more the next few days I might get a bit more caught up. I also did some mega cooking last weekend, making jam, soup, muffins and of course my delicious daring cooks feijoada, so that's all coming up too!

This rice salad was really good and I've now got the trick of cooking the rice down under the cold tap to stop it going dry and inedible when turned into a salad. This rice salad has an Indian biriyani twist but with the freshness of tomatoes and cucumber, so it tastes more like a salad. It could have done with a raita or some other kind of dipping sauce mixed in. I've bought some tamarind dip so I'm going to try that next.

Brown Rice Biriyani Salad (from WeightWatchers)
(Serves 4)
(10 WW ProPoints per serving)

300g cooked brown rice
1 tbsp mild curry powder
400g cooked prawns
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cucumber, finely chopped
4 spring onions, chopped
1/2 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
salt and pepper
2 tbsp lime juice

Mix the brown rice and curry powder together.

Add the prawns, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, chilli and coriander. Stir together gently.

Season with salt and pepper, then add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

Roasted Monkfish with Bean Mash

I am totally in love with monkfish, but as it is so expensive I don't get to have it all that often and when I do it's always good. This is such a simple recipe that showcases the fish and pairs it with the salty flavour of the parma ham, another of my expensive loves! I also love bean mashes, it's a nice alternative to normal mash, although the original recipe did call for a combination of potatoes and beans, I decided to go for all beans. I served the dish with the last of my corn on the cob and green and runner beans.

Roasted Monkfish with Bean Mash (adapted from WeightWatchers Magazine October 2012)
(Serves 4)
(10 WW ProPoints per serving)

cooking spray
4 monkfish fillets
4 slices parma ham
12 cherry tomatoes
juice 1 lemon

for the bean mash
2 x 400g can butter beans, drained and rinsed
75g half fat creme fraiche
1 tbsp chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Mist the base of a shallow roasting tin with cooking spray. Wrap each fillet with one slice of parma ham. Put seam side down in the roasting tin and mist with cooking spray. Scatter the tomatoes around the fish and spoon over about 1 tbsp lemon juice. Season with plenty of black pepper. Roast in the oven for 15-20 mins depending on the thickness of the fish.

Meanwhile, put the butter beans in a pan with a little water, and cook for about 5 mins. Mash the butter beans to a rough consistency with the creme fraiche, seasoning and remaining lemon juice, to taste. heat for a couple of mins until piping hot. Stir in the parsley and serve with the roasted fish and tomatoes.