Month: Aug 2021

Sweet potato and feta fritters

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Tasty golden morsels.

  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • 2 heaped tbsp plain flour (or gluten free flour)
  • 1 sweet potato, peeled and grated
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 2 spring onions, finely chopped
  • Handful of fresh herbs, chopped (I like parsley and mint, but you could choose dill, coriander, whatever you like)
  • 150g feta, crumbled
  • Salt and pepper
  • Veg oil
  1. Put the egg, milk and flour in a bowl and mix together until smooth
  2. Gently mix in the sweet potato, spring onion, chilli and herbs, then stir in the feta ensuring you leave some slightly bigger pieces
  3. Heat enough veg oil in a large frying pan to coat the bottom of the pan
  4. Fry small spoonfuls of the sweet potato mixture over a medium heat until golden on one side, then flip and cook on the other side

Serve piping hot from the pan.

Cottage pie

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We’ve discussed shepherd’s pie previously – and here is its delicious cousin. Deeply savoury and immensely cosy, this is proper nursery food. Feeds 4.

  • 750g beef mince
  • 3 tbsp veg oil
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 beef stock cube
  • 3 tbsp tomato puree
  • 3 dashes worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 400ml boiling water
  • 1 sprig rosemary, needles stripped from the twig and finely chopped
  • 2 sprigs thyme, leaves stripped and finely chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 heaped tsp cornflour
  • 1 kg floury potatoes, peeled and cut into big chunks
  • 50g butter
  • 50ml whole milk
  • 3 tbsp grated parmesan
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Heat oil in deep frying pan over a high heat and add the minced beef
  2. Cook the mince, stirring and breaking into small pieces, until well browned
  3. Remove the mince from the pan, turn the heat to low and add the 2 tbsp butter
  4. Add the onion, stir and cook for 5 mins until soft
  5. Add the garlic and a pinch of salt and cook for another couple of mins
  6. Add the tomato puree and crumbled stock cubes and stir together until it coats the onion
  7. Add the mustard, worcestershire sauce and boiling water, scraping all the delicious brown off the bottom of the pan
  8. Add the mince back to the pan, along with the herbs, salt and pepper
  9. Bring to a bubble, then cover and simmer for 30-45 mins, stirring occasionally
  10. While this cooks, make the mash and pre-heat the oven to 200C fan (220C)
  11. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil
  12. Tip the potato pieces into the boiling water and cook for 15-20 mins until soft
  13. Drain the potatoes and put back into the pan with the butter, milk, a bit of salt and plenty of pepper
  14. Mash well until smooth and then stir through the grated parmesan
  15. When the mince is cooked, in a small cup mix together the cornflour with 1 tsp water and stir until smooth. Pour into the mince and stir together over a low heat until it goes clear and thickens into a rich gravy
  16. Taste everything for seasoning and then you’re ready to construct your cottage pie
  17. Empty the mince into the base of a large ceramic or glass baking dish. Top with big dollops of mash, gently joining the potato islands together until it covers the top of the pie from edge to edge
  18. Bake for 30 mins until golden and crisp on top

Serve with peas and a spoon and a comfy sofa

Polpette al sugo

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Deliciously comforting – succulent, tender meatballs in a rich tomato sauce. Feeds 2

  • 1 slice of white bread, crusts removed
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • 300g minced beef
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tsp sugar
  1. Rip the bread into pieces and soak in the milk until soft
  2. Put the beef mince into a large bowl with the wet bread, egg, 1 clove of minced garlic, parsley, salt and pepper
  3. Use your hands to mix everything together.
  4. Divide the mixture into 8 large meatballs with wet hands and let them rest while you make the sauce
  5. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan over a medium-low heat and cook the other minced clove of garlic gently until fragrant
  6. Add the tomato puree and stir in, cooking for 2 mins
  7. Add the tinned tomatoes, half a tin of water, the sugar and seasoning
  8. Cook for 20 mins until the sauce is rich and thick
  9. Drop the meatballs in the sauce, making sure they are submerged
  10. Turn the heat to low, cover the pan and poach for 15 mins

Serve with tagliatelle, or long grain rice or just a pile of crusty bread for dunking.

Dauphinoise potatoes

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Decadent treat food. Creamy, delicately textured and rich in flavour. Good enough to eat completely on their own and still feel delightedly fulfilled, but especially good with a medium-rare steak or a slice of garlicky roast lamb – and of course some steamed green beans or a pile of sauteed spinach. Feeds 4-6.

  • 1kg large, waxy potatoes, peeled
  • 20g unsalted butter
  • 500ml double cream
  • 150ml milk
  • 1 clove garlic, finely grated
  • Salt and black pepper
  1. Pre-heat oven to 150C fan (170C)
  2. Take a wide, shallow ceramic baking dish around 2 litres capacity and grease the inside generously with half the butter
  3. Slice the potatoes 2mm thick (ideally with a mandolin)
  4. Place the potatoes in the dish in orderly, overlapping layers
  5. Whisk the cream, milk and garlic. Season well and pour gently over the potatoes
  6. The cream should just cover the potatoes. If it doesn’t, add a touch more milk. Dot with the rest of the butter and pop in the oven
  7. Bake for 1-1½ hours until the top is bubbling and golden brown, and the potatoes are completely soft when you poke a thin, sharp knife down into the dish
  8. Remove from the oven and leave on the side for 15 mins before serving, to allow the potatoes to lose some of their molten heat and firm up a bit

Dan Lepard’s chocolate muffins

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Achieves the wondrous magic of being fluffy and cloud-like whilst also being deeply, intensely chocolatey. All thanks to total flipping baking genius Dan Lepard. What can I say, any recipe that starts with making chocolate custard is well on its way to being pretty special. Makes 20 full size muffins.

  • 50g cornflour
  • 3 level tbsp cocoa powder
  • 100g dark soft brown sugar
  • 225ml cold water
  • 75g unsalted butter, cubed
  • 125g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
  • 75ml sunflower oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 125g plain flour
  • 2½ tsp baking powder
  • Pre-heat oven to 165C fan (185C)
  • First make the custard (ikr!!!) Put the cornflour, cocoa, brown sugar and water into a saucepan and whisk well over a medium heat until boiling, very thick and smooth
  • Remove from the heat, beat in the butter and chocolate until melted and well combined
  • Then add the oil, vanilla and one of the eggs, and beat again until combined.
  • Add the remaining egg and the caster sugar, and beat again until smooth and thick
  • Measure the flour and baking powder, stir together, then tip directly into the custard
  • Beat through until combined
  • Spoon into paper muffin cases sitting pretty in a muffin tin
  • Bake for 13 mins for mini muffins, 25 mins for big ones.
  • Cool on a rack before serving to a rapturous audience

6 hour roast pork

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Yes, it means getting up at 7am to get it in the oven in time for Sunday lunch. But aside from the early start and occasionally throwing stuff in the oven, it’s the very essence of simplicity. And the end result is beautifully, succulently delicious, with crispy crackling too!

  • 2 kg boneless pork shoulder
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary and sage
  • 5 large waxy potatoes, cut into chunky pieces
  • 5 unpeeled cloves of garlic
  • 7 medium shallots, peeled and left whole
  • 3 carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
  • 2 tart apples, peeled and cored and quartered
  • 1 heaped tbsp plain flour
  • 175 ml white wine or marsala
  • 250 ml chicken stock
  1. Pre-heat oven to 140C fan (160C)
  2. Score the skin with a sharp knife, cutting into the fat but not as far as the meat
  3. Using your hands, rub in the salt, pepper and herbs all over the joint, brushing off any on the surface of the fat and pressing the mixture into the slits in the skin. Sprinkle the leftovers in the bottom of the tin under the pork
  4. Put the meat into a roasting tin with plenty of extra space and roast for 4 hours without touching
  5. After 4 hours, put the potatoes into the tin around the pork and turn over in the fat
  6. After a further hour, put in the garlic, shallots and carrots and mix them in gently
  7. Cook for 30 mins and then add the apples, popping them into any gaps
  8. Cook for a final 30 mins
  9. By this time the meat will be tender, flaking with a fork. Remove the roasting tin from the oven. Then remove the meat and veg from the tin and keep it warm to rest
  10. If the skin isn’t 100% crispy yet, pop under a medium grill for a few mins until it’s really crunchy and crispy
  11. To make gravy, pour off all but 1 tbsp of fat from the roasting pan, keeping all the juices and savoury brown bits IN
  12. Put the pan over a burner on the stove on a medium heat
  13. Stir the flour into the fat in the pan with a rubber spatula, cooking for a couple of mins
  14. Add the wine and cook until it is reduced by half
  15. Then add the stock and scrape off any bits of meat and vegetable on the bottom of the pan
  16. Taste for seasoning and serve on a platter in all its resplendent glory, surrounded by the beautiful veg

Lamb tagine

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Rich, savoury, spiced and sweet. Feeds 2. Serve over a pile of cous cous, scattered with toasted almonds and sliced green olives. Add a drained tin of chickpeas with the green beans if you want to bulk it out for 4.

  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 300g lamb neck fillet, sliced around 3mm thick
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp pul biber (or a pinch of chilli flakes)
  • Pinch of saffron
  • 1 heaped tbsp tomato puree
  • ½ lamb stock cube, crumbled
  • 7 dried apricots, roughly chopped
  • 1 preserved lemon, flesh discarded and skin chopped
  • 400ml boiling water
  • 8 chantenay carrots, topped and tailed
  • 100g fine green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
  1. Heat the oil in a deep lidded frying pan over a medium heat
  2. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 mins. Add the garlic and cook for a further 3 mins
  3. Turn the heat up, add the lamb and stir in until.it goes brown round the edges
  4. Add the stock, tomato puree and spices, and stir fry for 2 mins
  5. Add the boiling water, apricots and preseved lemon, bring to a bubble and scrape all the delicous brown off the bottom
  6. Add the whole carrots and stir in
  7. Turn to a low simmer, put the lid on and cook for 25 mins, stirring a couple of times to make sure it’s not sticking and turning the carrots over
  8. Take the lid off, add the green beans and stir together, making sure the beans are submerged
  9. Simmer for a further 15 mins and taste to check the seasoning. Add salt if needed and serve straight away

Cherry chocolate brownies

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Inspired by the amazing Felicity Cloake who was in turn inspired by the marvellous Nigel Slater, these brownies are nothing short of miraculous. Soft, rich, moist and deeply chocolatey with hints of texture, bitterness and tartness from.the walnuts and cherries. And light enough so you can eat 2 without feeling sick. It’s just everything you could ever want a brownie to be.

  • 200g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa)
  • 250g unsalted butter, softened
  • 300g caster sugar
  • 3 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
  • 60g plain flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 60g cocoa powder
  • 100g walnuts
  • 90g dried cherries
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C fan (190C) and line a 23x23cm baking tin with baking parchment.
  2. Break the chocolate into pieces and put into a heatproof bowl. Melt the chocolate using the microwave in 30.second bursts until it’s just melted
  3. Put the butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat until light and fluffy
  4. Add one egg at a time, beating between each one until thoroughly mixed
  5. Then, the secret of making these brownies beautifully light and fluffy inside with a fine, crisp top is to continue beating the mixture for 3-5 mins, which will leave it glossy, thick and voluminous
  6. Fold in the melted chocolate and then sift in the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder. I don’t usually bother sifting things but in this recipe, I recommend it
  7. Add the walnuts and cherries and gently fold together until completely mixed
  8. Spoon the mixture gently into the lined tin and then fight your child for the chance to lick the spoon
  9. Bake for 30-40 mins and, while it’s cooking get a larger roasting tin half full of water and ice cubes
  10. When the brownies are ready, remove the tin from the oven and place directly into the cold water bath to stop it cooking (being extra careful not to let the water over the edge of the tin)
  11. Leave in the water for 15 mins then put the brownie tin onto the counter and leave for another 30 mins to cool completely before cutting into squares
  12. Store in an airtight container

Make these beauties gluten free by using GF plain flour or ground almonds instead of the flour.

And adapt endlessly to what you want most in your brownie. Salted pretzel pieces? Chocolate chips? Mini peanut butter cups? Honeycomb? Even a swirl of tahini. The world is your oyster (although metaphorical oyster only, I can’t imagine oysters working here. Or anywhere, to be honest). Maybe I should have said, the world is your brownie

Crushed avocado

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

I know it’s bougie, but it’s also incredibly tasty on toast so I make no apologies.

  • 1 perfectly ripe avocado
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pul biber (or regular chilli flakes)
  1. Scoop the avocado out of its skin and into a small bowl
  2. Add the other ingredients and mix
  3. Eat straight away at room temp

Spicy steak stirfry

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

As well being marvellously alliterative, this dish is so delicious you will lick the bowl clean. Feeds 2 generously.

  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • ½ onion, cut into 2cm pieces
  • ½ red pepper, cut into 2cm pieces
  • 100g green beans, cut into 2cm lengths
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 400g rump steak, trimmed and finely sliced into slices around 3mm thick
  • 3 tbsp chilli oil
  • 2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp honey/golden syrup
  • 1 heaped tsp cornflour
  • Small handful fresh coriander, chopped
  1. Have everything ready and to hand. This is a quickie!
  2. Heat a wok over the highest heat until scorching hot. Keep.it this hot all the way through
  3. Add the oil, swirl up the sides of the wok and then add all the veg
  4. Stir fry veg until browned round the edges and starting to soften
  5. Add the garlic and stir in
  6. Add the steak and stirfry briefly until it loses most of its pink (but not all)
  7. Add the chilli oil, shaoxing, soy sauce, oyster sauce and honey, plus 100ml water
  8. Stir in and bring to a bubble
  9. Pour in the cornflour slurry and mix quickly in create a glossy sauce
  10. Turn the heat off, stir in the coriander and serve with coconut rice for a beautiful contrast of mild sweetness against savoury spiciness. Job done.