Author: Sophie

Cherry and almond cake

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A summery gluten free treat, rich with almonds and riddled with sweet juicy fruit.

  • 60g caster sugar
  • 60g butter, softened
  • 180g ground almonds
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 160g fresh cherries, pitted and left whole (I know, it looks like you murdered someone in the kitchen)
  • Handful flaked almonds
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan (180C) and line a loaf tin or a 20cm baking tin
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
  3. Break in the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously as you do so
  4. Add the almond extract and whisk in
  5. In another bowl (or in the bowl of the scales to avoid unnecessary washing up), mix together the ground almonds, baking powder and salt
  6. Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet, and then add the cherries, stirring them into the mixture
  7. Spoon into the tin, smooth out the top with a spoon and then sprinkle over the flaked almonds
  8. Bake for 40 mins until golden on top and cooked through
  9. Leave in the tin for 10 mins and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely
  10. Serve with vanilla ice cream, custard or cream

Kimchi fried rice

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How has it taken me this long to discover kimchi fried rice? It’s SO GOOD. Just make it and pop a fried egg on top. You will not be sorry. Feeds 2

  • 250g cooked rice (either cook it yourself and cool it or use a cooked rice pouch)
  • 100g kimchi, cut into small pieces if it needs it
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 onion, finely sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1″ piece ginger, minced
  • 1 tbsp gochujang
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp veg oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 spring onion, finely chopped
  • Sesame seeds
  1. Melt the butter in a wok or large frying pan on a medium-low heat
  2. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and fry gently for 5 mins until soft
  3. Add the kimchi and a little of its juice, the gochujang and the rice
  4. Toss everything together until the rice is coated (without being over-enthusiastic and ending up with mush)
  5. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil and stir in
  6. In a separate pan, heat a little veg oil and fry the eggs
  7. Serve the rice, topped with your perfectly fried egg and strewn with spring onion and sesame seeds

Tasty tofu

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No, no stay with me! It’s good

  • 280g firm tofu, patted dry and crumbled into pieces
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 4 tbsp veg oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp pul biber (or other flavourings of your choice – you could go chipotle chilli flakes, cumin and cinnamon … cumin, coriander and allspice … garam masala, turmeric, cumin – so many choices!)
  1. Heat a big frying pan over medium heat
  2. Add all the ingredients except the tofu and fry gently, stirring, for 4-5 mins
  3. Add in the crumbled tofu and stir into the flavoured oil
  4. Cook for a couple of mins more, until the tofu absorbs all the delicious flavour

And that’s it. Use it to top salads, stir it into tomato sauce, mix with pasta, add an an ingredient to a curry or chilli. A quick and easy way to up the protein content without it feeling too tofu-y

Coriander mint chutney

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Vibrantly green, punchy and fresh. It will do a dance on your tongue. Dip popadums in it, dot it on samosas, swirl it through yoghurt

  • 20 g fresh coriander
  • 20g fresh mint leaves
  • 1 green chilli, roughly chopped
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 2 tbsp water
  1. Use a hand blender or mini food processor to combine the ingredients into a loose paste
  2. That’s it. No step 2

Chicken tikka pizza

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With apologies to both India and Italy, this is their unapologetically delicious lovechild.

If you have leftover chicken tikka in the fridge and you don’t feel like making a salad, I’ve got you covered… it’s the very definition of a low effort/high flavour weeknight dinner. Makes 4 individual pizzas

The pizza sauce … Although of course you don’t have to make sauce from scratch, it is super-simple and tasty – and I’m more likely to have the ingredients lying around than I am to have a ready-made sauce. And this is a modified butter chicken sauce, so it tastes brilliant. And can be made in advance to save time on for dinner.

  • 3 tbsp veg oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • Thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
  • ½ onion, roughly chopped
  • 300 g tomato passata
  • ½ tsp ground fenugreek
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp kashmiri chilli powder
  • ½ tsp honey
  • Salt and pepper
  1. In a little whizzer, blend the onion, garlic and ginger
  2. Heat the veg oil in a saucepan and add the onion mix
  3. Cook for 5 mins or so until soft
  4. Add all the rest of the sauce ingredients and stir together
  5. Bring to a bubble and then cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for about an hour
  6. It should be thick, dark red and reduced – more a paste than a sauce

And then it’s just a construction job!

  • 2-4 ready-made pizza bases (depending on size)
  • Pieces of chicken tikka, cut into bite-size morsels
  • ½ red onion, sliced into thin half moons
  • 1 large green chilli, deseeded and sliced into thin rings
  • ½ red pepper, cut into thin slices
  • 400g grated mozzarella
  • Fresh coriander, chopped
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C fan (220C)
  2. Smear the sauce liberally over the pizza bases
  3. Divide the toppings evenly between them
  4. Sprinkle over the mozzarella
  5. Bake for 12-13 mins until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the crust is brown
  6. Pull out of the oven, sprinkle with fresh coriander and cut into slices
  7. Serve straight away, with a small bowl of plain yoghurt topped with a swirl of mango chutney for dipping the crusts in

Frijoles

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Is it a dip? (yes). Is it a delicious beany topping to a jacket potato? (yes). Is it brilliant on a Mexican rice bowl? (yes). Is it actually the nicest way to eat black beans? (yes!)

  • 40g butter (I know it sounds like a lot, but it’s worth it)
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 red chilli, chopped
  • A handful of coriander stalks, chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 400g tin black beans (decent quality is important here)
  1. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over a low heat
  2. Tip in the onion, garlic, chilli, coriander and salt and cook for 8-10 mins until soft but not browned
  3. Pour in the beans and the liquid from the tin
  4. Stir together and heat gently, then use a hand blender to whizz it into a rough puree
  5. Serve at room temperature with a scatter of fresh coriander leaves

Arroz verde

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aka Mexican green rice. A more interesting, flavourful and vivid green accompaniment to a grilled steak with chipotle butter, a Mexican sweet potato bowl or burritos made with chicken pibil. Feeds 4

  • 250g long grain rice
  • 120g spinach
  • A small bunch of coriander
  • 2 fat garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 500ml chicken stock 
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Pinch of salt
  1. Soak the rice in cold water for 10 mins
  2. With a hand blender or mini food processor, whizz up the spinach, coriander, onion and garlic with 100ml of stock to loosen it into a vivid green puree
  3. Heat a large, deep frying pan (with a lid) over medium heat and add the oil
  4. Add the greens and fry, stirring constantly, for a minute or two
  5. Drain the rice and add to the pan, stirring well
  6. Now add the other 400ml of stock, season (depending on how salty your stock is) and bring to the boil
  7. Stick the lid on, turn the heat down and simmer for 10 mins
  8. Turn off the heat and leave the pan covered for a further 5 mins
  9. Then open it up, smell the delicious green waft that comes from the pan, and fluff it up with a fork before serving

Avocado and broad bean dip

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The summery-est of the things you can dip pitta into!

  • 1 large ripe avocado
  • 400g broad beans (podded – frozen or fresh)
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 cloves confit garlic (or 1 clove of regular garlic, grated)
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Pinch of salt
  1. Cook the broad beans for 5 mins in boiling water
  2. Drain, run the cold tap over them to cool them off and then drain again
  3. Slip the bright green beans out of their pale jackets into a bowl
  4. Add the rest of the ingredients and use a hand blender to whizz them up into a chunky puree
  5. Serve with toasted pitta, salted tortilla chips, carrot sticks and crisp radishes. Or spread on toast. Or dress a pasta salad. Or dot onto cooked new potatoes. Or…

Miso pork belly

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Rich, savoury and super-simple to make. Feeds 2

  • 400g pork belly slices, cut into pieces
  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 6 spring onions, sliced
  • 2 tbsp white miso
  • 2 tbsp tamari
  • 3 tbsp mirin
  1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and slip in the pork belly pieces
  2. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 5 mins
  3. Drain the pork and discard the water
  4. Mix together the miso, tamari and mirin in a small bowl with 150ml water
  5. In a shallow saucepan or deep frying pan, heat the veg oil over medium
  6. Fry the pork belly until golden and then remove
  7. Turn the heat down and briefly cook the garlic and spring onions
  8. Pour the miso mixture into the pan and bring to a bubble
  9. Add the pork back in and stir
  10. Turn to the lowest heat, cover and cook for 1-2 hours. Stir occasionally and add a little more water if it gets too dry
  11. Serve on steamed rice with a scattering of sesame seeds – plus a crisp and crunchy salad with sesame dressing on the side

Wine jelly

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Turns out you can make jelly OUT OF WINE. I can’t tell you how exciting this development is. It’s two of my absolute favourite things, and it’s elegant as heck.

  • 400ml wine
  • 150g sugar
  • 2 strips lemon zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 4 sheets gelatine, soaked in cold water
  1. Put the sugar, lemon zest strips, lemon juice and 100ml of the wine in a saucepan
  2. Heat on medium, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Take the pan off the heat.
  3. In the meantime, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 mins, then scoop them out and add them to the wine mixture, stirring until they dissolve
  4. Discard the zest and sieve the syrup into a measuring jug
  5. Add in the rest of the wine and make up to 600ml with cold water
  6. Pour into the bowl you’re going to serve it out of – or into fancy individual serving glasses – and chill for at least 4 hours before serving

Customise with different wines (make it pale pink with rosé!), use mulling spices in the syrup with red wine, add fruit juice instead of water, or drop berries or peaches into the bottom of the serving dish before adding the jelly mixture.