Category: Recipes

Garlic parsnips

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

My mother-in-law’s recipe, extremely garlicky and the very best way to eat parsnips. Seriously, she converted me from roasting them and that’s saying something.

  • 4 parsnips, scrubbed but not peeled, cut into chunky batons
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 30g butter
  • Salt and plenty of black pepper
  1. Melt the butter over a medium heat in a saucepan with a lid
  2. Once sizzling, add the garlic and stir fry in the butter for a minute until it turns golden. Don’t take your eyes off it or it’ll burn
  3. Tip in the parsnips, turn the heat down and turn them through the garlic and butter. Season well
  4. Add a splash of water, stick the lid on and cook for about 15 mins, taking the lid off every now and again to stir, check on their progress and hungrily inhale the delicious smell coming out of the pan

Once cooked, they should be soft with crispy, golden edges. Some bits may be more crispy, some may not be golden at all, some may be starting to fall apart completely. This is all fine.

Any leftovers make the most brilliant soup. Just heat through, add a little stock and cream and whizz up.

Indian-spiced masala baked beans

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Baked beans are obviously brilliant as they are, but this takes them up a level! Incredibly quick to make, and spicily delicious on top of almost anything. Thick slices of sourdough toast with a dollop of yogurt perched on top, or a fried egg and a sprinkle of fresh coriander. Or just scoop it up with hot, flaky parathas. Feeds 2.

  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 2 cm fresh ginger, minced or finely chopped
  • 1 large red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 2 tsp tomato puree
  • Pinch dried chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • 1 tin Heinz baked beans (I know it shouldn’t matter what brand they are but it does!)
  • 100g baby spinach (if you fancy it)
  1. Heat the oil in a saucepan on low and add the onion, ginger and fresh chilli
  2. Cook for 5 mins, stirring, until golden and soft
  3. Add the garlic and stir in. Cook for a couple of mins then add the tomato puree, spices and salt
  4. Stir until well combined, cooking for another minute
  5. Then add the beans and a couple of tbsp water, and heat through
  6. If using the spinach, stir through at the end until just wilted

Quick pickled chillis

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Spiky, spicy, piquant. The perfect topping for a cheese sandwich, pizza, jacket potato. Anything.

  • 120ml white vinegar (or cider vinegar)
  • 120ml water
  • 1 clove garlic, left whole but squashed
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 5-6 large (120g) chillis, thinly sliced
  1. Put the vinegar, water, garlic, brown sugar and salt in a small saucepan and bring to the boil
  2. Add the chillis, stir in and remove from the heat. Allow to sit for 10 mins
  3. Pour the chillis and pickling liquid into a clean, sterilised jar, leave to cool and then store in the fridge

This will keep in the fridge for a couple of months, getting more pickled as time goes on

Strawberry mousse

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A retro classic. Cloud-like wafts of pale pink, strawberry-flavoured fluff. Light, summery, the perfect end to a feast. Makes 6

  • 350g strawberries
  • 2 tsp icing sugar
  • 4 egg whites
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 150ml double cream
  1. Puree the strawberries and mix with the icing sugar, then sieve to remove the pips
  2. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and then add the caster sugar a tsp at a time
  3. Continue whisking until you have stiff, glossy peaks
  4. In another bowl, whisk the double cream to soft peaks
  5. Fold the cream gently into the egg whites, then fold in the strawberry puree
  6. Spoon the mousse into individual glasses and chill for at least 2 hours before serving

You can make it with any other soft fruit if you prefer. Recommend raspberries or apricots

Baked onions

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

So much more than the sum of its 3 ingredients. A simple concoction that gives rise to a rich, creamy, savoury delight

  • 4 medium/large onions
  • 300ml double cream
  • Large handful of grated parmesan
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 150C fan (170C)
  2. Peel the onions, keeping as much of the root area intact as possible
  3. Pop into a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to the boil
  4. Turn down to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 mins until tender. Lift them out gently and put onto kitchen towel to dry
  5. Cut each one in half lengthways from root to tip and place cut-side down in an ovenproof dish
  6. Pour the cream over the onions, season well with salt and pepper and sprinke over the parmesan
  7. Bake for 25-30 mins until golden and bubbling

Serve over pasta, with a big pile of broccoli or alongside a simple grilled chicken breast

Ham jambalaya

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Quite a long list of ingredients, but quick and simple to make. Warming, highly-flavoured, tasty.

  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 125g chicken mini fillets
  • 125g smoked sausage/kabanos, sliced
  • 125g smoked ham, cubed
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 pieces celery, chopped
  • 1 large green chilli
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tin tomatoes
  • 300ml chicken stock
  • ½ tsp hot smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • ½ tsp thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 200g long-grain white rice
  • Fresh parsley, chopped
  1. Heat veg oil in deep lidded frying pan
  2. Add onion, garlic, peppers, chilli and celery and cook until translucent and soft
  3. Add tomato puree, stir in and cook for a minute
  4. Pour in the stock and stir until all combined thoroughly, scraping all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan
  5. Add the seasoning, tinned tomatoes, sugar and salt. Put lid on and cook over low-medium heat for 10 mins.
  6. Add the rice, ham and sausage, combining thoroughly
  7. Place chicken fillets on top and push them just under the surface of the liquid
  8. Put the lid on and cook for 20 mins
  9. Once it’s all cooked, slice up chicken, spinkle in chopped parsley and stir together

Serve with garlic sauteed spinach

Chocolate topsy turvy pudding

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A delectable pudding where a combination of cocoa powder, hot water and sugar poured over the top of a chocolate sponge batter magically sinks below the surface while it bakes to make a rich sauce underneath. Serve the hot pudding with vanilla ice cream and everyone will be your friend!

  • 175g unsalted butter at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the dish
  • 300g soft light brown sugar
  • 3 large free-range eggs, beaten
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 175g plain flour
  • 40g cocoa powder, plus 2 tbsp
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • Pinch salt
  • 3 tbsp milk
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 150C fan (170C)
  2. Grease the inside of an ovenproof dish with a butter
  3. Cream the butter with 225g of the soft light brown sugar until pale and light, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula from time to time to make sure you catch it all
  4. Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each addition and then add the vanilla extract and mix again to combine
  5. Sift the flour, 40g cocoa, bicarb and a pinch of salt into the mixture and mix again until just combined
  6. Add the milk and mix again until smooth
  7. Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish and level with the back of a spoon
  8. Now for the sauce! In a small bowl mix together the remaining 75g soft light brown sugar, 2 tbsp cocoa powder and 6 tbsp hot water
  9. Spoon this chocolatey syrup over the chocolate sponge mixture and place the dish in a large, deep roasting tin.
  10. Boil the kettle and pour boiling water into the tin, around the dish so that the water comes halfway up the sides of the dish.
  11. Carefully slide the roasting tin into the oven on the middle shelf.
  12. Bake for about 40 mins, or until the pudding is well-risen, the top is nicely cracked and a skewer inserted into the middle of the pudding comes out with a moist crumb.

Hummous

~ Sophie ~ 4 Comments

A scoopy classic. So much more delicious than buying it, and much cheaper too!

  • 1 tin of chickpeas
  • 3 tbsp tahini
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 small clove garlic, finely minced/grated

I always use a stick blender for this. You can use that, a food processor or an old-fashioned fork (if you don’t mind it chunky).

  1. Drain the chickpeas, retaining around 60ml (¼ cup) of the liquid from the tin
  2. Tip the chickpeas into a bowl, add all the other ingredients plus the chickpea liquid that you kept
  3. Whizz/mash/puree the mixture until it’s the consistency you like. Taste, adjust the seasoning

All you need then is a stack of toasted pitta strips or carrot sticks and some time to yourself.

Or you can put it in a nice bowl, drizzle with decent olive oil and sprinkle with paprika. And then go to town on it.

For flavoured hummous, just whizz in some roasted peppers, or roasted carrots, coriander and parsley, or Moroccan spices.

Playdough

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Not for eating. But very fun to play with. My mum’s recipe, a staple of my childhood.

  • 125g plain flour (1 cup)
  • 100g salt (½ cup)
  • 230ml water (1 cup)
  • 2 tsp cream of tartar (you can do without this if you don’t have any, but the playdough won’t keep for as long)
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • A few drops of food colouring
  1. Whisk all the ingredients together in a saucepan
  2. Cook over a low heat until the dough leaves the sides of the pan
  3. Tip out, knead briefly and leave to cool before you make floppy animals and flowers with it
  4. Store for later in an airtight container and refrigerate

Sticky spare ribs

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Sticky, saucy, seriously gorgeous. Beloved by everyone who tastes them. And cheap too!

  • 15-20 pork spare ribs
  • 125ml sweet chilli sauce
  • 2 tbsp redcurrant jelly
  • 60ml soy sauce
  • 1 orange, juice and zest
  • 3 star anise
  • 4 cm fresh ginger, sliced into chunky rounds (don’t bother peeling it)
  • 8 cloves garlic, squashed and left whole
  1. Mix together all the ingredients except the meat
  2. Put the ribs into a large ziplock bag, pour over the marinade, seal the bag (excluding as much air as poss) and squish it all about to coat the ribs. Pop in the fridge and leave to marinate for at least a couple of hours, if not a full 24
  3. Pre-heat the oven to 140C fan (160C)
  4. Line a deep roasting tin with foil (you’ll thank me at washing-up time!) and tip the whole contents of bag into the tin. Cover with foil and cook for 2 hours, turning the ribs a couple of times in the sauce and checking it’s not drying out
  5. Then turn the oven up to 180C fan (200C) and remove the foil cover
  6. Cook for further 30 mins to caramelise the ribs and reduce the sauce to a sticky glaze, turning them over in it to coat