nav-left cat-right
cat-right

Fillet Steak with Frites and Caesar Salad. A Recip...

Last night my husband surprised me with a pre-Valentines romantic meal! He grilled 2 fillet steaks and served them with frites and a Caesar salad. It was wonderful and the Caesar salad made it extra special as he used my Grandfather’s recipe for Caesar dressing – which simply is the best Caesar dressing I have ever tasted.

Here is my Grandfather’s recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 2 garlic cloves (minced).
  • 1 anchovy fillet (or 1 Tbsp of anchovy paste).
  • 1 Tbsp of olive oil.
  • 2 egg yolks slightly beaten.
  • 3 Tbsp of “Maille a L’Ancienne” mustard. This is a type of Dijon mustard with seeds and is A VERY IMPORTANT INGREDIENT.
  • Juice of ¼ lemon.
  • ½ cup of olive oil (I do use slightly less)
  • 1 dash of Worcestershire sauce.
  • 2 dashes of Tabasco.
  • 3 Tbsp of Parmesan cheese.

Method:

Add all the ingredients together in the order they appear in this ingredients list. Combine each ingredient well before adding the next one. This will make the basic dressing.

Use 1 large head of Romaine lettuce (this should make enough for 4 servings).

Toss the Romaine with the dressing.

Add another ½ cup of Parmesan cheese and toss again till well mixed.

Just before serving you can add crushed bacon and/or croutons. Toss again just before serving and enjoy!

Tonight it’s MY turn to make the romantic meal. Wish me luck.

Fillet Steak with Caesar Salad and Frites

Can Leftovers Be Exciting? The Beauty of a Hodge P...

When my sister and I were teenagers we used to dread hearing our mom say, ‘tonight, we’re having a hodge podge meal.’ I still don’t know what it was about those words that struck fear into our hearts, because the meals were always wonderful. Thinking back I guess the idea of using leftovers to prepare a main meal seemed unexciting and bland.

Of course I now love preparing my own hodge podge meals and tonight that’s exactly what I did. What’s so wonderful about using leftovers is that you can get really creative finding ways to make them extra special. It’s even better if you’re able to combine them with some fresh ingredients.

We had some roast turkey left over from Sunday and 2 rashers of smoked back bacon that didn’t get used for our weekend fry up. I combined those with some cabbage and a chopped shallot and served it over mashed potatoes. Not only did it help clear out the fridge it was also filling, tasty and comforting – a true hodge podge meal!

Here is my recipe for Hodge Podge Turkey, Bacon, Cabbage and Shallots on Mashed Potatoes.

Ingredients;

2 rashers of smoked back bacon cut into squares.

Approximately 1 cup of chopped roast chicken or turkey.

1 medium shallot finely chopped.

½ small savoy cabbage chopped into strips.

¼ cup of chicken or vegetable stock.

1 Tablespoon of olive oil.

Method;

Fry the bacon rashers and shallot in the olive oil until bacon is cooked through and shallot is soft.

Add the turkey or chicken chunks and mix well to heat through. About 5-6 minutes.

Add the cabbage and give all the ingredients a good stir in the pan.

Add the chicken or vegetable stock (this helps soften the cabbage) and let everything simmer for 10 – 15 minutes until the stock has been absorbed.

Serve at once on mashed potatoes and enjoy!

Red Peppers Stuffed with Refried Beans and Goats C...

I was at a loss for what to make for dinner tonight. There were 2 large red peppers languishing at the bottom of my crisper so I decided to look for a recipe for stuffing them. Luckily I had some goat cheese on hand but I wasn’t sure what else to add as a filling.

Trawling through recipe sites I found one for Red Peppers, Red Beans and Goat Cheese, which sounds delicious. Of course I was missing the kidney beans and the butternut squash so I needed to make some adjustments.

For my recipe I used a tin of refried beans which I heated up with 2 chopped shallots, 2 cloves of minced garlic and the bits of pepper that were around the stems. I added some mushrooms toward the end.

I had already starting roasting peppers – without the mixture – and after about 20 minutes took them out and crumbled some goat cheese in the bottom. I then added some of the refried bean mixture about ½ way up the pepper and then added some more cheese and another layer of the mixture.

Once the peppers were completely stuffed I covered the top of them with the rest of the goat cheese. I put them back in the oven for a further 30 – 40 minutes or until soft.

They looked and smelled delicious! The only problem was I got my timing wrong and my husband was another 20 minutes getting home from work. The result was that the peppers became very soft and one fell over spilling its contents all over the baking tray.

It didn’t look pretty but boy did it taste great! I will try the original recipe at some point – I love the idea of adding kidney beans and butternut squash!

White Bean and Vegetable Soup....

It’s easy to get stuck in the cooking comfort zone. It has happened to me many times. I suddenly realize I have a weekly rotation of the same (or very similar) dishes and it’s been ages since I tried anything new. While it’s great to enjoy your favourite meals it’s also important to branch out and try new ingredients, a variety of cuisines and different cooking techniques.

You really don’t know what you’ve been missing until you’ve tried it and for me cook books are a wonderful source of inspiration. I could look at them all day! For Christmas a friend bought my husband and I Gordon Ramsay’s World Kitchen. It is a great book full of recipes from around the world.

What caught our eye right away was a recipe for White Bean and Vegetable Soup (see Gordon in action here). This was such an easy dish to make and it was packed full of flavour. The sprinkling of feta on top is a nice touch, adding saltiness and a lovely creamy texture to the soup.

We have already selected more recipes to try and are determined to make our way through the whole book. Cook books are a great way to increase your cooking repertoire and bring a bit more inspiration into your kitchen!

Nachos With Homemade Guacamole....

Saturday night is nacho night. I love Tex Mex food and nachos are always top of my list. I especially love them with sour cream and homemade guacamole.

I mash 3 large avocados in a bowl. I do like my guacamole chunky so I don’t mash them too much. If you prefer a smoother mix you can always purée the avocados in a blender.

I add lemon juice which stops the avocados turning brown. It also adds a nice tang to the dish. Usually 2-3 Tablespoons is enough but tasting and seasoning as you go along is important.

I also add salt and pepper and 1-2 cloves of minced garlic to taste. If you like a bit of extra spice you can add some chilli flakes.

Guacamole is great with nachos but I also love it on toasted bagels too!

Puffed Cauliflower Cheese....

This is an absolutely amazing cauliflower cheese recipe! It works well as a main course but it also makes a great side dish. The real treat with this dish is the whipped egg whites which create a beautiful puffy texture and the bread crumbs on top which give it some added crunch.

While this might be slightly more labour intensive then other cauliflower cheese recipes it is absolutely worth it.

Tonight I made some minor adjustments to the recipe. The cauliflower I had was quite small so I also included a few boiled new potatoes in the mix. The result was a big bowl of comfort.

Give this recipe a try – you won’t be disappointed!

Classic Grilled Cheese Sandwich....

Growing up I remember my mum making the best grilled cheese sandwiches. I would have them when I came home from school for lunch, usually with some tomato soup or ketchup on the side and The Flintstones on the T.V.  Although my television tastes have changed, this magical combination of fried bread, melted cheese and tomato is still top of the list of foods I would want if I was stranded on a desert island.

Sure there are all kinds of ways to jazz it up but for me the best way is still;

  • 2 slices of plain white bread buttered on the outside.
  • Some cheddar cheese to put in between (of course!).
  • A hot frying pan in which to grill the sandwich until it turns a rich golden colour on both sides.

The tomato soup and ketchup are optional but they are great for dipping the sandwiches into.

I consider myself a pro when it comes to making this for lunch but I am the first to admit that my mum still makes the best ones. I guess it’s just one of those meals that will always taste better when mum makes it!

Grilled and Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Gorg...

Tonight was a night for trying something new. A few weeks ago I saw one of my favourite chefs from the food network, Giada De Laurentiis, prepare a wonderful looking meal for her friends.

Mushrooms have always been one of my favourite foods and Giada’s recipe for Grilled and Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Gorgonzola looked too yummy to pass up. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get all the ingredients so I did have to make a few compromises.

Instead of turkey or chicken sausages, I used plain pork ones. I also didn’t have any mascarpone cheese. The mixture did need some moisture to help blend everything together so I added just a touch of double cream.

I served the mushrooms with a simple watercress salad on the side. The peppery flavour of the watercress complemented the gorgonzola nicely. This was a huge hit and I will definitely be making it again.

Next Entries »