Koupes & Lemons

Koupes are traditional Cypriot mince pork meat croquettes encrusted in bulgar wheat, and shaped a lot like a lemon.  It is very similar to the Lebanese Kibbeh, (although these are made with minced lamb or beef, with the addition of pine nuts), and I like to think equally delicious.  Cypriots generally eat these as snacks for breakfast from a bakery, or as a midmorning or afternoon snack, and companies serve these daily in their canteens.

Now koupes are quite hard work, but you can make a batch of them, well in advance and just re-heat if you’re making them as part of a meze, or else you could freeze them for a rainy day.

The first couple of times I made koupes, it was a bit of a disaster!  I couldn’t understand what happened, I followed the recipe book meticulously, and still they turned out very badly.  My problem was getting the bulgar wheat paste smooth and malleable.  Eventually I found a solution.

Here’s what I used:

For the meat:

250g minced pork

1 clove of garlic finely chopped

1 small bunch of curly parsley, very finely chopped

1 onion, very finely chopped

1 tbsp of ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt + freshly ground black pepper

For the crust:

1 mug of bulgar wheat

1 ½ mugs of boiling water

2 tsp cinnamon

1 organic free range egg

Pinch of salt + freshly ground black pepper

Brown the onion, pork and chopped parsley.  Add the cinnamon and salt and pepper.  Taste and check for seasoning.  Leave the mince to cool.

Boil the kettle.  Add the boiling water to the bulgar wheat.  Leave the bulgar wheat to soak up all the water, this will only take 15 minutes or so.

When cooled, add the cinnamon, seasoning and the egg.  Mix thoroughly with your hands.  Put into a food processor and whizz up until it forms a relatively smooth paste.  If it’s too dry, add another egg.

By now the mince and bulgar wheat paste will have cooled enough to handle.

Wet your hands, as the paste will be very sticky.

Take a small lemon sized amount of paste in your hand, and shape into a more lemon-like shape.

Stick your little finger into one pointy end of your croquette and gently spread out leaving a hole big enough to fill with a couple of teaspoons of minced meat.

Gently pinch together the edges into another point.  If you don’t have enough in your croquette, then just take a little more paste from the bowl, and press onto your croquette.

Deep fry the croquettes in vegetable, sunflower or corn oil for approximately 8 minutes until a deep golden brown.

Serve piping hot with lemon wedges…..

…..and of course with love….xoxo

NB: if you don’t eat pork, you could easily use lamb mince or beef mince, or turkey mince or chicken mince.  If you are vegetarian, you could also use mushrooms.  If you would like to use the latter turkey, chicken or mushrooms, add allspice instead of cinnamon and a crumbled stock cube for added depth of flavour.

Tarragon & Dijon Roasted Chicken

A good old fashioned roast chicken is a beautiful thing.  There are many ways to roast a chicken, and this is one of my favourites.  This is super simple and easy to prepare, and doesn’t need much attending to, as it only needs be basted every half an hour.

Here’s what I used:

1 organic free range corn fed chicken

2 tbsp olive oil

2 heaped tsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp of dried tarragon

Pinch of sea salt

4 good twists of black pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees celcius.

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl, using a small whisk or fork.  The oil and mustard will thicken nicely, which is exactly what we want.

Coat the entire chicken with the mustardy mixture, inside and out, and even under the skin on the breast.

A Moroccan lady once imparted some pure wisdom onto me, and told me that it is important to start cooking the bird breast-side down in the roasting pan this way as it helps to keep the breast meat juicy.  I suppose it makes perfect sense as the juices generally run downwards.  I have cooked roast chicken in this manner ever since, and it has never failed to be succulent and juicy.  This is very important, as there is nothing worse than dry chicken.

After 30 minutes turn the bird over, and baste liberally with the pan juices.

After another 30 minutes baste the bird liberally again.

In another 30 minutes the bird should be cooked.  Check by sticking a skewer into the fattest part of the leg, and check that the juices run clear.

Cover the bird in foil to keep it warm, and leave it to rest for 10 minutes.

I like to serve this with braised pointed spring cabbage

and perfect roast potatoes…..

………..and of course with love….xoxo

Halloumi & Pancetta with Mango Chutney

Halloumi is a semi soft Cypriot cheese made from goats or ewes milk.  It is deliciously salty and has a higher than normal melting point, so it can be grilled, BBQ’d or fried and it will not fall apart.

Cypriots will eat fresh halloumi at breakfast with lountza (cured loin of pork sliced thinly) and also with fruit.  Here in the UK it isn’t as fresh as in Cyprus, so I usually dry fry slices until crispy and golden brown on the outside, as part of a meze.  It is lovely with pomegranate or water melon.  Alex loves cooked halloumi in a baguette with thinly sliced lountza and salad.

On a recent trip to Cyprus dear friends of ours Mix and Manni took us to a wonderful restaurant in Limassol called Ta Piatakia, headed up by a chap called Roddy Damalis who specialises in contemporary Cypriot cuisine (www.roddydamalis.com/about-piatakia).  Ta Piatakia means ‘little plates’ and his restaurant is a wonderful take on the Spanish tapas bar.

Every time Alex and I go there, we leave very satisfied customers indeed.  Mr Damalis does a wonderful job of tweaking traditional village dishes, and bringing them straight into the noughties, all set within a fabulous, trendy little restaurant.  Mr Damalis is an inspiration.

Two signature dishes were the baked feta parcel drizzled in honey, and the caramel and chocolate cheesecake.....both are quite simply to die for…..

baked feta parcel

caramel and chocolate cheesecake

One very memorable and simple dish that we had was halloumi wrapped in bacon served with mango chutney.  I have done a few re-enactments of this dish as an hors d'œuvre before a dinner party, and it was gobbled up instantly!  I have changed it slightly, and used super thinly sliced pancetta as I found it less fatty than bacon, and thought it had a more refined taste.  I have also speared the halloumi and pancetta with rosemary for added depth of flavour. 

Here’s what I used:

1 packet of halloumi, cut into chunks

1 packet of thinly sliced smoked pancetta

Fresh rosemary

1/2 a jar of mango chutney

Cut the halloumi into chunks, wrap in the pancetta and spear with rosemary.  If you don’t have rosemary, you can easily just use cocktail sticks or skewers. 

Cook under a pre-heated grill until the pancetta is sizzling and the halloumi is golden brown and delicious.  Drain on kitchen roll, dabbing any excess fat. 

Serve with mango chutney….

…and of course with love….xoxo

Soupa Rizi Avgolemono

As I mentioned a few days ago, Alex and I were feeling rather under the weather.  Now we all know that when a man is exposed to any form of the treacherous Common Cold, they fall prey to a gravely serious illness widely known as “Man Flu”.

To date, (unfortunately for us), no complete cure has been found for the vicious and dilapidating “Man Flu”, and we must pander to our poor, injured little soldiers as they hover around death’s door. 

In times of such affliction and convalescence, a man will need his wife or mother, or preferably both, to be on 24 hour duty to mollycoddle him back into the land of the living.

Unfortunately for me Alex’s mother wasn’t to hand, but I did remember how to make the Cypriot version of the wondrous chicken soup.

I usually make my own spicy Asian inspired chicken soup, but Avgolemoni is perfect for colds, and for Alex this soup embodies TLC in a bowl.  Avgolemoni is a lovely silky soup, full of vitamin C, protein, and rice and it is very comforting indeed.  Usually for an entire family, you would use a whole chicken, however, I didn’t have one to hand so I defrosted some chicken legs that I had in the freezer for a rainy day.

I have spoken to several Cypriot women about the best way to make Avgolemoni, taken notes, and this is my version of the Cypriot classic.

Here’s what I used:

4 organic free range chicken legs

1 small carrot + 2 bay leaves + 1 small onion, peeled + pinch of whole black peppercorns

(as if you were making a normal chicken stock)

½ a mug of basmati rice, starch rinsed off

2 organic free range eggs

3 lemons

Sea salt and black pepper

Put the chicken legs, carrot, bay, onion, and peppercorns in a large pot, and cover entirely with cold water.

Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to medium so that it doesn’t bubble and overflow whilst it simmers away.

15 minutes later the chicken will be cooked, so remove the chicken and vegetables.

Now skim the scum off of the surface of the stock.

Take the skin off the chicken and discard.  It was important to keep the skin on during cooking, as it keeps the flesh moist, but we definitely don’t want to eat it now.

Take the meat off the bones, and place the bones back into the stock.  Put the rice into the stock and cook until just under done.  This should only take around 15 minutes.

In a bowl whisk the juice of two lemons together with two eggs.  Add a little of the chicken stock into this eggy mixture, whisking continuously.  Add ladle by ladle until the eggy mixture is warm.

Remove the bones from the stock pot.  Add the eggy mixture to the soup whisking continuously.

You will see the soup turn opaque to a creamy yellow colour.  This is exactly what you want. 

Check for seasoning now, add salt and pepper as necessary.  Simmer the soup for a few minutes, but do not boil.

Serve with the cooked chicken, extra wedges of lemon, and some warm crusty bread….

…….and of course with love….xoxo……..

Flash Fried Turkey Stir Fry

Alex and I both have stinky colds, so tonight for supper, I really wanted to prepare something super quick, nutritious, and spicy to get the sinuses moving.

Here’s what I used:

1 Turkey breast (I like turkey as it’s even more lean than chicken)

2 tsp of sesame oil

2 red chillies, finely chopped

1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 tbsp of light soy

2 tbsp of Shaoxing wine

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1 yellow pepper

1 small packet of baby sweetcorn

spring onions cut on a slant

broccoli florets

fresh coriander

1 tsp corn flour + 4 tsp of water

½ mug of Basmati rice

The stir-fry takes only a matter of minutes, but the rice will take approximately 25 minutes.

After living in Japan, my mother always liked to boil and steam rice, like the Japanese, and this is the only way that I ever cook rice.

I find that ½ a mug of rice is more than sufficient for 2 people.  It is important that you cover the rice with exactly double the amount of water, so in this instance 1 full cup.  Add a pinch of salt, cover the pot, and bring to the boil.  As soon as it boils, move the pot to the smallest hob ring, and turn down the heat as low as possible.

Now you can make a cup of tea, and go away and come back in 20 minutes.

Check the rice, and you will see it has expanded and the pockets of steam will be running from top to bottom.

Get all your vegetables ready now, and slice the turkey.

Heat your wok until it is smoking.  Add the sesame oil.  Then add the Chinese holy trinity that is chilli, ginger and garlic which is a prevalent combination of sautéed ingredients, typically used in the spicier regional cuisines of China.

Add the turkey, which will only take a minute as it is sliced thinly. 

Then add the vegetables which takes the longest time to cook, so the sweet corn and the broccoli.

Add the light soy, the Shaoxing wine, and the sweet chilli sauce.

After a minute add the spring onions and the sliced pepper.

Now mix the water and the corn flour to make corn starch, and drizzle a few teaspoons over the stir-fry and toss.  This will thicken the sauce and make it wonderfully glossy – without all the MSG that you would get in a ready made Chinese stir-fry sauce / meal.

Add some fresh coriander. 

Serve with the steamed rice and extra fresh coriander and extra freshly chopped chillies……….

………..and of course with love, especially when under the weather…….xoxo

A Lovely Little Crayfish Cocktail

My father used to make prawn cocktail served in half an avocado as a treat on weekends.  He taught me how to make Marie Rose sauce from scratch, and contrary to common belief it does not involve ketchup and mayonnaise! 

Daddy used single cream, although I use half fat single cream, and quite happily nobody can tell the difference.  I also like to use crayfish tails as an alternative to prawns – I think they’re slightly meatier, like mini lobster tails if you will, and I think the twist brings the 70’s classic up to date.

This salad is super super easy, takes a matter of minutes, and if that wasn't appealing enough, it is also man and child friendly.

Here’s what I used:

Little gem lettuce

Ripe avocado

Cucumber

Lemons

180g pot of cooked crayfish tails

170ml (the small pot on the supermarket shelves) of half fat single cream

1 tbsp of tomato puree

5 dashes of Worcestershire sauce

4 dashes of Tabasco

Juice of half a lemon

A few twists of black pepper and a pinch of salt

Mix the wet ingredients together in a small bowl with a mini whisk or a fork, until combined.  Have a little taste, if you would like it a little spicier add more Tabasco or more Worcestershire sauce.  If it needs more lemon juice add more lemon juice, the same for seasoning.  The beauty of making your own sauce is you can make it to YOUR own taste.

Do not over whisk the sauce, as a lighter sauce is much more appealing than a thick, gloopy sauce like its lesser mayonnaise and ketchup counterparts.

Now assemble the salad, remembering that the bright colours are what make this dish look so appetising.  I like the greens at the bottom and the bright jewel like colours of the crayfish scattered over the top, with the Marie Rose sauce drizzled over.  Not too much now – remember you can always add, but you can never take away.

Serve with fresh granary bread, a wedge of lemon.....

and of course….with love….xoxox

Penne Peas & Pancetta

Alex said he fancied pasta, as I hadn't been cooking it recently, (war on carbs and all), and I stumbled across the idea for this dish whilst glancing at my practically empty fridge.  I tend to always have pancetta or bacon in the fridge, along with tomatoes, spring onions and parmesan.  I also usually have a stash of frozen peas in the freezer.

FYI frozen peas are actually more fresh than ‘fresh’ peas in the supermarket chiller cabinets, as the frozen peas are frozen almost immediately once they are harvested, whereas the ‘fresh’ peas are around a week old and haven’t been preserved in any way.

I love the freshness, and the different textures of this dish.  It only takes as long as the pasta takes to cook, and it makes for a great weekday lunch or supper.  It can easily be made for one, two, four, six, eight or more.

This is what I used for the two of us:

pancetta, sliced into lardons

3 spring onions, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

8 cherry tomatoes, halved

handful of frozen peas

170ml half fat single cream (small pot on the supermarket shelves)

olive oil

parmesan, grated

parsley, finely chopped

200g of dried penne

Rather than wait for a pot of cold water to boil, simply boil a kettle.  Toss in a large pinch of sea salt and a glug of olive oil and cook the penne al dente.  Remember the pasta needs to be a little under cooked, as you should always add pasta to the sauce for a final minute of cooking.

Heat a non-stick pan for the pancetta lardons, and dry fry these.  You don't need any oil as the pancetta has a lot of fat which will be rendered down in the pan.  When the natural fats have been released, add the garlic and spring onions until soft.

Then add the halved cherry tomatoes, and wait for them to blister and burst.  Then add the half fat cream, a good few twists of freshly milled black pepper, and simmer.

Add a handful of frozen peas to the same boiling water that you are cooking the pasta in.  This should only take a matter of 2 or 3 minutes. 

Drain the pasta, add to the sauce, and stir through.  Add the grated parmesan and the chopped parsley and serve immediately.  You see it really is that quick....the quicker the meal....the more time you spend with the ones you love.

I like to serve this with a very simply dressed rocket and watercress salad……

….and of course with lashings of love….

xoxo

Speedy Cobb Salad

This salad is a sure fire winner with everyone, and that includes Alex.  Yes the blue cheese dressing is a little naughty....(but makes for another man-friendly salad)...so I'm very cautious when drizzling this over my plate!

It takes under 15 minutes to prepare, and even less to devour....

This is what I used:-

Iceberg lettuce - shredded

1 avocado - sliced

Cucumber - thick chunks

Cherry tomatoes - halved

8 slices of streaky bacon

1 turkey breast sliced thinly

For the dressing:

Blue cheese + half fat sour cream + chives + parsley + squeeze of lemon + salt & pepper

Grill the streaky bacon until good and crispy, then drain on kitchen paper, dabbing any excess fat.

Season turkey slices, and griddle for about 3 minutes turning halfway. 

Any more and the turkey will go rubbery, and we certainly don't want that.

Mix the cheese, (I used St. Agor), sour cream, herbs and lemon juice. 

Have a little taste, and guage how much seasoning is needed.

Build the salad on the plates, top with turkey, crispy bacon and drizzle over the blue cheese dressing.

Serve with love...xoxo....

Saturday Night Nachos

Cheesy nachos, chilli con carne, guacamole, half fat sour cream with paprika

Today Alex went out with a friend for a boozy lunch, came home, collapsed on the sofa and woke up with a raging hangover!  Poor baby.

So tonight for supper we had nachos with cheese, alongside chilli con carne, guacamole, and half fat soured cream.

Now, contrary to common belief, chilli con carne and nachos are not traditional Mexican fare.  They are in actual fact from the Lone Star State that is Texas.

Growing up, my father used to cook us nachos with all the trimmings regularly as it was a firm family favourite.  In my own home, Alex and I used to enjoy my version, until we went on holiday to Mexico in November, and had a nacho and guacamole overdose!  Four months later, we wondered why we'd ever stopped!

Anyhow this is my version of nachos with all the trimmings.  It takes quite a while, but you don't need to be cooking the entire time, and it's definitely worth it.

Here's what I used:

For the chilli con carne:

Olive oil

Large onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

500g lean minced beef

6 rashers of streaky bacon

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp paprika

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tin of kidney beans

200ml stock, beef or chicken

Dash of soy sauce

For the guacamole / salsa:

1 ripe avocado, roughly chopped

4 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Small bunch of fresh coriander, including stalks (as they have lots of flavour)

Juice of 1 lime

For the nachos:

1 bag of plain tortilla chips

200g grated mild cheddar

1 tub of half fat sour cream

Saute the onions and garlic gently, until they start to caramelise.

Turn up the heat, fry the beef mince, in batches, as we want the mince to brown quickly, and overcrowding in the pan will cause steam.

Add the spices, cook off in the pan.

Add tomatoes, kidney beans and stock.  Bring to the boil, then simmer at a low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, checking for seasoning.  If salt is needed, I like to add a few dashes of soy sauce, as I like the deep flavour.

15 minutes before the chilli cooking ends, heat the oven, grate the cheese.

Now prepare the guacamole simply by mixing all the chopped ingredients in a bowl.  I like it fairly chunky, as it makes it easier for scooping.

Lay the tortilla chips all over a baking sheet, sprinkle over the cheese, and bake until all the cheese has melted.  This should take no longer than 5 - 7 minutes at 200 degrees celsius.

Take to the table immediately!  Despite the irony, I like to serve the hot cheesy nachos in a big handmade bowl we brought back from Mexico....

Serve with love....and a cold, refreshing cerveza...

xoxo....

Pancake Day!!

Pancake Day, is actually Shrove Tuesday, the day preceding Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent.  Traditionally, households would use up luxuries such as butter, sugar and eggs and make a feast of pancakes together with whatever they had, before fasting for Lent.  In other parts of the world, this day is Mardi Gras, from the French for "fat Tuesday".

As a child, my sister and I simply loved loved loved Pancake Day.  It meant rushing home from school, and forming a production line by our mother as she stood over the aga, who had already started proceedings.

I will forever remember the distinctive, rich wafts of melted Irish butter, and the comforting, mouthwatering aroma of freshly made pancakes that emanated from our family kitchen.....

We liked to keep our pancakes simple: with a good squeeze of lemon, a sprinkling of caster sugar, (granulated is too gritty/icing sugar is too powdery), and swiftly rolled up....which made for better handling for little girls!

I had already converted Alex into the ways of Pancake Day, this year however, I decided to rope in two of my very dear girlfriends, Andrea who is Mexican, and Latifa who is French and their husbands.  It was a real team effort.




Andrea and I cooking

 

Andrea and Alberto were kind enough to host our 'Pancake Party', and we decided to have both savoury and sweet pancakes.

Latifa and Kevin brought along Scrumpy Jack, as traditionally the French have their crepes with Cider, and her husband is Cornish.

Alex and I brought along homemade pancake batter and a lovely Meursault.

We filled our pancakes with the following:

spinach + ricotta

melted gruyere + ham

smoked salmon + capers + finely chopped onion + chopped eggs

nutella + chopped hazelnuts + chopped bananas

melted chocolate + strawberries + raspberries + blueberries

It was a marvellous evening, which started off in the kitchen, with everyone mucking in.

Every boy and every girl tossed their pancakes with panache......

It just goes to show....we can get older.....but our inner child will always remain...and jolly good too!

xoxo

Fig & Bresaola Salad

Today, I was particularly exhausted after a 6km power walk, and I really didn't fancy making anything remotely complicated for lunch.  Luckily for me, there is a little M&S supermarket practically opposite my gym, so I stopped by and picked up the ingredients for this hearty, man friendly salad.

This is what I used:

1 packet of mozzarella di bufala

1 packet of Bresaola (air-dried, salted beef)

1 packet of rocket, spinach and watercress salad

4 ripe ready to eat figs

2 beetroots

for the dressing:

1 tsp dijon mustard

2 tsp honey

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

dash of water

All you have to do is wash the leaves and assemble on a large plate or bowl

Tear up mozzarella and bresaola and arrange over the leaves

Add sliced beetroot, and sliced figs

Sprinkle with parsley

Drizzle with the dressing

Serve with warm crusty bread.....

.....and love.....xoxo

Carrot & Coriander Soup

I, like many other brides-to-be have put myself on a strict diet - if there's one day a girl can be the belle of the ball, it is on her wedding day!  I, like many other women, struggle with my weight.  Having transitioned from a carefree young woman who could eat as much as she liked, go to the gym as little as she liked, and still be a size 8/10, to a more curvaceous woman in my late 20's, it took it’s toll on my self-esteem.

I am now taking charge.  Exercising on it's own is simply not enough.
One's diet is fundamental to healthy weight loss.

Winter is a tough time to watch the calories and fat intake.  When it’s cold, grey, damp and miserable, I, a self-confessed ‘foodie floozy’, usually sought solace in the usual winter comforts, Sunday roasts with the works, pasta dishes, baked potatoes, stews with mash, toad in the hole, sausages, fondue, bread…..(oh how I miss bread….).

One of the things I've taken to doing is making large vats of varying vegetable soups.  I can easily make a soup one morning, leave it on the hob, and heat it up and have it for a few days.  Please note, that soups, like many other things, only get better with age.

Here is the carrot and coriander soup that I made the other day......(needless to say I did not eat the bread that you spy in the picture......but I might have had a riot on my hands if I'd attempted to give Alex a bowl of soup on it's own!).  This was pretty cheap to make as I already had the stock cubes and herbs in the store cupboard, and the carrots, onions, and fresh herbs cost under £5!

Here's what I used:

1 kg carrots - peeled, topped and tailed, roughly chopped into similar sizes

2 onions - finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped

2 bay leaves

1 litre of vegetable stock

good seasoning with salt & white pepper

fresh coriander

3 tsp dried coriander

Heat the onions and garlic gently in olive oil over a gentle to medium heat.  Do not brown.  We want to bring out the natural sugars in the onion and garlic, and we can only achieve this with slow cooking. 

Once this looks translucent and is verging on the caramelised stage, add the carrots.  Cook the carrots a little with the onions and garlic, this will encourage some of the carrots natural sugars to be released also.

Add the dried coriander.  I always find that cooking spices helps to bring out depth of the flavour, as opposed to sprinkling them when the stock has been added.

Add the vegetable stock.

Add the bay leaves.

Bring to the boil. 

Transfer the pot to smallest ring on your hob, and turn the heat right down and simmer gently for around an hour.

(I actually went to the gym, and came back, and it was perfectly fine).

Take the soup off the heat. 

Now this is important, let the soup cool a little, before blending with a hand held blender stick.

I once made the mistake of trying to blend soup when it was still scalding hot.  I looked at my BlackBerry for what must have been no more than a millisecond, and before I knew it, molten hot butternut squash soup sprayed all over a beautiful silk Alberta Ferretti blouse, and of course every conceivable surface within a metre radius!  Lesson learned.

Yes, accidents happen, but darlings for the purposes of damage limitation, let's not burn ourselves, or damage clothes as well....!

Now is the time to check for seasoning.  Remember you can always add, but you can never take away, (how ironic - I really should have thought of that when consuming all those Singapore noodles over the last 29 years). 

Carrots and onions are sweet, and for me, soup should be savoury.  I like the hum of spicy white pepper, and I think it compliments the gentle heat of the coriander; however, you should just season to your liking.  You could also add a few chilli flakes if that takes your fancy.

Serve this hearty, winter warming soup, with a dollop of 0% fat Greek yoghurt and a sprinkling of fresh coriander and parsley.....oh and some warm, crusty French bread for those who are not yet at war with carbs.

Give yourself a big pat on the back....xoxo....

Gnocchi with Sage, Tallegio & Speck

One of my absolute favourite London restaurants is Zafferano, (15 Lowndes Street, Knightsbridge), it is always a treat, and I've never had a meal there that failed to impress me. 

Obviously I am no Andy Needham, but when I ordered this dish, I was blown away by it's simplicity, yet the beautiful, bold flavours and luxurious textures made it a delight - I knew I had to try and make this dish at home.  This is my recreation.  It is very filling, and is more than enough for 2 as a main meal, or 6 as a starter.

I used:

1 packet of gnocchi
(few of us have the time to make it from scratch!)

1 small bunch of sage

500g of tallegio

6 thin slices of speck

black pepper 

Cook the gnocchi in boiling salted water until the little dumplings all float to the top, then drain.

Return the steaming hot little potato dumplings back into the pot, adding the cubes of the Tallegio (the smaller the pieces, the more easily it will melt), stir in and allow the pungent, creamy cheese to melt coating the gnocchi. 

Add a twist or two of freshly milled black peppercorns.

Meanwhile dry fry the spec in a hot pan until crispy.  This will only take a minute or two.

Remove and drain on kitchen roll.

Fry the sage leaves in the same oil until crispy, again this will take moments.  Drain.

Now assemble the plate:

cheesy, creamy gnocchi first, then a few sage leaves, then the crispy speck, then a few more sage leaves. 

This is an elegant dish...it is utterly mouth wateringly decadent, and literally takes no more 5 minutes to make.  The perfect dinner for two, or starter for 6...

Serve with LOVE....xoxo....

Date Night



Lady and the Tramp

 

Try as we might, romance usually gets put on the back burner.  It's not unusual for the fire and passion to burn less bright after being with your partner for years, especially with all the usual trials and tribulations that life throws at you.

Alex and I tend to have 'date night' once a month, failing that, once every two months.  However, we, like so many others, had to tighten our belts as recession and redundancy loomed.  So every now and again I try and recreate memorable meals that we've had, so even if we aren't hitting the town as often as before, we still have lovely dinners....most importantly lovely dinners together.

You would be surprised at how romantic your own living / dining room can be when the lights are turned down to low....when flickering tea lights are dotted around strategically, bouncing off reflective surfaces into pretty shapes....and the aroma of Diptyque's Figuier is floating around.

Turn off the TV.  Turn off your Blackberries.  Add a roaring fire, suitable music, a simple, elegant no fuss meal, (nothing less romantic or sexy than being hot, bothered and frantic), with a fine bottle of wine into the mix.......just talk, and listen, and laugh.......enjoy one another.....it really is the perfect date night.

In this blog I shall give you my versions of some of our favourite date night meals, easily replicated at home.

Please enjoy these with someone you love....xoxo

Frozen Yoghurt

These tubs of low fat goodness, (a mere 2g of fat / 130 calories per serving), are a true godsend......not quite as creamy as the real deal......but pretty darn close.....

Better for one's figure, better for your kiddies toothypegs, and much, much easier on your conscience.....

Never before have those late night fridge raids after a particularly awful day, been so perfectly guilt free..........yippeeeeeeee!

Enjoy.......just remember darlings, everything in moderation...........

xoxo

Greek Style Chicken Wings

 


 

Apologies for my short absence, I have been super busy doing weddingy bits and bobs, fun fun fun....

As Alex and I were making our way home this evening, he said how much he missed KFC......obviously I do NOT advocate the deep fried, battery hen, chicken bits that KFC offers, (although I am guilty of having the odd spicy chicken wing when under the influence), so we stopped by Waitrose and bought some fresh wings.

A few weeks ago I made and posted the spicy chicken drumsticks, so today I thought I'd do something a little different. 

The reason I call these Greek style is because I saw a general trend, and that is lemon, oregano, and olive oil.

Lemon is very popular with all meat; oregano is sprinkled over everything from lamb chops to fries; and of course lovingly homegrown olive oil.

This dish doesn't need many ingredients, and really takes no time at all to prepare.  Once I'd put the wings in the oven, I was able to kick back with a gin'n'tonic (slimline naturally), and gossip to a few friends on the phone.

Here's what I used:

12 whole chicken wings (separated into drumettes and flats) spread over a baking tray

Pour over the juice of one large, juicy lemon

Sprinkle with a good pinch of sea salt

Sprinkle over a generous amount of dried oregano, approximately 1tbsp

Drizzle over olive oil

 Mix well with your hands ensuring everything is coated with the lovely, lemony glaze.

Roast in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees celsius for 45 minutes, turning once, so all the wings are gloriously golden.  Serve with a large fresh green salad, and perhaps new potatoes....

....and of course with LOVE..........

xoxo