Author: amy

Coconut Biscuits

150g butter or margarine

1 tbs honey

130g caster sugar

70g self raising flour

90g desiccated coconut

100g oats

You will make about 30 biscuits, ready to scoff in 20 mins. 

Preheat oven to 170C fan. Get two large non-stick baking sheets ready and grease with a little butter.

In a large pan melt butter, honey and sugar together on heat 5 until all liquid. Don’t allow to bubble/boil.

Add the flour, coconut and oats and mix until all combined. 

Put heaped teaspoonfuls of mix onto the baking sheets well spread out, flatten the mounds a little. You will get about 8 per sheet (you will need to do 2 runs in the oven) if they are spaced out enough. 

Bake for no more than 10 mins – the lower tray might need a min longer than the top. They should be golden but not a dark brown.

Leave to cool for a few mins on the sheet and then lift off with a pallet knife onto a cooling rack. 

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Chickpea & Feta Salad

Serves 4

Half a red onion very finely sliced

1 red bird eye chilli finely chopped

Juice of one lemon

2 tbs olive oil

1 large jar of chickpeas

1 small tin of kidney beans

1 medium beetroot grated

2 large carrots grated 

Handful of mint roughly chopped

Handful of basil torn 

1 pack of feta cheese

1 tbs lin seeds

1 tbs sunflower seeds

In a large bowl mix the onion with the chilli and stir in the lemon juice and olive oil and mix well, adding some salt and pepper. Leave to one side for 20 mins to take the raw taste off the onion.

Heat the chickpeas until lukewarm with a couple tbs water. Once warm take off the heat and mash about 1/4 until a rough paste. 

Stir the chickpeas into the onion and lemon and mix well to make sure the paste takes on the oil and lemon juice. Add the kidney beans, carrot and beetroot and stir together. 

Finally add the herbs and crumble in the feta keeping some larger chunks. Check the seasoning and add more salt and lemon juice if necessary.

Serve and sprinkle on the seeds (if using) on each serving.

Can also add chopped tomatoes and cucumber – but only if not planning to keep left overs as will go too soggy.

amyLeave a comment

Lentil, Pumpkin, Spinach & Chickpea Soup/Dahl

250g red lentils

1700ml cold water

1 chicken or veg stock cube

1.5 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tbs olive oil

1 medium white onion, finely diced

2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 red chilli finely chopped (or 2 tsp dried flakes)

200g of pumpkin/squash peeled and diced into small cubes

1 small tin chickpeas (or about 2/3 jar) rinsed

1 tbs tomato puree

Black pepper and salt

Fresh spinach (4 large handfuls) washed and chopped

Put the lentils, water, stock and turmeric in a large pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and skim off any scum that forms. (use a black pan so the turmeric doesn’t stain and don’t use wooden spoons).

Heat a frying pan on a medium heat for a few mins and add the mustard and fennel seeds, toast until they start moving/jumping around the pan. Add the olive oil, a good pinch of salt and the onion and fry until soft. Add the ginger, chilli flakes and the puree and cook for a couple of mins. 

When the lentils are cooked add the onion and spice paste to the pan with the squash and cook for another 10-15 mins until the squash is cooked through and then add the chickpeas and warm for a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat, add the spinach and stir well and check the seasoning. 

Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and or some natural yoghurt on top.

amyLeave a comment

Roast Chicken with Feta, Olives & Vegetables

Serves 4

750g new potatoes

2 tbs olive oil

4 chicken breasts or 8 chicken thighs

350g cherry tomatoes

1 red onion cut into thin wedges

100g back olives, stones removed

1 tbs chopped fresh oregano 

200g of feta 

2 tbs red wine vinegar

Get the oven heated to 185C fan. Cut the potatoes into thick slices lengthways and put in a large roasting dish (the biggest Le Creuset is best) with half the olive oil and toss until coated. If using thighs put these on top and put in the oven and roast for 30 mins, wait if using breasts and just roast the potatoes.  

Add the onion, cherry tomatoes, olives, oregano and feta and toss. Put the chicken breasts on top (or put the thighs back on top) and drizzle with remaining olive oil and the red wine vinegar. 

Cook for 20-25 minutes and check the chicken is cooked through before serving. 

amyLeave a comment

Houmous (best recipe EVER!)

800g chickpeas (jars are always the best*) drained and rinsed (about 500g drained)

4-6 tsp of tahini (depends how strong you like)

1 dsp of Maldon salt

6 tbs of good quality olive oil (no shit to be used here!)

3.5 tbs lemon juice (usually 1.5 lemons but depends on size)

Cold water

Put everything except the olive oil in the blender and blitz, take the lid off and scrape down the sides to make sure everything gets combined. Add the olive oil through the funnel while it is running. Then to make the houmous really smooth add in cold water a tbs full at a time. I usually end up using 4-6 tbs. Check the seasoning, add more salt and lemon juice if needed. Serve.

(*the chickpeas are larger and seem to have much softer skin)

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Pumpkin & Courgette Soup

Serves 4-6 

1 large white onion roughly diced

3 courgettes, roughly sliced

1 small butternut squash or a large chunk of pumpkin, peeled with seeds removed and diced

3 chicken stock cubes

Boiling water, around 1.5 litres

Salt and pepper

Put the onion and pumpkin in a pan (Le Creuset is big enough) and add the stock cubes and enough boiling water to cover the veg plus a few heavy handed grinds of black pepper. Stir to break down the stock cubes and bring to the boil. Add a lid and simmer until the pumpkin is nearly cooked (about 20 mins).

Add the courgette and some more water if there is not much left and replace the lid. Cook until everything is soft, about 5-10 minutes depending how big the courgette slices were. 

Turn off the heat and using a stick blender blend the soup until it is all smooth. If it is too thick add some more hot water and blend again to mix well. Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper and blitz one more time with the blender before serving. 

amyLeave a comment

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Taken from Nigella…

Serves 6 greedy Jamie’s or 8 normal people

FOR THE CAKE

100 grams dark brown muscovado sugar

175 grams self-raising flour

125 millilitres full fat milk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

50 grams unsalted butter (melted)

200 grams chopped dates

FOR THE SAUCE

200 grams dark brown muscovado sugar

approx. 25 grams unsalted butter (cut into little blobs)

500 millilitres boiling water

METHOD

  1. Preheat the oven to 175°C fan and butter a 1½ litre capacity pudding dish.
  2. Combine the dark muscovado sugar with the flour in a large mixing bowl. Pour the milk into a measuring jug, beat in the egg, vanilla and melted butter and then pour this mixture over the sugar and flour, stirring – just with a wooden spoon – to combine. Fold in the dates then scrape into the prepared pudding dish and smooth down to level. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look very full: it will do by the time it cooks.
  3. Sprinkle over the top of the mix the 200g of dark muscovado sugar and dot with the butter. Pour over the boiling water (yes really!) and transfer to the oven. Set the timer for 45 minutes, though you might find the pudding needs 5 or 10 minutes more. The top of the pudding should be springy and spongy when it’s cooked; underneath, the butter, dark muscovado sugar and boiling water will have turned into a rich, sticky sauce. Serve with vanilla ice cream, creme fraiche, double or single cream as you wish.

amyLeave a comment

Turnip & Kidney Bean Curry

2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 12 wedges each

1 medium red onion, finely diced

2 gloves of garlic (minced or grated in when directed)

Thumb sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 tin of good quality chopped tomatoes, juice drained and kept for something else

1 tin of kidney beans

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp ground turmeric 

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp paprika or dried chilli flakes

1/2 tsp garam masala

1tbs chopped coriander

Cook the turnips in boiling water until soft, about 5 mins. Once cooked add the kidney beans and boil for a minute and then turn off the heat.

Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a wide frying pan on #6 (green Le Creuset is best) and fry the spices (except the garam masala) for a minute or until they start smelling (good not burned!). Add the onion and a pinch of Maldon and cook until soft/golden brown. Add the fresh ginger and garlic and fry for a minute and then add the chopped tomatoes and cook for a few minutes on a medium heat (it shouldn’t boil too hard).

Drain the turnips and beans but keep the cooking water. Add the veg to the tomato spice paste and add a few spoons of the retained water. Simmer for 10 mins. If it goes too thick add a little more water but not too much as should be quite a thick curry. Add the garam masala and coriander and check the seasoning just before serving.

Serve with cauliflower or normal rice with a spoon of thick natural yoghurt on top.

amyLeave a comment