Jamie's Sea Bass & Crispy Pancetta, Sweet Potato Mash and Asian Greens...

This is another recipe from Jamie's 30minute meals cookbook that I cooked with my boyfriend last night. I think it's a really great way to do the sweet potatoes with coriander and mango chutney. It's kind of an Asian mix with some Italian Pancetta. Unfortunately Sainsbury's had run out of Seabass so we had to do the recipe with Haddock, which was nice but Seabass would have definitely been better. I also didn't have any asparagus for the greens so used spinach with the broccoli instead. And because we didn't make the lemon and ginger drink or berry ice cream like Jamie does in the 30minute recipe, ours was ready a lot sooner. I cut down the amount of lemon, salt and olive oil that Jamie ALWAYS insists on. I think these top chefs seem to have lost their taste buds and can only eat anything coated in lemon, salt and oil -raising your blood pressure and adding unnecessary calories. 
Ingredients - (based on the recipe for 4 people)
For the Mash: 
700g sweet potatoes, 
2 limes, 
A small bunch of fresh coriander,
2 tablespoons mango chutney,
Soy Sauce.
For the Greens:
1 fresh red chilli
1 clove of garlic
Soy Sauce
1 lime
Sesame Oil
100g Asparagus or some spinach
1 head of broccoli
For the Seabass:
8 thin slices of pancetta
4 x 150g fillets of sea bass, skin on, scaled and pin-boned
1 lemon (if you feel it's necessary)
1 tsp fennel seeds (optional)


1. Wash the sweet potatoes, trim off any gnarly bits then stab them a few times with a knife. Put in a large microwave safe bowl, halve one of the limes and add to the bowl then cover with a double layer of clingfilm and microwave on full power for 12 minutes, or until cooked through.
2. Deseed and finely chop the chilli adding half to a large serving bowl and set the rest aside. Crush the unpeeled clove of garlic into the bowl and add 2 tbsp of soy sauce. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lime and add a splash of sesame oil. Mix. Trim the asparagus stalks, if using, quarter the broccoli. 
3. Put the pancetta into a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Turn when crispy. When golden, remove to a plate and leave the fat in the pan. Add the fish to the pan, skin side down. Shake the pan and press the fish flat for a couple of seconds. Then put the fennel seeds in if using with some pepper.
4. Finely chop coriander on a large wooden chopping board, setting a few leaves aside for the garnish. Add the mango chutney, a good splash of soy and the reserved chopped chilli. Chop the mix everything together on the board.
5. Fill a large saucepan with boiling water and add the broccoli and asparagus, completely submerging them. Put the lid on and turn the heat up high.
6. Check the fish, once the skin is golden and crispy, turn the heat down to low but have confidence to let the skin become good and crispy before reducing the heat.
7. Get the sweet potatoes out of the micrwoave and check they are cooked through, then use tongs to squeeze the juice from the lime. Then carefully tip the sweet potatoes on top of the mango chutney mixture and use a knife or masher to chop and mash everything together (inc skins). Season to taste.
8. Take the pan of fish off the heat and flip the fillets over so they gently finish cooking on the flesh side. Return the pancetta to warm through and serve the fish and pancetta on top of the board of mash and take to the table.
9. Drain the broccoli and asparagus in a colander then tip into the serving bowl with the dressing, quickly toss and take to the table. 

Cupcakes, Cookbooks and Coca Cola Ham!

I hope everybody had a lovely Christmas and are now planning for the New Year! 


First of all, I must blog Nigella's Coca Cola Ham. Not sure if anybody follows India Knight on twitter but she had a ham and there was a lot of debate about whether to do it in coca cola or not, everybody who has cooked it says do it but if you haven't then it probably sounds very strange. And I remember watching Nigella do it on one of her show's a while ago and thinking how weird it seemed. But true to her word, it does really work and I will definitely be cooking all my ham's like this in the future. We cooked this on Boxing Day ready for some family coming the following day and it went down really well (unfortunately not much was left!) The coke doesn't make it too sweet like I thought it would, it just adds a great depth of flavour and colour. Then you add the glaze which tastes really great.  The photo below doesn't really do it justice. 

Ingredients -
2kg mild cure gammon
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
2 litre bottle of coca cola (plus extra to make sure it's covered if your pan is too big like mine was)
For the glaze -
Handful of cloves (optional, I was a bit cloved out from Christmas so left them out)
1 heaped tablespoon of black treacle
2 tsp english mustard powder
2 tablespoons demerara sugar
One spoonful of the cooking water to loosen it up a little.


1. Nigella doesn't bother to soak the ham but I did just in case it was too salty. So if you feel it will be salty, put it in a pan covered with cold water and bring to the boil then tip into a colander in the sink.
2. Then put the gammon in a pan, skin side down if it fits like that, add the onion and then pour over the Coke.
3.Bring to the boil then reduce to a good simmer. Put the lid on but not too tightly and cook for just under 2 1/2 hours. If your joint is bigger or smaller then work out the timing by about an hour per kilo remembering that it will go into an oven later (but add an extra 15mins if it's been in the fridge right up until the moment you cook it)
4. Preheat the oven to 240c.
5. When the ham's had it's time, take it out of the pan but don't throw away the cooking liquid yet. Let it cool for a little bit to make it easier to handle or let it cool completely and finish cooking later if you need to. Then remove the skin, leaving a thin layer of fat. Score the fat with a sharp knife to make large diamond shapes then if using cloves, stud each diamond with a clove.
6. Mix the sugar and mustard powder into the treacle with a little cooking water and spread onto the ham.
7. Then cook in a foil-lined roasting tin for approx 10 mins or until the glaze is burnished and bubbling. 
Then slice when ready and serve! 
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I got lots of cookbooks for Christmas so I shall be sharing many recipes over the next few months. Here are a photo of some of my favourites. I can't wait to get stuck in to some new recipes, especially from Leon and Green&Blacks. But some others I'd really recommend and not pictured are: Jamie's 30minute meals, Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book, Delia, any by Ottolenghi and Nigella Express. 

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And finally, some photos of some food over Christmas including the cupcakes (I just used the Hummingbird vanilla recipe as everyone was a bit too flavoured out) and Turkey!

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Over January, I'll be posting lots of fresh and healthy recipes and lots from the new cookbooks. Happy New Year!

Proper Italian Pasta Sauce and Fresh Pasta.

When my Great Auntie Jean was alive, she used to make the most incredible pasta sauce. And then one day, while looking through Jamie Oliver's website I saw a basic tomato and basil sauce that I decided to make, when I went to eat it with lots of parmesan and black pepper it reminded me of my Aunt's incredible sauce!! So now for a quick and easy but delicious dinner I knock up some of this sauce and serve it with some fresh tagliatelle and grate lots of parmesan and add soo much blackpepper!

This picture isn't the best but seriously make this pasta and you won't regret it!!

The sauce goes like this (for 2 people) -
1 Red onion
A couple of cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Fresh basil 
A tin of tomato purée
A tin of chopped tomatoes


Fry a red onion in some olive oil and add some finely chopped garlic,
While the heat is still high add the basil into the oil so that it blackens and spits a bit
Then add the puree and let it sweeten for a couple of minutes, you may need to turn the heat down
Then add the chopped tomatoes and reduce the heat, adding more basil.
Cook for as long, or as little as you like. It tastes great in about 10minutes but you could reduce it more.


Then serve with the fresh pasta (I like green or multigrain tagliatelle) but add some of the pasta's cooking water to the sauce to loosen it a little. ADD PARMESAN AND BLACK PEPPER! Sometimes I serve with some asparagus spears on the side. 




If you want to make fresh pasta (I've tried it a couple of times, and yeah it tastes great, you get a great sense of achievement that you've actually made the pasta, but to be honest Sainsbury's fresh stuff is just as good so don't feel you have to) - then use Jamie's recipe.
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/a-basic-recipe-for-fresh-egg-pasta

Simple Grilled Chicken, Jamie's Sweet Potato Mash and Asparagus

Some of my favourite dinners are the healthiest and simplest, perfect for mid-week like grilled chicken or fish with some vegetables. I adore sweet potatoes and saw Jamie's mash (on his 30minute meals again) which seemed like a good way to zap it up a little. This is more like an idea than a recipe to be honest -

So for the chicken I just grilled it on the 'Baby George', or if you're lucky enough to have nice summery weather, bbq it! Then just steam some veggies, I love asparagus and spinach.

But the sweet potatoes are the really special bit -

It depends on how many you're serving or how hungry you are as to how many you use. But I just quartered and peeled (although you don't have to peel it for added fibre) and put in a microwavable bowl. Add a quarter of a lemon to the bowl to steam in with it if you like. Cover with clingfilm and cook on full power for about 9 minutes - obviously more depending on the quantities. Push a fork in when cooked to see if they are soft enough to mash, if not cook for a bit longer. Then mash it up and drizzle in some garlic oil while the potatoes are still hot, then you can add whatever you like depending on your meal! Sometimes coriander or chilli (like Jamie does). I just simply added some peas and served with lots of black pepper!

My version of Jamie's 30mm 'Pregnant Jool's Pasta' - Ragu

After this photo was taken I added lots more sauce, cheese and black pepper.

I've been watching Jamie's 30minute meals, and brought the cookbook that goes with it, and saw this ragu recipe! I've never made a ragu, usually opting for spaghetti bolognese. But I saw a bag of multi-grain tagliatelle that Sainsburys have just brought back and thought this would be perfect with it!

I've modified the recipe, using the tagliatelle instead of penne, mince instead of sausages, red onion instead of the spring. But I thought it tasted delicious! My Boyfriend made 3 batches of it in a week!

Ingredients -

1 red onion

1 carrot

1 stick of celery

1 fresh chilli 

Pack of mince (either pork or beef)

Garlic

1 x 400g tin of plum tomatoes (chop the tomatoes when in the pan)

Herbs - Oregano or mixed italian

Balsamic 

Fresh pasta to serve - I like multigrain tag.

1. Blitz the onion, carrot, celery, chilli and garlic in a food processor until well mixed and then spoon into a hot frying pan with oil. Keep breaking it up and stirring it quickly.

Meanwhile, blitz the mince in the processor to make it finer. Then add this to the pan and stir.

2. Add balsamic and let it cook down and then add the tomatoes. Add some herbs.

3. Put the pasta on, if using fresh it should only take 4mins.

4. Add a little of the starchy pasta water to the sauce if needed to loosen.

5. Then drain the pasta and serve with the sauce and lots of cheese! Cheddar or parmesan work well, finally add some basil and black pepper.

Delicious Salmon... Jamie Oliver style!

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the delicious dinner! So mine looked basically the same as this picture from the 'besuperlicious blog'.

On Saturday night I recreated a Jamie recipe that I first had in Scotland, when staying with my boyfriend's aunt and uncle for a weekend. 

I'm not sure which book of his it is from but it's not on his website either. Anyway, it's the easiest, most delicious way to eat salmon! 

The recipe (for 4) - 

4 x salmon fillets (I used Sainsburys Taste the Difference)

800g green beans

400g cherry tomatoes

A good few handfuls of chopped, stoned black olives

A tin of anchovies (and their oil) 

A handful of basil

Lots of lemon juice

Turn your oven to the hottest heat it will go and leave it to heat up

Meanwhile, blanch the green beans for about 6 minutes until they've just lost their crunch

Mix the beans, tomatoes, basil and olives in a bowl and squeeze some lemon juice and black pepper

Then put the salmon in a roasting tin on one side and squeeze lots of lemon and black pepper on both sides

Then add the tomato/bean mix around it (don't actually cover the salmon though) and then tear up the anchovies into small pieces over the beans and mix in.

Finally pour most of the oil from the anchovies over the whole thing, add a bit more lemon and black pepper and cook! 

It takes only about 10minutes in the hot oven so check the salmon is cooked, and it will be ready!

I served mine with new potatoes but pasta, rice or couscous would all be perfect with it!

- N.B my mum hates anchovies so you can leave them off certain sections if you don't want them but they really do add such a delicious flavour!