Chicken and Tomato Risotto

I overheard my parents talking the other day...they were wondering what they’re going to do when I leave home for good. Food-wise that is! I’m sure they’d love to have their house back; it would be clean, tidy and quiet. But they can’t deny one thing – they eat much better when I’m around!
We’ve nicknamed Mum’s cooking cordon bleu because it couldn’t be further from the truth! She’s well aware that she only has a few recipes in her repertoire that don’t involve packets of frozen food but having said that what she can cook isn’t half bad. When she's not cooking fish fingers it's probably a Chicken Supreme or a Bolognase!

Dad’s a much better cook and he’s probably where I get my cooking skills from. Every now and then he’ll decide to cook a Chinese feast from scratch, or whip up a curry. He’s also not half bad at puddings! It’s just a shame he’s not in the kitchen more often when I’m not around.

I don’t think my Mum is half as bad as we make her out to be. I think a lot of being a good cook is about having the confidence to try new things and the imagination to create something different when faced with the same old ingredients in the cupboard. A couple of weeks ago I cooked a sausage and asparagus risotto for the first time. It was completely unplanned and was based on what I could find in the fridge, but it worked so well we’ve tried it a few times and it now has pride of place on my blog. This recipe isn’t too dissimilar. Not only is it a risotto recipe, but it uses up all of those ingredients you usually have lurking at the back of the fridge; chicken breasts, tomatoes, stock, tomato puree and rice. Nothing here – bar the basil if you don’t grow your own – is special or fancy, they are every day flavours that when combined together make something really quite special!

Spiced Cranberry Chutney

An extra large jar of Spiced Cranberry Chutney
ready for some cheese!

This is my second venture into the Christmas kitchen this year and yet again it involves a couple of jars!
I’ve been thinking about “dabbling” in preserves since the summer. In the past we’ve ended up with a huge glut of fruit and I was looking forward to attempting to make jam for the first time. But, summer came and went, and in true British style the weather was disappointing. We had hardly any raspberries on our canes this year so my new jam thermometer never got a look in.

But, as we get ever closer to Christmas, I’ve begun to find festive uses for the jam jars I have collected.

First I attempted my own mincemeat perfect for mince pies and other festive favourites. The recipe was super simple, and I managed to get an airtight seal! Woo hoo! Not too bad for a first attempt.

This time I thought I’d try something a little bit different.

At Christmas my family gets through an UNHOLY amount of Cheese; cheeses of all kinds, from soft to smelly, sheep to goat. Last year my Dad’s present from my sister and I was actually a Cheese hamper complete with 5 types of cheese 2 chutneys and a plumb bread. You can buy these hampers from farmers markets and supermarkets alike but I started to think...how hard can it REALLY be to make chutney?! As it turns out, it’s not very hard at all.

When coming up for the flavour combination, I wanted something that didn’t just go well with cheese, but something that well and truly said CHRISTMAS! So my starting point was cranberries. As I searched the internet for basic cranberry chutney I was a bit concerned about how I would actually find fresh cranberries. Turns out...that’s also pretty damn easy! Who would’ve thought they can found in the fresh fruit isle of Sainsbury’s in a plastic bag by the nuts.

Well that was the first hurdle overcome. Next I had to decide what else I would but in the chutney. For a truly festive flavour it had to be cinnamon, nutmeg and a touch of ginger. This combined with the basic chutney mix (the fruit, red wine vinegar, a little onion) seemed like a good place to start, but I didn’t want to play it too safe. So, to give the chutney an extra kick, you can also find a red chilli in the ingredients list. This works really well to give the chutney a bit of excitement without drowning out the mellow Christmas spices.

Sausage and Asparagus Risotto

Updated: 19/04/2013

When I first posted this recipe I highlighted the age old issue of buying food that you just don’t get round to eating.

I told you how in my house we ALWAYS have a pack of sausages just sitting there waiting to be used. Unfortunately this hasn’t changed since my original post…

I also bet every single one of you can look in the fridge on a weekly basis and find that ONE thing you seem to buy no matter what. No matter how dedicated you are to meal planning, and using up everything so that you don’t create waste, there’s always something lurking in the back of the fridge that just sits there. It’ll be something that you just don’t really know what to do with, but that you love nonetheless.

We also tend to buy a lot of asparagus. And, it is a pretty expensive vegetable to be buying when you have no plans to use it.

I’ve tried a whole range of recipes. From griddled asparagus with almond butter (yet to make it’s way to the blog) to simply steamed alongside salmon. But the more times you have it steamed, or with butter, it starts to get boring.

Luckily for me it seems sausages and asparagus work quite well together!

At university I used to love coming up with sausage dishes mainly alongside pasta as always had some in the cupboard. Sausages are so versatile they can be put with the spiciest of tomato sauces and the creamiest of white sauces .

Here are just a few examples:

· Creamy Sausage Pasta

· Sausage and Pasta Pieces in a tomato sauce

· Sausage Stew

Before I came up with this recipe, at home (meaning my parent’s house), our sausage experiences are a little more conservative...usually toad in the hole, or sausages and mash! Not that I’m complaining! They are two of the best comfort foods.

Now, this recipe makes it’s way on to our dinner table every couple of weeks! And I’ve managed to stop the ‘rents buying sausages if we don’t have any need for them. It’s a miracle!

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Until my original post a couple of months ago, I’d never really thought of pairing sausage and asparagus together before but the more I considered making a creamy sausage dish, the more it just made sense! So with the addition of some onion, mushroom, stock and risotto rice I soon had a new and exciting midweek meal.

To balance out the creaminess of this dish add to give it a bit more personality I find a good helping of pepper really helps, so don’t be afraid to give the pepper mill a good twist or two…or three…or four. You get the picture.

So, if you ever find yourself left with the odd pack of sausages and bunch of asparagus give this a go. If they’re not two ingredients you often find in your fridge then this is something you definitely have to try – head down to the supermarket now and treat yourself!

 

Total based on Asda’s own unless otherwise specified:

Sausages £1.38, onion 15p, asparagus £1, mushrooms 40p, aborio rice 75p, Knorr chicken stock (from cube) 16p, pepper 1p = £3.85

Per person = 96p!

Calculated on or before 29/11/2012

Turkey Supreme Leftovers!

I my house, it is not the turkey curry that reigns supreme the week after Christmas, but...Turkey Supreme!

The rest of the year this is my Mums go to dish when there's chicken in the fridge and she's been forced to cook, but it never tastes as good as it does when it is made with leftover turkey!

It is also a good dish to kick-start those healthy eating habits! Minus the butter in the roux, the rest of the dish is relatively low fat! Especially if you use skimmed milk to make the white sauce.

So if you're still looking for ways to finish off the last of that turkey, this is the recipe for you!

Ps. Don't be afraid to put the dark meat in, that just makes it taste EVEN better!!!

Harissa spiced Lamb Steak with cous cous and moroccan veg.

I am absolutely terrible at going to the reduced section in supermarkets - when I see a bargain I simply can't resist it, so somehow (despite my normal tendency to shy away from meat, in particular lamb and beef) I found myself taking home two huge lamb steaks!

What on earth was I going to do with these?!

I do a delicious veggie tagine (even if I do say so myself) which you can find here, so I wanted to do something a little different, but still with a Moroccan edge, and I came up with this recipe!

The basic idea is that you have slow cooked veg and chickpeas inspired by a traditional tagine, lemon and coriander cous cous, with a big fat juicy harrisa spice lamb steak on top!

Sound good?

Well here's the recipe:

Stuffed Aubergines with Bechamel Sauce

This has to be one of my favourtie recipes! Pefect for sharing with someone special, this dish is quick and easy to make at the same time as being very very tasty.

Sometimes it can be hard when you look in your fridge/freezer to come up with new and interesting ideas. You see a bag of mince and shpeherds pie/spag bol/lasagne springs to mind. When you see an aubergine it screams curry or mousakka! This is a twist on a few of these recipes to create something new!

Hot Chilli Bangers with Caramelised Onions

Halloweens been and gone and Bonfire night is just round the corner so that can only mean one thing - the clocks have gone back, and the cold dark nights are drawing in!!!

The sweet and spicy marinade on these sausages will keep you warm and put a spring in your step, even when its dark and dingy outside!

If you're on a budget, why not serve these in hot dog buns on fireworks night to keep friends and family warm!

Pricing (based on Asda's own brand unless otherwise specified):

Sausages 21p, Onion 8p, Honey 10p, Tomato Puree 5p, Chilli 1p, Garlic 2p, Water FREE!

Total per serving =  47p

Brie and Tomato Home-made Gourmet Paninis!

The University of Nottingham's Library Cafe sells hot panini's for just under £3...thats right £3!!! What student in their right mind has £3 to spend on lunch?! Thats's before even factoring in a drink!

That's why...I decided to invest in my own panini baguettes.

My boyfriend's sister's husband...(I may eventually be able to say brother in law?), as far as I am concerned is the panini king, and he inspired me to start making my own (Thanks Russ :D)

So, I nipped to the shops this weekend to stock up on ingredients so that I could eat gourmet sandwhiches allonsgide all the rich students in the library knowing that my panini cost half the price!

One of these delicious sandwhiches will set you back just 93p!

Two Ways with Trout

I love, love, love when things I can’t normally afford to buy are on offer in the supermarket! I don’t know why people don’t make more of reduced sections!!!

At the beginning of the academic year, as I did my first big supermarket shop I stumbled across a pack of two trout fillets for just £1. That’s right £1, saving me around £3.50!!! So with their best before date coming to an end I wacked them straight in the freezer!

Now, as the reading is piling up, and tutorials are kicking in, I’ve been in desperate need for brain food and I got my trout out to defrost...now all I needed were two delicious trout recipes to cook up a storm!

Here are my two ways with trout:

Creamy Sausage Pasta

My life at the minute is HECTIC! In true law student style, the moutain of reading is piling up, and evening networking events with law firms have meant that I've barely stepped foot in my kitchen for the last two weeks, but last night as I sat watching cookery programme after cookery programme I knew I had to get back into the kicthen and cook a delicious student staple - creamy sausage pasta.

I developed this recipe in my first year of uni - as you probably know Total Yogurt (0% fat Greek yogurt) is one of my favourtie ingredients, good for you but super creamy, it can make any dish feel extremely naughty, without piling on the pounds.

This is just another recipe where that magic incredient makes all the difference!

By combining sausages, plenty of garlic, mushrooms and onion with salt, pepper and vegetable stock cube and that creamy yogurt you are left with a rich and creamy sauce that will rival any carbonara!

But the best thing about this dish isn't the taste...it's the price.

Based on Asda's own brand (unless otherwise specified)

Yogurt 44p, Sausages 26p, Mushrooms 24p, Onion 10p, Spaghetti 9p, Garlic 6p, Stock Cubes 6p

Total based on 2 portions: £1.25

Total for an individual portion: 63p

Here's how you cook it!

Nepalese Curried Vegetable with Lentils and Home-made Chapathis

A week ago, my family had an old friend come to stay. Her name is Aurelia, and when she was a child she came to stay with my family every year as an exchange student from France, in the hope that we would teach her some English! It’s a tradition my family has had for generations, her father staying with my grandparents when he was a child too!

I think it’s fair to say that in the time she’s spent with us she has taught us just as much as we’ve taught her!

When she came to stay this time round, she decided to teach me a new type of food – Nepalese. She visited Nepal for a couple of months and lived with a number of families eating their traditional food.

Below is our interpretation of the dishes she ate on her travel – as authentic as they can possibly be.

So here is Nepalese Curried Vegetables with Lentil and Home-made Chapathis! (aka chapattis, chapatis).

Chapathis are my new favourite thing to cook!  SO quick and easy, and good fun to make! (Though do not set your tea-towel on fire as I did!!!!!)

Stuffed Butternut Squash with Cheese Muffins

Today's dinner was Stuffed Butternut Squash which I served with some savoury Cheese Muffins! I'd never tried savoury muffins before but they were extremely yummy! Went really well with the dish, and everyone was licking the wrappers clean!!! (No manners my family :))

Here are the recipes!

Low Fat Spinach Quiche

Summer is officially here! The temperatures are soaring, and the sun is out, not a cloud in the sky.

The summer brings with it a whole new foodie experience, from BBQ’s, al fresco dining, picnics to ice creams, and as a result it is one of my favourite times of the year!

(I'm already scouring e-bay for a vintage style picnic hamper, complete with gingham lining!!! If anyone knows of one going cheap, do let me know!

The veg patch is currently overflowing with spinach, so for dinner tonight I had to come up with a new recipe where spinach is the star, so I decided to cook a low fat spinach quiche.

Alternatives can include adding bacon which we did tonight, using the whole eggs, and adding lots of cheese!

Lentil Lasagne

I am not a big fan of meat substitutes such as veggie-'mince.' As a meat eater, I just don't think you can replicate meat, nor do I think you should!

This lentil lasagne, in my opinion, is BETTER than a meaty version! The textures are perfect, there is lots of lovely fresh veg, and the flavours are so vibrant that it makes for a brilliant sharing dish in the centre of the table. At just £1 a portion its a brilliant way to impress family and friends!

Give it a go and let me know what you think of this veggie alternative to an Italian classic!

Butternut Squash with Pine-nut and Sage Ravioli!

After having a go at making my own home-made and surprisingly CHEAP fresh pasta, we had to decide what to do with it! Dad had been given a ravioli mould as a present for Christmas to go with his pasta machine so I decided to try something new!

My parents always have butternut squash in the vegetable store so I popped outside to hunt for some herbs, and rummaged the cupboard for other ingredients, coming across pine-nuts and Parmesan, and got to cooking the filling!