Gummy Salad

Got a nice cheap bag of salad this evening so decided to make it part of my dinner. This is what I did:

• I burnt the skin of half a red pepper over the gas ring until it was totally charred and black. Then I put it into a small bag while I got the rest of the salad ready. Once cooled rub the black skin off, don't run under water you'll lose the smokey flavour, then slice finely.
• I fried some mushrooms in spray fry until slightly crispy.
• I did the same with a couple of smoked rashers.
• I made some croutons from a couple of slices of bread, and fried them off in the pan I did the rashers in.
• In the meantime, I boiled one egg until almost hard.
• I sliced up some red onion and cheddar cheese.

I layered all the above on top of the salad leaves and poured over a dressing I'd made of half a crushed clove of garlic, raspberry vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard and some seasoning.  Mix it all together and try not to hoover it down like I did.

Oh, while the croutons were still hot I grated some Parmesan cheese on top.

Garlic, Onion & Coriander Pitta Bread

This one is an easy, healthy alternative to either normal garlic bread or naan bread. 

• Crush or finely chop a garlic clove.
• Chop a couple of small shallots.
• Finely chop some fresh coriander.
• Mix with a couple of tablespoons of butter - I used low fat.
• Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Cut a couple of slits in either end of the pitta, gently split the two halves of the bread apart.
• Spread three quarters of the garlic butter inside the pitta, putting it in from either end.
• Then place the pitta on a square of tin foil.
• Prick some holes into it top but make sure you don't go through the bottom.
• Spread the rest of the butter on top.
• Then wrap the tin foil around into a parcel, keep it loose but make sure its closed properly.
• Cook in a pre-heated oven at 170C fan, 180C, for 6-8 mins.

Thai Red Prawn Curry with Potatoes

This is the ultimate in quick dinners. I cheated and used a shop bought red curry paste, handy for when you don't want to spend the whole evening slaving over the hob. I used the following:

Couple of tablespoons of Thai red curry paste
A few asparagus spears, with the woody ends broken off
Boiled and peeled baby potatoes, which I halved
Cooked, peeled prawns
Couple of chopped shallots
Sliced red pepper
Sliced mushrooms
Handful of peas
Couple of teaspoons of lime juice
Grating of creamed coconut
Coriander herb

Gently fry off half the onion and all the mushrooms for a couple minutes until soft. Then add the paste and give it a good stir around, be careful not to have the heat too high as the paste will burn very quickly. Then add some water, you need enough to cover all the veg when its added. Grate in the coconut and add the lime juice then let it bubble gently for a couple of minutes. I also chop up some stalk of the coriander and add to the sauce. Adjust the heat and seasoning to your taste, I added a big pinch of chilli flakes. Let the sauce bubble for about 10 mins, adding the peas for the final 5, and then add the red of the ingredients to heat through.  Add a handful of chopped coriander right before you serve. I served this with Garlic, Onion and Coriander pitta bread link: GOC Bread.

Chicken Pitta Pockets

Yesterday was yet another spice day. Chicken breasts were defrosted and a marinade had to be created.  I sliced the chicken breasts into strips and mixed it into the following:

2tbsps olive oil
Half tsp each of chilli powder, paprika, sriracha sauce and dried parsley
A finely chopped shallot
Big pinch of ground coriander
Finely sliced fresh chilli


Give it all a good stir before you add the chicken to it.

We got these chillies in Aldi on Saturday. Don't they look funky? The big red one is allegedly a habanero but it tasted like a mix between a red bell pepper and a tomato. So then I cut the black one to taste it and it was extremely mild too. Now when I say 'to taste it', I mean that I cut some and gave it to Mr. Chops to taste, I aint that brave!! So seeds and all went into the marinade. If you're the kind of person who likes colours, you'll get a kick out of seeing a black chilli in the mix.

This is what the mix looked like with the raw chicken added.

I made Sriracha mayo sauce, label under Chilli Mayonaisse. I also stir-fried some slices of red & yellow peppers and red onion to stuff into the pockets.

Let's be honest with each other ok? I forgot to take pictures of the cooked meal cos I was so hungry and well my brain is totally controlled by my stomach at times. Ok not at times, at all times! It was a very tasty dinner and exceptionally healthy too and that is always a good thing.

Doggy Chops had brunch too!

I always have company when I eat, especially when it's in front of the TV. Doggy Chops joins me on the couch and I usually give him a few of his own treats to keep him happy. Yes, I know you're not supposed to hand feed dogs like this but I don't care.  This was his lunch, little chewy stars that clean his teeth and gums as he eats them.

Gummy's Rarebit

It's been a lazy Saturday. I had a nice lie-in and got a little bit of study in. Mr. Chops is gone for the day so I've had the house to myself and the silence is lovely. Not that I don't like having Mr. Chops around but it is nice to have a little bit of time to yourself.  I had a craving for cheese on toast but as I had a late start it had to be a brunch style meal for me. I decided on a variation of Welsh Rarebit but it is probably more appropriate to call it an open toasted sandwich.

You need to mix together an egg, grated cheese, a teaspoon of English mustard, very finely chopped scallion, salt and lashings of freshly ground black pepper.

While I was I combining the ingredients I toasted two slices of white bread and preheated the grill to its highest setting. Once the toast is done, lay your slices of ham on top and then spread the cheese mixture over to completely cover.

Before you put them under the grill grate on some more black pepper. Personally I love lashings of pepper on grilled cheese. Let them bubble under the grill until they are golden brown. Don't fret that the egg won't be cooked it will.

This is them beginning to brown under the grill.

A couple of views of the finished article.

These were very delicious and there was a lovely hot kick from the mustard.

Spaghetti with Chicken & Mushrooms and Garlic Pitta

I was hungry hungry hungry tonight, therefore, dinner had to be cooked the minute I got in the door from work. Chicken breasts are great because they're pretty low in fat and they cook so quickly when chopped up or flattened. Recipe as follows:

1 Chicken breast, sliced finely

5 or 6 mushrooms, thickly sliced

Quarter of red onion, sliced

Large clove garlic, crushed, half for pitta

Spaghetti
Oval pitta bread
Salt & pepper
Grating of parmesan cheese

For the pitta bread, mix a couple tablespoons of butter with half the crushed garlic clove, salt and pepper and a pinch of dried parsely. While you are doing this lightly toast the pitta bread. It should still be soft so be careful to have the toaster on a low setting. While its still hot cut a slit in the top and put in the garlic butter, pushing it right down to the bottom so the entire interior is all garlicky and buttery.

You can reheat when the spaghetti is ready by placing it over the toaster while its switched on, the residual heat from the bottom will warm it through just keep an eye on it. This probably isn't a safe way to do it but I'm still here!!

While the spaghetti is cooking, fry the chicken in a little olive oil over a high heat, its nice if it's browned a little. Then add the mushrooms, onion and garlic and keep stirring. Throw in a few spoonfuls of pasta water and let it bubble vigorously until its almost gone. At this stage, grate in some parmesan, as little or as much as you want. The addition of the cheese with the cooking water kind of makes a creamy sauce. Once its cooked, add the spaghetti to the chicken give it a good stir and serve with the pitta bread. I dare you not to like it.

Pork Stir-Fry with Noodles

Chinese style tonight. I finely sliced up a pork chop, after I'd removed all the fat. I quickly fried it and then removed it from the pan. In the meantime, I cooked some egg noodles for a couple of mins, once they're cooked strain them and rinse straight away in cold water.

Then I stir-fried the following:
Carrot matchsticks
Finely sliced red & yellow peppers
Finely sliced red onion
Finely sliced mushrooms
Scallions, cut on the diagonal with the green tops kept for garnish
Frozen peas
Crushed garlic
Grated ginger
Large pinch of chilli flakes

Pinch of Chinese Five Spice powder
2tbsp light soy sauce
Couple of drops of sesame oil
Freshly ground black pepper

You don't need to add any salt because the soy sauce will have all the salt you need.

Add the cooked pork to the stir fry with the noodles to heat through and serve immediately with the garnish of scallion greens sprinkled on top. If you like a thick sauce you can also add a tablespoon of cornflour to a couple of tablespoons of water to make an instant gravy.

Flatbread Pizza

Rather hungover today and under normal circumstances it would involve takeaway of some sort but those days are few and far between now. So the proper alternative is to do it at home yourself. I came all over all Italian, probably an side effect of drinking too much Pinot Grigio last night! I dedicate this recipe to the Gatwick 6 - they know who they are!!

I used a flatbread as the base, you could also use pitta bread. The I layered the toppings as follows:

Finely sliced tomato - Chopped ham - Finely sliced red onion - finely sliced red & yellow peppers - and you guessed it, finely sliced mushrooms.  I topped it with grated cheese and cooked it in the oven at 180C (fan 160C) for 15mins approx until the cheese is gooey and the tomatoes have softened.  A final grating of black pepper and away you go.

I had a small mixed salad with it. I dressed it just with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar. Yummy!

Busy Week

I've been living in a house of Spring cleaning this week, therefore, dinners were rushed affairs and no time to take any pictures. I had my Thursday weigh-in and unfortunately I didn't lose anything but the silver lining is I didn't gain either. Next week will be different and it turns out housework doesn't burn off as many calories as you'd think. 

Dinners were a quick affair. On Tuesday I had a Chilli Prawn Pasta, very quick stir-fry of prawns, chilli flakes, crushed garlic, chopped shallot and macaroni. Very nice too. Dinner was eaten after a gorgeous stroll down by the Shannon with Mr. Chops and Doggie Chops. The sun was shining and the doggie's face was a picture of happiness for such a long walk.

Wednesday was more pasta. Chopped chicken with onion, garlic, lashings of black pepper and plenty of parmesan all intermingled with pasta. Tasty and I was so hungry I hardly took a breath when I was eating it.

Today I could not get the idea of a steak out of my head so I decided to give my body what it wanted. I got a medium sized striploin from the butchers. I let it come up to room temp while I dry fried off some whole button mushrooms and small shallots. I also peeled a potato and finely sliced it, like a thickish version of shoestring chips and bunged them in the oven with a spritz of no-calorie spray oil for about 20mins until nice and crispy. Once cooked I heated a frying pan to searing hot, there was a little bit of smoke coming off the pan. I oil the steak not the pan and I seasoned it with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. I fried the steak at the high heat for 2mins on each side. It depends on the thickness of the steak and my steak tonight was pretty thick. Once cooked it was still pink in the middle and lovely and juicy. My meat craving was satisfied and I now have a happy tummy! I'd normally have garlic butter with my steak but I sacrificed it to have more potato.

Beef Chilli

When I'm in the mood for something spicy I find a beef chilli can go a long way. It's a quick enough dinner to cook as well. You'll need:

• Minced Beef
• Onion, finely chopped
• Garlic, finely chopped
• Chilli Powder
• Chilli Flakes
• Paprika
• Ground Cumin
• Ground Coriander
• Tinned Tomatoes
• Tomato purée
• Splash of Worcestershire sauce
• Splash of Balsamic vinegar
• Salt & pepper
• Mix of chopped peppers, red, yellow & green

I fry off the mince and strain out any excess fat that comes off it. Then add the rest of the ingredients including a tin of water. Bring to the boil and let it bubble for around 20mins.

At this stage, I'd taste it for heat and spices. If needs more of anything add it in, its probably wise to be cautious with spicing at the beginning.  You can add but you can't take away. The longer this cooks the better it gets and is even nicer on the second day, so give it at least an hour. I don't add the peppers until near the end of the cooking time, I like them to have a bit of bite and texture to them.

I ate it on a flat bread with some crunchy salad and grated cheese. Very moreish indeed and pretty healthy too, once you don't add extra oil.

Wedding day

Today was my niece's wedding in Florence, Italy. I couldn't make it unfortunately but the family is well represented by sisters and a couple of brothers! Here's to her having a wonderfully, happy life and having all her dreams come true with her new Italian family!

Quick Red Onion Chutney

I had a couple of red onions that were nearing the end of their shelf life so I decided to experiment with a quick onion chutney. I halved, then sliced the onions, not too finely but not too thick somewhere in the middle. I put a teaspoon of oil into the frying pan and gently heated it. I added the onions and let them cook on the gentle heat for around 10mins.

 

Be very careful to stir them regularly as you don't want them to stick or burn at all. The heat should be very gentle. After the 10mins add a big pinch of brown sugar and around 2 or 3 tbsps of balsamic vinegar or a mix of balsamic and raspberry vinegar like I used. Let this mixture simmer gently for another 10mins. There should still be a little bite to the onions.

 

This chutney would probably keep for a couple of days in the fridge and would be lovely with cheese or in steak sandwich.

• If you haven't got brown sugar, white sugar will do any sugar except icing sugar really. 

• Similarly, if you don't have balsamic or raspberry vinegar you can use malt, cider, white wine or red wine vinegar. Don't use the ordinary white vinegar you get at the chip shop, its too astringent and will overpower the onions. 

Steak & Cheese Sub

We got some steak on offer in Dunnes Stores tonight and found some tasty looking soft baps in Aldi so we decided on a Steak and cheese sub. It's kind of inspired by the Subway steak and cheese except we know exactly what is going into this one!

Thinly sliced green peppers and red onions with a spicy mayonnaise. I mixed some Sriracha with light mayo.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I marinaded the steak in olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground pepper and sliced garlic. The garlic was meant to be a background tone so that's why I left it fairly big and it was left behind in the dish and not cooked with the steaks.
 

Mr. Chops had jalapenos with his sub but I didn't. I'm not a fan of jalapenos and when Mr. Chops has stuff hot, he has it really hot!!!!
 
I cooked the steaks for longer than normal as I'd usually have them medium but for a sub I think that they have to be slightly over medium. It took about 5mins to cook the steak and while they were sizzling in the pan I toasted the soft buns in the oven. I slit the buns open and put a good grating of Wexford mature cheddar into them with a good grating of Parmesan on top and let them heat in the oven. The buns got the same amount of time in the oven as the steaks got on the hob.
 
To assemble the sub, smear a big swipe of sauce across the base, then layer on in this order: steak, red onion, peppers, jalapenos and finally lettuce. Then spread your chops as wide as possible to get the biggest bite you can, fairly delicious I tells ya. So delicious, Mr. Chops now wants to do his version! Imitation is the highest form of flattery I've heard.
 
 

 
Mr. Chops Steak & Cheese sub
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is mine, only difference is there's no jalapenos. The sauce on top was an afterthought, there was a little left and I hate waste!!!

Thursday always means quick dinner

Thursday is weigh-in at Weight Watchers so my dinner is normally a quick one. 2.5lbs down today which is a good result in anyone's books. So decided I'd have a toastie this evening with sweet potato wedges. While the wedges were a good idea, the end result wasn't that satisfying in my personal opinion. I can categorically state that I prefer butternut squash wedges.  I made my toastie with honey roast ham, sliced red onion, sliced tomato, grated cheddar cheese and lashings of mustard.

It was very delicious as toasted sarnies go. As I said I wasn't keen on the sweet potato wedges but here's a picture of them anyway:

Ooops, boldness in the house

As Beyonce says to Lady Gaga in Telephone: you've been a bad girl, a very very bad girl. I haven't done any cooking this week. Today Mr. Chops and I went out for lunch to a cafe local to work. They had a BLT special with their home fries. I've never seen home fries like them anywhere. I must have had 6 potatoes worth of large fries on my plate. They're more like potato wedges really. The BLT was made with a soft bap rather than toast and it was delicious. At €6.95 each, it was really good value.

Who knows? Maybe tomorrow I'll be back to my proper ways.

Of course, I'm watching Masterchef at the moment and we're in the finals week. I've a spot soft for Tim, the so-called children's doctor (what's wrong with paediatrician, or are things that dumbed down?) and I'm rooting for him to win. Though I think it may be Dhruv that is the eventual winner he seems to be doing the most impressing of judges and guest judges. Alex may be a little too experimental and outthere. Duck hearts on toast anyone?

Chinese-Style Salmon Parcels with Stir Fried Noodles

I was looking for fresh salmon the other day in the supermarket and couldn't get any so I settled for some frozen salmon fillets. Sunday used to mean Chinese or Indian takeaway but not any more. I opted for parcels because its a good way to cook frozen fish.

I made a marinade of soy sauce, olive oil, chilli flakes, garlic, ginger, little drop of sesame oil and finely chopped scallion. Be careful with the sesame oil it can be very overpowering and you may as well throw your dinner away if you overdo it. Lay the salmon fillet on some greaseproof paper which is laid on tin foil. It needs to be double wrapped to protect the fillets.

What you're hoping for is a crimped effect like in the picture. I didn't want any steam to escape so I fold over one edge on top of the other. I think it looks like a Cornish pasty shape when it's finished.

I baked it in a moderate over for 25mins. If it was a fresh fillet or darne I wouldn't cook it for more than 15mins. I like my salmon just a little bit under in the middle because it stays nice and juicy.


I had decided to have noodles with my salmon as its been ages since I had them. So long in fact that they were gone well out of date unfortunately. Mr. Chops suggested using pasta as an alternative so I boiled up some spaghetti instead but noodles would suit this dish more. I stir fried some sliced green pepper, mushrooms, shallot, garlic and ginger with some light and dark soy sauce. I added the cooked spaghetti and stir fried it for a few seconds. Serve this on the side of your salmon, pouring a couple of teaspoons of the cooking liquor over the salmon.

My salmon was slightly overcooked. When you see the whitish foam that's a sign of it being overcooked - Masterchef is good for more than just competition you know!

Spiced Beef Patties

I think I see a pattern developing! We like spice in this house and it seems to creep into a lot of our meals. I suppose it's the fact that I'm dieting I'm trying to find as many ways as possible to make my dinners exciting and flavoursome. So last night it was some Spiced Beef Patties.

Mix some beef mince with big pinches of paprika, cumin, chilli powder, chilli flakes, tomato sauce or puree, finely chopped garlic, a small handful of breadcrumbs to bind and plenty of salt and pepper. Shape into patties and put in the fridge for a couple of hours. Cook them straight from the fridge they'll hold their shape better.

Fry the patties in some oil until cooked through about 15mins or so. Serve either with pitta breads or a flatbread (again!!!) and some chargrilled peppers, onions and a spoonful of mayonnaise.

Spanish Chicken & Chorizo Stew

I normally serve it with roasted cubes of potatoes, very delish.

Its a simple dinner. Roughly chop up some chorizo and fry it off gently until it releases its oils, set aside. You sear off the chicken pieces, we used legs and thighs, dusted with flour and smoked paprika. Remove the skin. Then you add tinned tomatoes, chopped red chilli, sliced red & yellow pepper, sliced onion, garlic, good pinch of oregano, squeeze of tomato puree, pinch of sugar, good pinch of smoked Spanish paprika and plenty of seasoning. It should be a wet stew but thick if you follow me. Add the chorizo for the last half hour of cooking. It should take an hour in total to cook.

The chicken should be loose from the bone. The heat from the chilli should be a background hint and not blow your head off! Its the perfect dinner for a cold winter's night which as we all know at the moment is the only weather we're having.

Crispy Potatoes with Prawns, Halloumi & Veg

Nice dinner tonight for me. Mr. Chops treated himself to fish and chips from town but I decided to cook. We got a small bag of baby potatoes yesterday so I sliced a few of them up thinly and threw a bit of seasoning on them and into a hot oven for 30 mins until nice and crispy. There's no need to peel them just wash them thoroughly and pat dry with kitchen paper.

While the spuds were roasting, I sliced some red & yellow pepper, halloumi cheese and a red onion. I halved a garlic clove, just wanted a hint of garlic. Then I sprayed some oil in a fry pan and added the halloumi slices and fried them until they were golden brown like this:

 

I used frozen prawns which I fried off at the same time as the vegetables. I added the halloumi for the last few seconds while I was getting the potatoes sorted. It was really tasty too. I added a big pinch of chilli flakes to the veg just to give a background heat. Don't forget to remove the large chunks of garlic before serving.

Butternut Squash Crisps

I spoke about these the other day and I made up some more last night. I held back on the chilli flakes as they kind of blew the head off me the last time. This is the finished article:

Spicy Chicken With Pictures

I bet you didn't know you were waiting for the pictures but you were. It was a weekend repeat mid-week if ya get me. Mr. Chops was watching football and I was being bold watching Lost online. Yup, there's some mighty kind peeps out there keep me a day ahead of everyone else in Ireland!!!!! Anyway, himself did the chicken again as we liked it so much last time. So look for the recipe and these be the photos:   The marinated chicken, mmmm.

All the ingredients - except for the flatbreads 

The chicken a-frying

The veg a-frying

Chicken and veg together at last

The Final Product on the Flatbread

So there you are, the pix to match the weekend's dish. Possibly tasted a bit better at the weekend but I put that down to having longer to marinade the chicken. Still, it was pretty delicious!! Oh by the way this is Exceptionally Healthy, and I put that in capitals for a reason!!!!!!!