Posts tagged carrot

Mango & Chilli Noodles with Prawns

June 24, 2020 Comments Off read Seafood, Vegetables and Salads

eat wave London! We love and hate you. Love for the warmth, pleasure and vitamin D; hate for the fact that it reminds me so painfully that I don’t have a garden, a field surrounded house or a paddling pool. Alas, I treated us to a prawn dinner on a Tuesday night to kick start the week. We geared up the braai and threw half a kilo of juicy prawns onto the griddle. I simply marinated the prawns in some lemon zest, garlic and olive oil before cooking for about 5 minutes until vibrant orange but feel free to cook without a marinade.

I also had a deliciously big skate wing waiting patiently in the freezer. It was my first attempt at cooking skate so I decided to keep it simple to accompany our feast! Roasted at 180 for 15 minutes with some S&P and lemon slices.

Noodle Salad

Serves 2-4

100g vermicelli noodles
3 spring onions, sliced finely
1 carrot, sliced into julienne (I’ve linked this before, but this is what you need OR just slice thinly)
1 mango, chopped thinly
1 handful salted peanuts
1 handful coriander, chopped
1 handful mint leaves, chopped
4 tbsp desiccated coconut (toasted lightly in a pan)
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp runny honey
3-4 tbsp lime juice (1-2 limes)
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp fish sauce
2 birds eye chillis – chopped

To make the salad, get yourself a big serving dish and add the chopped spring onions, carrot, mango, mint, coriander and toss to combine.
Pour boiling water over the noodles and leave to soak for 5-10 minutes. Drain and refresh under some cool water. Drain well and add 1 tsp of sesame oil to prevent them sticking.
Toss the noodles and salad ingredients well – the noodles won’t mix well with the veggies so do your best. Equally, you can cut the noodles in half with some scissors to make them easier to toss/eat.
In an old jam jar, combine the soy, honey, lime, sesame oil, fish sauce and chilli and shake well (lid on obviously!). Taste and add more of what you feel it needs. I totally made this up but it tasted good!
Pour about 3/4 of the dressing over the noodles and toss well. Add the rest if you feel it needs it. Don’t drown your noodles! Scatter over the peanuts and sesame seeds and serve! with your BBQ prawns or some nicely grilled salmon or sea bass!

Skate wing is a delicious meaty white fish! It doesn’t have any bones but instead cartilage that lines the wing. The meat flakes away from the cartilage so nicely you won’t fear getting a stray bone! One of the nicest fish cuts I’ve had in a long time and a dream to serve.

Carrot & Red lentil Dhal

January 31, 2019 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

or no reason other than me, my other half cooks…rarely. But he can cook. Well and naturally. Its the ideas bit that, like many people, makes him begrudge the thought of it, especially for someone else.

But tonight was my night! Or his night I should say. A late spinning class for me and a WFH day for him meant he was on duty and as I pumped out the sweat of a long day I thought wildy about what he had chosen.

Door open – curry house smells. Good start.

hilst I know he can cook, I never know quite what to expect. He once told me he was making orange chicken. Yes, quite literally chicken cooked in orange juice which, after I laughed (and gagged) our way home, was delicious. So I’ve learned to trust him. And what I like most is the imagination of someone else that makes me eat things I wouldn’t have thought of.

here are occasions when you try something for the first time, where your brain stores the sensory information and captures it with a special binding memory. These occasions when you think back to that first taste. Where the memories are supported by the moment, the place, the need or desire for that food, the weather! These are memories that get better with time and sit on thrones in your mind ready to be disappointingly not as good as you remember.

This I found out the easy way as I recreated this dish for him this evening. One which I see being a weekly dinner staple. That first taste was devine. A mix of ‘not-having-a-clue-what-on-earth-this-would-taste-like’ and pure desire.

weet, filling, hearty and can be eaten with pillowey soft flatbreads or naan and fingers if you really want. He did. We enjoyed it.

Adapted from Healthy Food Guide (for which I will now read more often)

Ingredients

Serves 3 hungry people, add a handful more lentils for 4.

1tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
500g carrot, grated
1 tbsp curry powder
500ml vegetable stock
100g red lentils
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
4 naans/flatbread (see here)
Coriander to serve
Yoghurt to serve, add some lime for a zing

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the mustard and cumin seeds and let them sizzle and pop. Stir in the carrot and the curry powder and let the carrot sweat for about 10 minutes.
Add the lentils and stock and stir. Simmer for 30 minutes until cooked and reduced.
Loosen the peanut butter with a bit of hot water if thick, and then whisk it into the lentil, making sure it disperses.
Season and simmer for a few more minutes until a nice thick consistency (up to you).
Serve on, or alongside warm pitta, naan bread or homemade flat breads. Add a dollop of yoghurt and some coriander and serve.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

May 21, 2018 Comments Off read Poultry, Vegetables and Salads

his recipe was required on a warm summer evening when a healthy dinner was the priority but sustenance was a must. I took inspiration for this from one of the simplest and freshest salads I greedily devoured at an Asian supper club I went to last year. If you haven’t been to or heard of Uyen Luu and her culinary adventures then I highly encourage you to head over to her website (see here). But not yet…read my blog post and cook this recipe first!

This recipe is all about the freshness, variety and abundance of herbs – these are vital and will either make or break the dish. Uyen’s version is far cleaner, using poached chicken that she shreds and stirs throughout the salad. This is ideal as a fresh starter but my hunger and craving demanded something crispier and oiler so I opted to fry my tender succulent chicken strips. I also opted for a punchier dressing, using lime, sesame and soy, than Uyen’s simpler version but both are eqaully as delicious.

One thing we do share is the need for prawn crackers here. Personally if you can’t get hold of the big, golden ones they offer in the best Thai restaurants, then the cheaper the better! And I suggest you buy 2 bags as if you’re anything like me the first bag gets demolished during cooking.

Tip – If you really want to make this salad to its best (and generally for a must-have in the any keen cooks kitchen pantry) then I strongly recommend you buy a julienne peeler noted below. They might occasionally shave your fingers off (beware – they’re sharp!) but hey…its worth it for such a great salad.

Serves 2

Salad

2 chicken breast, cut into thin strips
2 carrots
2 courgettes
Large bunch basil, leaves picked
Large bunch mint, leaves picked
Large bunch coriander
Large handful salted, roasted peanuts, lightly crushed.
Prawn crackers to serve

Picked Onions

1 red onion, sliced
3 tbsp cider vinegar
3 tsp caster sugar
Salt and pepper

Dressing

1 large garlic clove, crushed
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1 large red chilli, finely chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp runny honey

Start with the onions. Combine the vinegar and sugar in a shallow bowl and add the sliced onion. Season, combine and set aside for 20-30 minutes.
To make the dressing, combine the ingredients in a jam jar and shake well. Taste. This is vital as everyones soy sauce is different (low salt, normal, high quality, low quality etc) so all dressings will taste different. Add more lime/soy/fish sauce to taste. Don’t be afraid to go punchy as it will need to told its own when applied to the salad.
Make the salad. (Using a julienne peeler will give you the best results here (see here), but if you’re patient, then you can very very finely slice the carrots and courgettes into strips. Alternatively, you could use a courgetti machine but it won’t give you quite what you want here.) Julienne the carrots and courgettes into a large bowl. Chop the herbs roughly together and add 3/4 of them to the bowl. Add the roasted, chopped peanuts.
Drain the onions after 20-30 minutes of steeping and add all but a handful of these to the salad. Mix all to combine well and set aside while you cook the chicken.
Heat a frying pan until hot and add a splash of vegetable/sunflower oil. Season the chicken strips and fry on a high heat until just cooked and golden but still moist.
Remove from the heat and use forks to pull the chicken into strips.
Dress the salad quickly with the dressing.
Divide the salad between two bowls and top with the succulent chicken (or you can stir the chicken throughout the salad). Scatter over the raminaing handful of red onions and herbs.
Serve with prawn crackers and devour with chop sticks.

Spanish Lamb Shanks

May 13, 2015 Comments Off read Meat

adore slow cooked dishes especially as it usually involves a a budget friendly cut such as lamb shanks. My favourite way to cook meat, besides the barbeque obviously…But while the first May bank holiday weekend delivered us a beautifully sunny and fresh evening, the morning hadn’t been as promising for a barbie. My sodden raincoat and squelching trainers sat drying in the sun were evidence enough. With not much time in my working week to knock out a slow cooked creation, the bank holiday offered the perfect opportunity. So a slow cooked, tender, succulent lamb shank in a glossy, sticky sauce studded with manly chunks of chorizo and vege was a definite good alternative. Scattered with fresh mint served on some creamy silky parsnip mash we went to bed with happy stomaches. Oh and we might have finished the meal with some bank holiday brownies. Ahem….

Serves 4

4 lamb shanks
300ml hot beef stock
350ml red wine (Rioja is suggested)
200ml balsamic vinegar
4-6 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
Handful of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
125g chorizo, sliced
1 red onion, cut into wedges
2 carrots, sliced into chunks horizontally
Fresh mint to serve
Olive oil
Freshly cracked black pepper and salt

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Heat a large casserole dish on a medium high heat and add a good splash of olive oil. Season the lamb shanks well and brown on all sides in the pan until golden and crisp in places then remove to a plate.
Using the same pan, heat the wine and vinegar and boil for about 5 minutes to simmer off the sharpness of the liquids.
Add the bay leaves, rosemary, some seasoning and the hot stock. Peel the garlic cloves and crush lightly with the back of a knife. Finally add these and the lamb shanks submerged in the liquid.
Place in the oven for 2 hours with the lid on.
After 2 hours, remove from the oven and baste. Add the chopped onion, carrot and chorizo and turn the oven up to 180°C. Remove the lid and place in the oven for a further hour to brown and reduce the sauce.
After this time the meat should be deliciously tender and falling off the bone. Remove the dish from the oven. Place the lamb shanks onto a warm plate and cover with foil while you deal with the sauce. Bring the liquid to a boil on the hob and simmer for about 5-10 minutes to reduce and thicken the sauce (Add 1 tbsp of cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp of cold water if needed and whisk this in to thicken further). Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Place the lamb shanks back in the glossy sauce and pop in the oven to keep warm while you prepare the side dishes. I served mine with creamy parsnip mash and purple sprouting broccoli.

Serve one shank per person in a warm bowl a top some creamy mash with some vege and sauce. Scatter over some fresh mint and enjoy!

WINE: Nothing seems more appropriate here than a native Spanish vino and something substantial to complement the lamb. Try a Rioja such as the La Rioja Alta, 2008 Viña Alberdi Reserva available at Armit Wines.

Roasted Duck, Carrot and Orange Puree, Red Wine Sauce

December 17, 2013 Comments Off read Poultry

This week I christened the kitchen of my new London flat. I bagged myself a feathery topped bunch of bargain carrots from Portobello Road market in my fleeting lunch break; a seasonal orange for companionship and festivity; a couple of fatty winter warming duck legs and some obliging red wine (of which I am not short of these days…). Flat hunting had evoked far too many saddened hours separated from my apron and camera so a free evening midweek was the perfect time to be reunited. Whilst it tasted delicious, I’m still to work on the lighting in my new environment….

Serves 2

2 duck legs
Bunch carrots (About 4 large carrots), peeled and chopped
25g butter
1 orange
250ml red wine
250ml beef stock
½ onion, diced finely
1 small carrot, diced finely
2 garlic cloves
Bunch of thyme
1 knob butter
1tbsp flour
Handful of greens to serve

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Season the duck legs generously on the skin side and roast for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until crisp and tender. Turn the heat down to 190°C after about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, fry the diced onion and carrot in a little oil until soft. Add one of the garlic cloves finely chopped and the thyme leaves and fry for a further few minutes.
Turn up the heat and add the red wine and simmer for a few minutes. Add the stock and simmer briskly for about 20 minutes until the sauce has reduced by half.
Once reduced by half, sieve and discard the vegetables and return to sauce to the clean pan. Season to taste and simmer very gently while you do the puree.
Heat half the butter in another saucepan and add the chopped carrots. Add a whole clove of garlic (in skin) and 2 big strips of orange peel. Add enough water to just cover the carrots and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until really soft and almost all the liquid has been reduced.
Puree the drained carrots in a food processor with the remaining knob of butter and some seasoning. Add a splash of the reserved liquid if you like to thin it out and then keep warm.
Return to the red wine sauce. Mix together the knob of butter and the flour to form a paste in a small bowl. Whisk this, bit by bit (as you may not need all of it) into your simmering sauce which will thicken and turn glossy. Simmer until thick enough and ready to serve,
Serve the puree topped with the roasted duck legs and a liberal drizzle of your red wine sauce. Serve with some cooked greens.

Carrot Cake Ice Cream

April 5, 2013 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

What could be better than combining the forces of a good cake and its slutty partner in crime ice cream? This recipe is adapted from the Babel Restaurant in South Africa, Babylonstoren, whose ‘cookbook-come-brochure’, is to die for. As a spicy ice cream, they suggest serving it with chilli grilled pineapple slices, but hey, whats wrong with serving it with a slice of carrot cake….?

500ml double cream
180ml milk
180ml caster sugar
5 egg yolks
1 vanilla pod
125g carrot, boiled and grated
5ml ground cinnamon
2ml ground nutmeg and ginger
125g walnuts/pecans toasted and roughly chopped

Start with the custard base. Heat the milk in a saucepan with 90ml of the sugar and the seeds from the vanilla pod until just coming to the boil.
Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl (a wide shallow bowl helps) with the remaining 90ml of sugar until combined.
When the cream is hot, tip a third of it in a slow stream into the egg yolks whisking continuously and vigorously to prevent it scrambling. Make sure it is all combined then add the rest and whisk together for a few minutes.
Tip the mixture back into the saucepan and place over a low heat stirring with a wooden spoon continually until the mixture begins to thicken and it coats the back of the spoon and leaves a mark when you run your finger through it. keep the heat low and keep stirring to prevent getting scrambled eggs….
Strain through a sieve into another wide shallow bowl. Whisk in the ground spices.
Peel about 2-3 carrots (depending on their size) and boil whole in water for about 5 minutes, until soft. Cool under cold water and then grate into the custard base and mix to distribute. Leave to cool and then place in the fridge.
Meanwhile, toast the nut in a dry frying pan for a few minutes or in a hot oven for 5 minutes and leave to cool.
When the custard is cool, churn in an ice cream maker for about 15-20 minutes until thick and beginning to freeze. Once it begins to thicken during churning, tip in the toasted nuts. Place in a container and freeze.

Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad

August 11, 2012 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

Today the sun made a rare and facetious appearance in this so-called summer season we seem to be laden with this year. So naturally as Brits, we grabbed the opportunity to have a barbie. My most inspiring idol in the food industry, Jamie Oliver, has been the backbone of my passion for food and cooking ever since receiving a copy of Jamie at Home when I was a teenager. The titled spine of this book, after many years of use, is holding tightly (but dare I say unsuccessfully) to the binding of the splattered cover and greasy pages. This book is a staple in my assembly of cookbooks and always makes an appearance especially in the summer sunshine. This tasty and delicious little salad is therefore courtesy of my mate Jamie (I wish) which went down guilt free with our charred meat and roasted beets and goats cheese.

500g small carrots (mixed varieties if available)
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp crushed dried chillies
salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves, peeled
4 thyme sprigs, leave picked
Red wine vinegar
1 orange, halved
1 lemon, halved
2 ripe avocados
4 x 1cm thick ciabatta/sourdough slices, toasted
2 handfuls of mixed salad leaves
1 punnet cress
4 tbsp mixed seeds
Extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Parboil the carrots whole, in salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain and place into a deep roasting tin
While the carrots are boiling, grind the cumin seeds, chillies and salt and pepper in a pestle and mortar. Add the garlic and thyme and smash to a paste. Add a swig of oil and a splash of red wine vinegar.
While the carrots are still warm in the tin, cover with the this paste. Place the halved orange and lemon cut side down in the tin and roast the carrots for 30 minutes.
While the carrots are roasting, toast the bread slices. Tear into pieces and add to the sliced avocados on a serving plate. Add the salad leaves and cress and toss.
When the carrots are ready, remove from the oven and, using tongs, squeeze the juice from the lemon and orange into a jug and add an equal amount of oil and a swig of red wine vinegar and season.
Add the carrots (along with the spices and marinade left in the roasting pan) to the bread and salad mix. Drizzle with the lemony dressing and scatter with toasted seeds. Serve!