Celeriac puree with honey

This side dish is often created on shows such as Masterchef and merely smeared over the plate as a smudge. However, do not dismiss it as a pointless bit of presentation or an attempt to make the dish sound classy. Celeriac puree is a very tasty side dish that would accompany roast lamb or beef superbly.

Ingredients

One large celeriac
25g butter
250ml milk
1 heaped teaspoon of thick honey
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Firstly trim the thick skin off the celeriac root and then cut it into cubes.
Place in a pan and cover in water and then bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
Drain the water and leave the part boiled celeriac to one side while you melt the butter over a low heat.
Now add the celeriac and honey the pan and mix together.
Add the milk and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.
Using a hand blender turn the mixture into a puree, or a very soft mash.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with roast meat and gray.

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Syrup carrots - A sweet and juicy side dish

I love serving a good number of interesting vegetable side dishes with a roast dinner and this way of cooking carrots livens up this particular vegetable in a way that does not distract you from preparing the roast.

Ingredients

(Serves four)

8 medium carrots (quartered)
25g butter
1 tbsp syrup
1/2 tsp salt
50ml water

Method

Peel and cut the carrots (into what ever size you wish to be fair) and place in a wide-bottomed sauce pan.
Add the water, which should cover the bottom of the pan without submerging the carrots.
Turn on the heat and once the water starts to boil, reduce to a simmer and add the salt, butter and syrup and stir well.
Depending on the heat of your hob the water will boil away before long, so over the next 20 minutes add a splash of water when necessary.
The idea is that the carrots retain much of the water and its flavour and goodness is not lost by the usual boiling. Any liquid that is left in the pan is perfect for drizzling over the carrots for serving.

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Whiskey inspired liver and bacon surprise

The surprise in this recipe is the whiskey, which you can add liberally to the dish as the taste compliments liver superbly. Liver and bacon is traditionally served with mash, but it also works well with plain rice, especially as this recipe has a great deal of sauce.

Ingredients

4 rashers of smokey bacon
250g of pigs liver
1 large onion
50g of frozen garden peas
1 tbsp of plain flour
1 tsp of white pepper
1 tsp of celery seeds
1 tsp of coriander seeds
2 tbsp of whiskey
500ml of beef stock

Method

Start by frying the bacon, which is best cut into thin strips, in a hot pan (no oil needed) for five minutes. Cook for a little longer if you like your bacon crispy.
Remove the bacon and fry the chopped onion in the same pan until soft. Remove the onion
In a bowl mix the liver (chopped into bite sized pieces) with the flour, white pepper, salt, celery seeds and coriander seeds.
Heat some oil in the same pan as you used to cook the bacon and onion and then add the liver.
fry for 7 or 8 minutes, moving the liver around the pan regularly as you don't want it to go tough in places.
Remove the liver and with the pan still on the heat add the whiskey, shortly followed by the stock and stir well to get all the flavour off the pan. You could make a little roux sauce before adding the stock to help thicken the stock.
Now add the frozen peas, liver, bacon and onion to the pan, or if your pan is shallow place all the ingredients in a saucepan.
Simmer gently for 15 minutes.
Check for seasoning before serving.

Serve with plain rice and steamed spinach.

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Quick Banana Bread Pudding

This is quite possibly the quickest and easiest sponge pudding I have ever made. It doesn't look fantastic, but it tastes great, while it is almost impossible to ruin. Get the measurements wrong, or the cooking time wrong and it just creates something different, but still lovely to eat.

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas
100g butter
100g muscavado sugar
100g self-raising flour
2 tsp of cinnamon powder
25g sultanas.
2 eggs
a splash of milk


Method

Start be melting the butter and then mash in the bananas (ripe is best here).
In a bowl mix together all the other ingredients and then mix it in well with the banana mush.
Place the mixture, which if too dry can take extra milk, in a 6inch squared dish.
You can either cook this in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or in a microwave on full power for 10 minutes.

Cook it too much and it can turn crispy, which I love. Cook it too little and it can still be runny in places, which I also love. So all in all, you can not go wrong!

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Chorizo and seafood paella recipe - Amazing

Paella is a specific Spanish dish and this recipe is not one that follows the traditional, so I should probably come up with another name for this dish. However,  I can not think of anything that will describe it better than a Chorizo and seafood paella in a rich chicken stock sauce. If anyone reads my blog and wants to try a dish from it I urge you to choose this one. It is amazing and I am happy to say so without any fear of being called arrogant. Try it for yourself and see.

Difficult - moderate
Serves - 6 (make some and freeze the rest)

Ingredients

400g of paella rice
2 Chicken wings
2 uncooked chorizo sausages
200g of raw king prawns
200g of mussel meat
50g pancetta
1 onion
4 garlic cloves
1 inch of root ginger
1 tomato
2 spring onions
10 chopped babycorns
100g of frozen peas
1 sprig of sage
2 handfuls of chopped coriander
1 chili
1.5 litres of chicken stock
150ml of white wine
2 tsp of paprika
salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Method

1. This may sound lengthy, but stick with it and you'll create a meal that can soon become your signature dish.
2. In a little vegetable oil fry the chicken wings for five minutes over a high heat, turning often, but allowing the chicken to get crisp. 
3. After five minutes add one chopped chorizo sausage and the pancetta and stir for another five minutes over a high heat. 
4. Turn down the heat to low and instantly add the chicken stock. Stir for three minutes and turn off the heat. The chicken stock will now add to its flavour from the chorizo and chicken wings to create an astonishing chicken flavour.
5. In a new pan heat a little oil and then add chopped chili, ginger, garlic, onion and the remain chopped chorizo sausage, which will add to the oil and the colour at this stage.
6. After five minutes add the paprika (and chili seeds if you like a really spicy dish) and then add the rice. Stir well for a minute to coat the rice.
7. Add the white wine to a hot heat and then after the wine has reduced turn the heat down to a medium/low temperature.
8. Now spoon add the following ingredients, namely the stock (and the chorizo, pancetta and chicken wings), sage, tomato (roughly chopped), salt and pepper (no more than a teaspoon of each), peas and babycorn.
9. Simmer for 15 minutes so that the sauce begins to thicken.
10. Add the chopped spring onion, coriander, prawns and mussel meat and simmer for a further five minutes.

Stir well and serve on its own, or with warmed olive bread.

I love serving this dish with quite a bit of sauce remaining, but it would do no hard to simmer a bit more if you wish to reduce the liquid further.

Please let me know if you attempt this dish as your feedback would be much appreciated.

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Spicy tomato and chicken tandoori curry

I have a number of curry recipes, which I love to make, but I have no idea how to name them or describe them, or even if they are a curry. If the dish involves certain spices I end up calling it a curry, such as this one, which is rich with coriander, cumin and tandoori mixed spices. If anyone has a suggested name for this I would love to hear from you.

Ingredients

300g of diced chicken - I used fillets of chicken thigh
1 onion
1 tsp of chopped root ginger
1 medium/hot red chili
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp tandoori mixed spices
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tbsp tomato puree
4 medium/large tomatoes
300ml water
1 tsp salt

Method

To follow

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Spicy coconut egg fried rice

If you fancy livening up a serving of rice to accompany a curry then this recipe may be want you are looking for. It is simple to create and the result is a dish that is worthy of serving on its own.

Ingredients

Freshly cooked rice (plain or basmati)
Half a small onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 red chili (medium)
tsp of finely chopped root ginger
4 cardamon pods
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
50g chopped cashew nuts
25g of soaked desiccated coconut
1 egg
Vegetable oil
Salt to serve

Method

1. Start by soaking the desiccated coconut in water.
2. Next in a dry pan heat the cardamon, coriander and mustard seeds until the seeds begin to pop. Once cooled lightly crush with a pestle and mortar.
3. Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil and then fry the onion, chili, garlic and ginger. 
4. After 5 minutes add the lightly crushed spices and stir constantly for another five minutes.
5. Add the cooked rice, soaked coconut and chopped cashews and stir together. Add salt to taste at this point.
6. Crack an egg into the pan and stir in for a further three minutes.

Serve this egg fried rice recipe immediately with your favourite home cooked curry.

Click here for more Indian cooking recipes.

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