Salmon with sesame, honey + other good things

Well, here in London it was a grey, cold, windy and absolutely lashing rain kind of a Saturday.

And I had salmon in the fridge so was definitely going to make it into something for dinner - hate food waste, so that’s it, if there’s salmon and it needs eating, that’s what I’ll have.

I usually like to cook salmon on the griddle so it’s crispy on both sides and have it like this with a spicy sour sauce.

But something about the rainswept day just made me want something softer somehow.

So I made this and it was soft and it was good with rice and the sauce was enveloping and warm and just right.

You don’t need to wait for a day indoors though, I think this would be lovely almost any evening for dinner - perhaps with a salad if the weather is a little cheerier though.

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I made this just for me but actually the sauce would have probably just about been enough for two, so add and subtract as you choose for your perfect quantity and for your taste - you really can’t mess it up or get it wrong, it’s always going to taste good!

Get the salmon fillet out of the fridge and if you like to take the skin off, then do so now.

Personally, I like to take most of it off but leave about an inch at the end as a treat for when it’s all crispy and crackly … but, I forgot it wouldn’t go like that if baked so I’d probably remove the whole of the skin next time. Up to you!

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For the sauce, you’ll need:

1-2 teaspoons runny honey

1-2 teaspoons coconut oil (but you could use another oil instead)

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

1 clove of garlic, squashed and minced

a small piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon or so of sesame seeds

1/2-1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

1/2 a juicy lime

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OK, I know this is where it starts looking like too much hard work to be bothered to do but I PROMISE it takes only a minute or two to do the heating/saucepan-y bit.

You just put the honey, oil and soy sauce into a little pan and heat gently until it’s melted, and then add a slosh of water and mix it all together and then take it off the heat.

THAT’S IT. Hard part done.

Then add all the other sauce ingredients to the sauce - either in its pan or mixed together in a different bowl - and stir to combine.

I couldn’t resist a little taste too - so good.

And next, just a dish for the salmon to go in, lined with a big piece of foil.

Tip most of the sauce onto the salmon, keeping just a little back.

Then fold up the foil so the salmon is in a little parcel with enough space for the sauce and fish to steam - don’t wrap it up tight, let it have room.

Put the salmon parcel in its dish into a medium oven - I have a gas oven and it was on Gas Mark 6 - for about twenty minutes.

I then tipped the salmon and sauce out of the foil into the dish to put under the grill for a further five minutes.

I take it out of the foil as the foil could catch alight. Also keep an eye on it while under the grill as that sweet, sticky sauce could potentially catch too.

What I was after was for it to all just cook a bit more and maybe even caramelise a little.

Pour over that last remaining bit of the original sauce - I just love that there’s a fresh kick somehow by adding this to the beautiful marinated cooked flavours.

Serve with rice and finished with some chopped spring onion and fresh coriander leaves, if liked.

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Spaghetti for sick days

Spaghetti for when you’re just not feeling so good …. why this recipe?

Because it’s super-simple when you don’t want to faff about making anything more complicated.

Because it’s just perfect comfort food.

And because lots of lovely immune system boosting garlic and antioxident-rich broccoli

And because this one just feels nurturing and lovely. Treating yourself is the best idea when you’re under the weather.

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Cook wholemeal spaghetti in a big pan of boiling water with a pinch of salt for about eight minutes and throw the broccoli in for the last few minutes (approx 4-5).

And then it’s all about making the garlic sauce … the trick is not to put garlic into hot oil all sizzling and burning - no, this is about kind of infusing the olive oil with the garlic.

So the peeled and sliced garlic (one clove or two, up to you, but I’d go with two) is added to the cold pan with cold oil, heated so slowly and when just about to sizzle, remove the pan from the heat and stir again, cool down and little.

Repeat. And repeat. And ... if necessary, repeat.

When you’ve made a beautiful fragrant infused garlic olive oil ... THEN allow it to come to a sizzle and then add in 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes and a ladle full of the pasta cooking water.

Simmer for a minute or two, add the spaghetti and broccoli and keep turning in that gorgeous oil.

Add some grated Parmesan and stir through.

Remove from heat; add more cheese and some ground black pepper and that’s it.

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Cacio e pepe (spaghetti with cheese and pepper)

You know sometimes when you just keep seeing something you hadn’t noticed before and then you do and then you see it everywhere?

That’s been me and cacio e pepe over the last week or so.

I noticed it in two or three recipe books and immediately wanted to eat it, and wanted to make it.

It’s a dish or beautiful simplicity: pasta, pasta water, freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino and freshly grated black pepper. Sometimes butter too.

So I read more - I googled and read many more reviews and recipes online.

And actually it started sounding complicated! It started sounding like one of those things that is SO simple that’s it’s going to be hard to get it perfect.

I read more and more of the advice and tricks and ‘secrets’ … and then amalgamated all the bits of advice that sounded sensible to me and made my first one.

My first realisation is that no-one should have that fear that it has to be ‘perfect’ because really how wrong can you go with spaghetti and cheese and black pepper?!

It was delicious. However I wanted to make more of the cheese sauce as mine was a little thin.

I also wanted to simplify the method as I’d been swept along with these tips and tricks and so had used both olive oil and butter, a little too much pasta water and had taken the advice on board to let that mixture cool slightly before adding the cheese. Totally unnecessary, I now thought.

Second go I just followed the same basic method but omitted the oil, added less pasta water and didn’t wait before stirring in the cheese to make the sauce before adding the pasta.

Attempt number 1

Attempt number 2

Again; delicious!

But this time slightly too much and too cheesy a sauce.

I re-read the original recipe I’d seen from Giorgio Locatelli’s book ‘Made at Home’.

And I found the episode where Anthony Bourdain has it for the first time in Rome - and then it becomes his favourite pasta dish - and watched them make it in the restaurant.

SO much simpler than recipes I’d been reading online.

I discovered the classic version doesn’t even use butter … I haven’t tried that yet as I like the the butter! But I will.

For my third attempt I simplified even further and just went with what I’d now seen and what I feel would work - no more tricks and secrets; just cook the thing and do so with love and anticipation of a good meal.

No more even making the cheese sauce before adding the pasta.

No timing to cool one part before adding another or cooling the pasta slightly.

This is my favourite of the three I’ve made and definitely the simplest (not that any of them could really be called hard but oh goodness do some people like to complicate stuff - I found recipes for this online with PAGES of explanation!).

So, here’s how to make this utterly divine and nourishing and elegant and easy pasta.

If making more than a couple of portions at a time make sure you’ve got a big pan with lots of space for the pasta and the sauce to become one.

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To make a quick lunch or dinner for one, you’ll need:

a small handful of spaghetti (about 100g)

a knob of butter (maybe a couple of heaped teaspoons)

1/2 - 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

a small handful of freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese

more cheese and more pepper to serve, if liked (personally I didn’t think it needed it)

serve with a big green salad to make it more of a meal

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Usually with pasta we use a big saucepan and lots of water but for this dish use a little less water than normal because we want the pasta cooking water to be good and starchy to make the sauce. So I used a slightly smaller pan than usual and a little less water but a good big pinch of salt.

Bring to the boil, add the spaghetti and when it’s back on the boil cook for eight minutes.

Get everything else ready and a couple of minutes before the pasta’s ready get a good big non-stick pan over a medium heat and add a ladleful of water taken from the spaghetti pan.

Then add the butter and stir until it’s melted and the butter/water mixture simmering. Then heat to low and add the black pepper. Add a little more pasta water if needed - you want want it loose but not too much of it.

The pasta should be done by now but don’t ever worry!

If it’s not then turn the sauce off for a minute.

If it was done before you’d finished putting the pepper in then turn the sauce off for a minute while you drain the pasta. Nothing’s a problem.

If the pasta is going to wait for a minute though I’d run cold water through it after draining so it doesn’t get sticky as it waits patiently in its sieve.

OK so now we have a little simmering sauce and we just add the pasta maybe in two batches so each gets to expand into the sauce. Add the first then stir and combine with the sauce before adding the rest of the spaghetti.

Simmer the pasta in the sauce another minute or so so that it can absorb some more liquid and then add the finely grated cheese, tossing and mixing it all together so the cheese melts and you can’t even really see it any more.

That’s it. That’s it done.

Remove pasta and sauce from pan to dish, taste, add more pepper and cheese if liked.

Eat, wonder how something so simple can be so delicious and start planning when next to make it …

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Green beans, onions, tomatoes + feta

This is a really lovely dish from Rachel Roddy writing in the Weekend Guardian recently - an Italian warm vegetable sort of salad/stew with soft flavours of braised runner beans, tomatoes, olive oil, salt - all warm and beautiful on a summer's day served with some good bread.

I couldn't resist trying it immediately (nope, patience has never been a strong point of mine!) so I ended up making it slightly differently with the ingredients I had.

I still loved it and I'll be making it again, both the way I made it, and going back to try the original.

It's pretty much perfect in its simplicity just as it is, although would make a great accompaniment to any grilled / barbecued meats of fish too.

You'll find the original recipe HERE.

And because my local shop didn't have any fresh basil the day that I made it, and because I had fine beans rather than runner beans, I made some tiny changes to the flavours - without the basil it would need something so I also used a few slices of chilli pepper and some ground cumin.

If you have fresh basil, then omit the chilli and the cumin.

Note that you leave the dish to sit for an hour or two after cooking to be served warm, so factor that into your timings!

Or just eat it hot of course.

Or make it the day before you want it and reheat very gently to serve - I imagine the flavours will only get better when left overnight.

Here's how I made a big pot, enough for two.

You'll need: 

1 medium white onion, very finely sliced

salt

1/2-1 small red chilli, very finely diced

a couple of tablespoons olive oil (I used 20 sprays of my spray cooking oil and a splash of water when it needed it) 

equal quantities of green beans or runner beans, and ripe tomatoes - I think I used 200-300g of each (and use the very best tomatoes you can get hold of - ones with lots of flavour)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

a good chunk of Feta cheese to serve

Get the ingredients together

Top and tail the beans and cut into small pieces

Remove tough cores from the tomatoes and dice

Put the oil in a pan and when warmed, add the finely sliced onion and a small pinch of salt, and the chilli (if using) and cook gently over a low-medium heat until the onion is soft - if you use a spray oil like me, you'll need to add a splash of water or two as it cooks to prevent the onion burning. Cooking onions until soft always takes longer than I think it will - probably around 10 minutes.

Add the beans to the pan, stir well to combine with the onion, then cook - still stirring - for a 3-4 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, another small pinch of salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (if using) then cover the pan and leave for a couple of minutes. Uncover the pan and stir, then cover for another 4-5 minutes (have a look and stir if you like - and if you need a little splash of water add it - although the juice from the tomatoes should be coming out now as it has time to cook with the lid on).

Once the tomatoes are releasing their juice, uncover the pan and cook uncovered on a low heat, simmering gently, for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

The beans will be really tender and the sauce lovely and thick.

If you have fresh basil add a handful of torn basil leaves now for a couple of minutes. 

Taste and see if it needs any seasoning, then remove from heat and allow to sit for an hour or two before serving warm with the piece of feta crumbled over and served with bread, if liked. 

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Steak, mango and avocado salad

This recipe first appeared in The Guardian newspaper in February 2010 and it's from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

One of my sisters saw it and tore it out - we made it and it was delicious.

Several years later when I was with her, I remembered it, and took a photo of the page - and a few times I've made it, zooming in on the photo to enlarge it enough to see the detail of the recipe.

Seven years later, thought it was about time I just shared it, so I'll have it right here whenever I need it.

Oh! And - of course - so that you can have it too.

This is simple and elegant and delicious and full of flavour. Easy enough for a normal supper, and lovely enough for a dinner party, or lunch - we had it today for Sunday lunch and it was perfect.

I've changed the recipe just a little, so this is my version I'm giving you.

The mango, avocado, steak and spicy dressing isn't a combination I'd have thought of - but it works supremely well.

So for two people, this is how you do it!

The marinade: 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely minced; 1 tablespoon oyster sauce; 1 tablespoon dry sherry (optional - I didn't have any); 1 teaspoon soy sauce; 1/2 teaspoon sugar; some grated fresh ginger; a little black pepper.

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1-2 steaks depending on their size and your hunger.  Rump or sirloin will work best.

Rub in the marinade and leave to marinate for 30-60 minutes.

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Make the dressing: 1 tablespoon fish sauce; 1.5 teaspoons toasted sesame oil; juice of 1/2-1 limes; 1.5 teaspoons light soy sauce; 1/2 teaspoon sugar; 1/2-1 birds eye red chilli, finally chopped; 1 very small or half a clove of garlic, finely minced.

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When the steak's almost done marinating, prepare the rest of the salad: peel and slice half a mango (or as much as you like); same with a ripe avocado (I used half a large avocado). Put rocket on plates with the mango and avocado arranged on top.

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Heat a griddle pan until very hot, add the steak and sear for 2-4 minutes each side - depending on thickness of the steak - you want it lovely and browned on the outside and pink in the middle.

Leave the steak to rest on a board or plate for 3-4 minutes before slicing thinly.

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Add the steak to the plates of salad, drizzle over the dressing, scatter over some coriander leaves and serve immediately.

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SUCH a great dish. Hope you love it too!

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Kerrie's tuna 'envelopes'

This is a lovely, simple and very tasty recipe shared by Kerrie Rycroft as part of my #ShareFoodStories project, where people are sharing a recipe that has meaning for them - and the reason they chose it.

This was chosen unanimously by Kerrie's children as a favourite of theirs. You can also use the idea of the puff pastry envelopes to hold any filling - ideal for using leftovers such as bolognaise sauce, chilli con carne, or chicken curry.

I made these tuna envelopes for brunch today - and really enjoyed them! 

Here's Kerrie's recipe.  

For four 'envelopes' you'll need (I made enough for two today):

2 tins of tuna (I used one)

1 tin of sweetcorn (I used a small one)

1/2 red onion finely chopped 

a big dollop of mayonnaise 

A sheet of puff pastry (I used half)

1 egg, beaten

Mix the tuna, sweetcorn, red onion and mayonnaise together in a bowl.

Unroll the sheet of puff pastry and cut into four squares (or 6-8 smaller squares - as I was using half the sheet mine were 'small squares').

Divide the tuna mix between the squares.

Fold the corners in so that they meet in the middle.  (I tried folding mine in two different ways).

Brush with beaten egg.

Cook for 20 minutes in an oven at around 200C (I used Gas 7).

Kerrie says they usually serve them 'with mange tout and baby sweetcorn and a splodge of sweet chilli sauce to dip them in', but as mine were for brunch we had them with just a sliced tomato to add a little colour (plus realised I'd run out of sweet chilli sauce - so will be making more today).

I really liked these - I think it's a great idea to add other fillings too. 

I made them again with a filling of feta cheese, fresh mint and parsley, black pepper, dried chilli flakes and a squeeze of lemon - delicious!

And I can see a Tiniest Thai green chicken curry 'envelope' happening for dinner soon ...

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Chicken stir fry with yellow bean sauce

I love this recipe - actually I love all recipes that are super-simple to make but feel somehow really special.

This is definitely good enough to have when entertaining friends - and also easy and quick enough for an everyday midweek supper.

I usually try to avoid using specialist ingredients in the recipes I share, but I don't have a substitute for yellow bean paste I'm afraid. It'll be available in Asian supermarkets or I'm sure will be online too.

Do try to get hold of some - it's got a lovely savouriness that just makes the dish delightful.

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OK, so for dinner for two, you'll need:

2 teaspoons dry sherry (optional but good)

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon sugar

a small chunk of fresh ginger, grated (about 1-2 teaspoons)

1/2 - 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes (to your taste!)

1-2 skinless chicken breasts, depending on their size and your greed/hunger, cut into small pieces so it cooks quickly - or firm tofu. I tried tofu recently when my vegetarian niece came to stay and it was really good.

Cooking oil spray

2 peppers, sliced into strips - either red or yellow (not green which is too bitter) or a combination would be prettiest - I only had red when I made it this time.

2 tablespoons yellow bean sauce (decant the rest of the tin into an airtight tub and keep in the fridge for a day or two)

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

 1/3 of a Knorr chicken stock cube 

2 teaspoons cornflour mixed into 2 tablespoons cold water, stirred until smooth

about a tablespoon of flaked almonds or sesame seeds - toasted quickly in a hot dry pan - to serve

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Put all the marinade ingredients - italicised in the list about - into a bowl with the chicken. Mix and leave to marinate for 15-30 minutes.

Then put a frying pan on to a medium heat, spraying with the spray oil (I use about 20 sprays) and add the chicken - cook for 3-4 minutes stirring all the time so it doesn't stick, and add a little splash of water if needed.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside, and add the peppers to the pan and stir fry for a couple of minutes over a medium-high heat, again stirring all the time so they don't stick and add the tiniest splash of water if needed.

Add the chicken back to the pan, reduce heat to medium, and add the yellow bean sauce (I've used two varieties now and both good, but it's great having found the big bottle of paste as I can keep it in the fridge for longer) - cook for a minute or so, stirring every now and then.

Next add the soy sauce, crumble in the piece of stock cube, and add the cornflour and water mixture - stir in, simmer for another minute or so until the sauce has thickened a little.

Serve with rice and sprinkle with the toasted almonds or sesame seeds.

cHICKEN STIR FRY WITH YELLOW BEAN SAUCE AND TOASTED SESAME SEEDS

TOFU STIR FRY WITH YELLOW BEAN PASTE AND TOASTED ALMONDS + SESAME SEEDS

I really love this and hope you do too! 

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Prefer to watch how to make it? Here's the video ...

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Simple sea bass supper

This is so good.  Sea bass is so soft and delicate, I like to cook it very simply but then add a delicious dressing.

I cooked the fish in my remoska for 20 minutes, with just a sliced spring onion, a crumble of a piece of stock cube, the juice of half a lime and a very little water, but you could cook it in foil parcels on a baking tray in the same way.

The sauce is the best!

It's this one, it's a Jamie recipe and I adapted it a bit with mango for my fish tacos but as the mango I had wasn't soft enough I used kiwi fruit as in the original version.

Cut a green chilli in half lengthways and peel and halve a kiwi fruit, then cook in a hot dry frying pan for a couple of minutes each side until charred. 

Blend with a handful of coriander leaves, the juice of a lime and a splash of water. 

Please do try this, it's SO good!

I had a quick stir fry of green vegetables (topped with a squeeze of lemon) to go with the fish and the dressing, and this is now my current favourite dinner.

You know when you make something new and then just keep making it all the time?

Yep, it's like that.

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Simplest seafood stir-fry with lime + chilli

Late Sunday morning.

Realise need to eat and that, having been up for several hours (well, from 7.30am and now it's 10.45am.

I really need brunch.

Time for my own personal take on Masterchef's 'invention test' (the one I'll be looking forward to most should I ever get on it).

I have: a rasher of smoked back bacon; a packet of cooked seafood mix (squid, prawns and mussels); some asparagus tips I picked up cheaply yesterday as they were put on offer as they became out of date. 

So ... time to rustle up the simplest seafood stir fry! 

It all goes together well - pork and seafood HEART each other big time. 

This is super-simple but it IS spicy and it IS very lime-y.

I actually think lemon might be nicer - and I rarely use lemon!

Cook your rice first so it's ready and then prepare the ingredients:

1 garlic clove, minced

a small piece of ginger, minced

1-2 bird eye chillies, squashed and chopped

1-2 spring onions, sliced

cooking oil, or Frylight spray oil 

1 bacon rasher, fat removed and chopped(I had smoked but whatever you have is good)

some mixed seafood (probably around a small bowlful or around 200g)

if you have them asparagus tips are good, but you could use another vegetable

1 lime

fish sauce

sugar

oyster sauce

cooked rice and chopped coriander leaves (if liked) to serve

I use my Frylight 1-cal oil spray as I'm losing weight at the moment, but you can just use a tablespoon of cooking oil if you prefer- and if so, you probably don't need the splash of water, but see what you think and add it if you need to.

Put a frying pan over a medium heat and add 20 sprays of 1-cal spray oil and then put in the garlic, ginger, chillies and spring onions.

Stir for around 20 seconds until it smells good and then add the bacon and stir for another 20 seconds - add a splash of water now, or earlier if you think it needs it.

Cook for another 20 seconds or so and then add the asparagus tips (if using) and cook for a minute. Add another small splash of water if needed at any time.

Tip in the seafood, stir and squeeze in the juice of the lime. 

Add a splash of fish sauce and half a teaspoon of sugar then cook, stirring all the time, for a couple of minutes until the seafood is hot all the way through.

Add a little glug of oyster sauce and cook for up to another minute until it's all hot and good.

Turn off the heat, add the coriander (if using) and serve with rice. 

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Thai-inspired meatballs + rice noodles

Some dishes are prettier than others and this isn't a very pretty one.

But it tastes MUCH better than it looks and it's really simple (as always) too - so do give it a try.

I made it with beef mince as that's what I had in the fridge, but pork and chicken would both be good and change it up a bit.

Also, I used lovely fresh rice noodles as I'd been to the Thai supermarket and these are my favourites, but dried rice noodles are good, or you could have the meatballs with rice, or even with pasta. All going to be good! Prepare your noodles or rice first so it's all ready to go.

So, for meatballs for one, I used: 

approx 100g mince

half a carrot, shredded and diced

a little piece of ginger, diced

1 birds eye red chilli, also diced

(If I'd had parsley, I'd have added a small handful of that too, finely chopped)

one little lime leaf that was in the salad drawer - I just removed the stalk and chopped the leaf into very fine slices and diced. If you don't have lime leaves, then I'd grate some lime zest in

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and then scrunch it all up to combine and shape into little meatballs.

Then prepare the sauce ingredients.  

You'll need:

1/2 cup boiling water with about 1/3 of a knorr stock cube (I used chicken)

another little piece of ginger, diced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 birds eye red chilli, finely chopped (use just half if you don't want it too spicy of course)

2 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal to look nice

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

And then you just put a frying pan over a heat and either add a tablespoon of cooking oil or, if you're losing weight like me, 20 sprays of that 1-cal-per-spray cooking oil and put the meatballs in.

Keep turning until they're browned all over and if using the spray oil, you'll probably need to add a splash of water too. It takes a few minutes.

When browned, add the chopped ginger, garlic and chilli and fry for a few seconds, then tip in the stock.

Bring to a simmer and cook for around 5 minutes, then add the soy sauce, fish sauce and toasted sesame oil.

Cook for another minute or so, tasting to check you're happy with the balance of flavours, and that's it. 

Ready to serve!

Some parsley or coriander, chopped and scattered over, might have looked nice, but I didn't have any ...

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Pasta with lemon

Super-easy, super-quick lemon sauce for pasta and fittingly for today, a sunny day in June, it is sunshine on a plate. Best with long thin pasta like tagliatelle, spaghetti or linguine - but I make it with penne sometimes too.

A good lunch or easy supper, this goes well with a quick salad and it's also easy to add prawns or grilled chicken to make it more substantial. And lemon linguine alone makes an elegant first course.

My favourite sort-of-French-dressing uses:

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons white vinegar

1 garlic clove, skinned and squashed (not chopped)

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Method (if you can call it that!) - put it all in a jar and shake, and add more of any dressing ingredient as needed to balance and until you're happy.

I put the jar into the fridge after using and every day just add more vinegar and/or oil as it gets more and more garlicky ...

The original recipe for the pasta with lemon is from Mireille Guiliano's 'French Women Don't Get Fat' and while her recipe serves four, this has been modified and serves two.

if adding prawns, I find it easiest to throw them in with the pasta for the last minute or two to heat or cook.

Make the sauce during the last few minutes of your pasta cooking, or when it's cooked, as it's very quick.

You'll need:

2 lemons

a good slosh of olive oil

around 100g-150g creme fraiche

approx 60g Parmesan

salt and pepper

Grate the zest of the lemons and halve one of them so you have it ready to squeeze into the sauce and grate the cheese.

In a saucepan, warm the olive oil and add the zest. Cook over a low heat for a couple of minutes.

Add the creme fraiche and bring to the boil, then squeeze in the juice of one lemon and bring to the boil again.

The easiest way to juice a lemon is to squeeze a half over your closed hand so your fingers catch the pips.

Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the grated Parmesan, season to taste and cook for another minute.

Combine with the cooked pasta and serve immediately.

Yep, sunshine on a plate and super-quick too :)

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Son-in-law eggs

Son-in-law eggs are delicious – boiled eggs which are then fried and served  in a sweet and sour sauce topped with fried crispy shallots and (optional) chillies.

This is is such a tangy tasty dish –  and really colourful and pretty too. Sunday supper sorted!

It’s not a precise recipe – limes vary as to how much juice they contain, chillies vary in heat and fish sauce differs in saltiness between brands.

Do just taste and taste and taste to get the sauce a perfect balance of salty, sweet and sour for you.  

The chillies are because I like to include some spiciness too, but are  entirely optional.

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To serve two, you’ll need:

cooked rice, ready to serve (if using)

cooking oil - use rapeseed or grapeseed or sunflower if not (something that will heat to a high temperature and not impart its own flavour)

2 soft boiled eggs (put the eggs into a pan of boiling water that’s also had a pinch of salt added and boil for six minutes, then remove from heat and run under cold water to stop them cooking further - and when cold, peel the eggs)

2 shallots or a quarter of an onion, very finely sliced

1 red chilli, sliced (optional)

1 clove garlic, chopped

the juice of one juicy lime

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp water

sliced spring onions and coriander leaves to garnish

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Get everything prepared and ready to go - put the lime, fish sauce, sugar and water into a bowl and the chopped coriander leaves and spring onions into another.

Put a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and when hot add the cooking oil.

The oil needs to be hot before you add the eggs or they could stick.

Add the eggs and the onions and fry for a few minutes until the onions are starting to brown at the edges and the eggs browned all over.

It’ll take maybe 3-5 minutes and you need to keep turning it all - the eggs do NOT like being fried and will spit hot oil so be careful.

Add the chilli (if using) to the onions for the last minute or so.

When browned, removed the onions/chilli mixture to one space and the egg or eggs to another, ready to add later.

Put the pan back over the heat and add a little more oil and/or a splash of water as the garlic goes in next and it likes a gentle entry. Don’t let the garlic stick - add a little more water if needed.

After 30 seconds or so when the garlic starts to release it’s gorgeous scent, add the sugar-fish sauce-lime-water bowl and bring slowly to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for a minute or two - if you want a thinner sauce, add more water, if you want it to thicken more perhaps cook for longer or increase the heat.

When done, it’s just about assembling the dish.

Put the rice onto a plate, add the egg/s and slice them in half. pour over the sauce and top with the onions and chillies.

Garnish with sliced spring onion and chopped coriander leaves (if liked) and a few slices of red chilli (again, if liked!).

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Stir fried pork with chilli and garlic

Ok so first up - this isn't going to be a very well written post.  I feel rotten.  I've had the biggest stinker of a cold for a week and all the cliches are true. Yes I feel like I'm wading through treacle and yes I feel like I'm underwater and can't hear properly. Sore throat, coughing fits, the lot.

Anyway, because I do love food, I take a bad cold as a sign to follow the old adage and 'feed a cold'. However I'm not entirely sure this meant go out and drink champagne on Tuesday. Or to go and sit outside in the cold pretending it was warm and eat tapas on Wednesday.

Haha ... so now, right now, at this blissful end of this trying-to-just-push-through-it week, right now -  it is Friday AND the Friday before the bank holiday weekend and NOW I am going to feed my cold chillies.  Or rather feed (and hope to kill it with) chillies.

This is a really nice and easy dish and you don't have to overdose on chillies if you don't want or need to.

It's not really a specific recipe as such, just a very easy dish with some traditional Thai flavours.  I did rather make it up as I went along and very good it was too.

Cold or no cold, I recommend a dose of this.

Make your rice first and then get together the ingredients.

This is roughly enough for two but do just decide for yourself on quantities and what looks right to you.

About 1-2 tbspn cooking oil

2 cloves garlic

4 red bird eye chillies

Approx 250g pork mince

1/3 knorr chicken stock cube

splash of water

1 tbspn light soy sauce

1 tbspn fish sauce

A pinch of sugar

2 spring onions sliced

a small handful coriander leaves chopped to garnish, if liked

Prepare, slice and chop all the ingredients and put a pan on over a medium high heat.

Add the oil and when hot, add the garlic and chillies and fry, stirring for up to 30 seconds, until it smells good.

Add the pork mince and stir fry for a few minutes then add the stock cube and splash of water and continue stirring until the meat is browned.

Add the soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar and cook, stirring, for a few minutes until cooked through.

Remove from heat, add the spring onions and coriander (if using) and stir in.

Serve with rice.

Simple, delicious, and - I hope -cold-curing! I'll let you know if it is  and in the meantime do let me know if you made this and if you liked it ...

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