Cheese + chilli omelette

I love this combination of strong cheddar cheese, spring onions, green chillies and garlic.

Mixed with butter it makes the perfect cheese on toast with added kick.

And today I made it into a Thai-style omelette. By which I mean browned and fluffy and completely cooked through (unlike a classic French omelette for instance).

2 eggs in a bowl with
1-2 green chillies, sliced
I small clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
1-2 spring onions, sliced
A dash of fish sauce or a pinch of salt

Beat together, getting lots of air in and then add a handful of grated cheddar.

Get the pan hot then add 1-2 tablespoons oil and when that is hot tip in the egg mixture.

It will sizzle and the edges start to curl!

Cook for a couple of minutes on a high heat so the underside is browned then turn and repeat.

Turn out onto a plate, sprinkle with coriander leaves if liked and some freshly ground black pepper if liked and garnish with some slices of cucumber and a wedge of lime to squeeze over.

Maybe serve with Sriracha Sauce if you have some.

If you want something more substantial, have it with rice.

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Midnight Diner's minced meat cutlet / menchi katsu

I watch little television but I am obsessed with Midnight Diner on Netflix. I recently discovered that it was released for viewing in a different order to when they were made so I’ve actually stumbled across a series I didn’t even know what there.

SUCH a great surprise and such a treat to get to binge-watch a whole new-to-me ten episodes!

I love everything about it. I love it so much I watch the intro every time. I love that each episode is short (I have the attention span of a gnat). I love the little stories, and connections.

Sometimes I also make the recipe from the episode - previously I made the chicken fried rice stuffed omelette, omurice. I’m tempted to go back right back to the start (in the correct order this time and make everything). Now that might be a good project!

Sometimes I can laugh, cry and then make a new recipe as with episode 1 of season 3.

As soon as I saw the minced meat cutlets I wanted to try them.

They’re so easy, really good with a lovely crunch and would perfect for kids too - a really good family dinner. And they’re kind of fun to make as well with the mixing and then the dipping etc.

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To make four cutlets you’ll need:

approx 125g each of pork mince and beef mince

1/4 white onion, finely chopped

Worcestershire sauce and/or tabasco (both optional)

salt and pepper

breadcrumbs

1 egg, beaten

plain flour

cooking oil

You could use just beef mince or just pork mince but the mixture works really well and I read yesterday that in Japan you can actually buy a pack of it ready minced!

I’ve put the quantities as roughly 125g of each but that’s not exact and if it’s easier, it’s probably around a handful of each. Also, I didn’t weigh mine out - I had a 500g pack of each mince so just by eye halved it and then halved again, ie used a quarter.

I was trying to make that simple but think I’ve actually made it sound complicated! It’s honestly not!

Mix the minces with the chopped onion, some salt and pepper and a dash or two each of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco - if liked. If not, just leave them out. Really squish and mix it all together - I find it easiest to use my hands but I know some people don’t like touching meat so of course you can use spoons or something.

You can buy breadcrumbs or just whizz up a couple of slices or a hunk of bread in the blender or food processor.

And then get the dipping bowls ready: one with the breadcrumbs, one with a beaten egg and one with some plain flour.

Divide the meat mixture into four, roll each into a ball and flatten out.

Then dip each first into the flour, then into the egg and then into the breadcrumbs.

Ooh just before we cook the cutlets let’s talk quickly about what to serve them with. I understand that traditionally it’s with tonkatsu sauce, which you can buy, or quickly make by mixing:

1 tablespoon ketchup

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon oyster sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

Stir it all together and taste - add more of anything to get the flavour as you like it.

I also really like this with tartar sauce. I make a sort of very simple version just mixing mayonnaise with white wine vinegar.

Today I added some chopped lettuce and cucumber straight into this dressing to coat it all evenly so the salad was already dressed before adding to the plate.

OK, back to the cutlets.

Put a non-stick pan over a medium heat and add quite a lot of oil. When a breadcrumb dropped into the hot oil sizzles, add the cutlets and cook for three minutes each side, maybe four if your cutlets are thicker.

Serve drizzled with tonkatsu sauce with finely chopped cabbage and some sliced tomato on the side.

Or have with tartar sauce, salad and chips.

Or have in a bread roll like a crunchy burger.

Or whatever else you think would be good.

I mean really these are so good you could just eat them on their own.

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Pasta with ‘posh pesto’

My friend Gemma made a huge bowl of this insanely delicious pasta with - as she called it - ‘posh pesto’ for our book club the other night.

A few things …. firstly our book club is really a ‘food and wine club’ with added (optional) book! It’s so much fun, always always a great night. The host chooses the book and we then all eat and drink and try to remember to discuss the book at some point in the evening.

If you’re interested, Gemma's book choice was as good as her food - it’s also very short and can be read in one sitting. It’s The Yellow Wallpaper and I’m just going to copy and paste from one of the editions available on Amazon UK:

THE YELLOW WALLPAPER is a story by the American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine. It is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature, illustrating attitudes in the 19th century toward women's health, both physical and mental.

I think we talked about this book more than we’ve talked about any book yet!

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Back to the pasta though … we had it that night with tagliatelle but I’ve since made it twice with spaghetti.

If you’d like the original recipe, you can find it HERE.

I have to say I loved it so much I asked for the recipe whilst still eating my first bowlful!

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To make this the way I did for two people, you’ll need:

200g spaghetti (every time I make spaghetti I weigh it by how it feels in my hand, I never trust it but when I then weigh it to check it is always EXACTLY the right amount!)

a pack of fresh basil (the actual recipe says 50g for two people but I only had one 15g bag and it was still delicious, so entirely up to you if you want to use more)

1 small garlic clove

a small handful of shelled pistachios (it should have been 50g but I didn’t weigh them and just guessed it might be about a small handful)

1 small red bird eye chilli (this was still quite hot, so of course adjust how much chilli to your own taste or use a milder chilli)

zest of half a lemon

juice of half - one lemon (to taste)

olive oil

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Put a pan of water on to boil and add a good big pinch of salt (maybe a teaspoon).

While it’s coming to the boil, start making the pesto by first finely chopping the basil. I did this separately to the other chopped ingredients to stop it going mushy.

Put the chopped basil into a big bowl or serving dish and then start to finely chop the garlic, pistachios, chilli and lemon zest.

This is really easy with a big flat knife, so you can squash the ingredients and then chop, but if you don’t have a cleaver-style knife then (a) put one on your next birthday list - it is SUCH a useful knife to have and (b) use any knife you like but the bigger the easier I find.

Oh! The water is probably boiling by now so add in your pasta and cook according to the pack instructions, or to your liking, or for nine minutes (as I did).

Once everything is chopped finely, add back the basil and chop it all together again, just for that last bit of fineness and also to make the basil really part of the mix.

Tip it all back into the bowl and add lemon juice - start with the juice of half a lemon but taste and add more if needed (mine did).

Add a good slug of a good olive oil and a little salt.

Stir it all together and taste again to make sure you’re happy with it or you want to make any adjustments.

When the pasta is done, remove a ladle of the pasta water into a mug, then drain the spaghetti and add to the bowl of pesto.

Stir and mix thoroughly, adding a little of that reserved pasta water if it needs loosening at all.

Serve. As is.

Personally, I don’t think this needs anything else to go with it, except for good company and a glass of red wine …

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Gamja-jeon- Korean potato pancake with dipping sauce

Now, there’s some foods I just see a photo of and HAVE to make, or find, pretty much immediately!

When my niece, Mia, posted this on her insta recently - having returned from a trip to South Korea at the end of last year - well, this was one of them. She also has some other cool food ideas so if you want to go and check them out (and her beautiful singing) then the link’s HERE.

OK, straight onto this little beauty then.

Easy and delicious equals just about my favourite food ever and this is a traditional Korean potato pancake with a little dipping sauce.

Here’s what you’ll need for a good big pancake lunch for one, or as a side dish for two:

1 large potato, peeled and grated (mind your hands, I DID grate mine a little, yes)

About 1/4 of a finely sliced and chopped white onion or a few spring onions, finely sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon or so of plain flour

Combine the ingredients and then when adding the flour, mix until it’s a kind of sloppy dough consistency - add a little more if needed.

Then get a good non-stick pan on over a medium heat and add a good slosh of an oil that heats to a high temperature and doesn’t have too much flavour - grapeseed or rapeseed is ideal but a vegetable oil works too.

When hot, tip in the potato mixture and start to shape into a flat pancake.

When it’s nice and flat let it cook for about four minutes then turn (carefully not breaking the pancake) and cook for another four on the other side.

Add a little more oil if needed.

We want a nice crispy browned pancake so see what yours needs by now …. I turned the heat down a little, turned the pancake again and cooked for another three minutes on each side.

While the potato pancake cooks, mix up the dipping sauce.

You’ll need:

2 spring onions finely chopped (optional)

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar (I didn’t have any so just used white malt vinegar)

the juice of one lime or lemon

1 chopped hot chilli

1 teaspoon of sugar

Stir to combine and dissolve the sugar then taste and see if you want to add more sugar, more lime, more vinegar?

When it’s as you like it, it’s ready.

Serve and eat the delicious hot crunchy potato pancake with the cool spicy dipping sauce and maybe squeeze over a little more lime juice, if liked.

I thought this was absolutely delicious and so simple too - I’ve made it three times this week … oops!

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