All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

Baked Eggs with Spinach and Cheddar

By 16 Comments

Also known as eggs en cocotte this is a classic recipe and one I can’t believe I’ve never made before! My baked eggs with spinach and cheddar take no time at all to make; it’s on the table in under 15 minutes. Don’t be fooled though, this simple recipe is seriously luxurious and packed with comforting flavours.

Once your fork (or spoon!) hits that runny yolk it mixes with the soft spinach, melted cheese and double cream and it is truly a joy to eat. The egg white should be just set and the yolk still runny. They are delicious served on their own but served with some crusty bread for dipping you really can’t go wrong. read more

Chicken and Chorizo Tray Bake

By 10 Comments

finished chicken and chorizo tray bake

It’s late autumn. I want the food on my plate to reflect the leaves on the trees outside and my chicken and chorizo tray bake does exactly that. A sizzling tray of orange, red and purple it smells so good while it’s cooking and also tastes divine. Those orange juices at the bottom of the dish? Don’t waste those. Tear open some crusty bread and get dunking.

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 2 red peppers, deseeded and chopped
  • 1 red onion, peeled and sliced
  • 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 75-100g cooking chorizo, sliced or diced
  • Olive oil for cooking
  • Salt and pepper
  • Crusty bread to serve

Method

Preheat an oven to 180C.

Put the peppers, tomatoes, onion and chorizo in a baking dish; one big enough to almost hold everything in a single layer. Drizzle over a little olive oil and some salt and pepper then roast in the oven for 10 minutes. read more

Satay Pork Fried Rice

By 16 Comments

I really like the flavour of satay: nutty, salty and with a hint of ginger and garlic. Quite a lot of the recipes I have tried involve marinating before cooking and frankly, on a weekday when I want dinner in a flash, mixing up a marinade is not what I want to be doing. My satay pork fried rice has all the flavours you’d want from satay, is super simple to make and contains three different vegetables. As it’s a versatile recipe I’ve popped a couple of variations to the original at the end of the post. read more

Gnocchi, Kale and Spinach Gratin

By 16 Comments

gnocchi, kale and spinach gratin

Sometimes I end up with an awful lot of veg in my fridge. I use bits and bobs throughout the week but despite my best brassica consuming efforts I still get left with some of it. These leftovers often end up in a soup (my autumn minestrone is a great way to use kale) but recently I wanted to make something different. I really like green veg with pasta so I grabbed my veggies, some gnocchi and cheese and set about making a gnocchi, kale and spinach gratin.

ingredients

You will need (for two big portions):

  • 1 small broccoli, cut into florets
  • Handful kale, stems removed and shredded
  • 2 nuggets frozen spinach (you can use cooked, squeezed and chopped fresh spinach instead)
  • 500g fresh gnocchi
  • 25g butter
  • 25g plain flour
  • 300ml milk
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • Salt and pepper
  • 25g grated Parmesan plus extra for the top

method

Start by making the cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and then add the flour. Cook for a minute or two and then gradually whisk in the milk ensuring there are no lumps.

Continue whisking the sauce until it bubbles and becomes nice and thick. Remove from the heat, add a little salt and plenty of pepper and stir through the cheese and mustard.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the gnocchi and frozen spinach. Place the broccoli and kale in a steamer over the top of the gnocchi, bring the pan back to the boil and cook for two minutes.

Drain everything well.

Add the broccoli, gnocchi, kale and spinach to a roasting dish. Pour the cheese sauce over the top; it will dribble down and mix into everything.

Sprinkle some extra cheese over the sauce and then place under a medium grill until the top is golden and bubbling.

Some parts of the broccoli and kale get stuck at the top of the dish meaning they catch ever so slightly under the grill and have that deliciously toasted flavour. The crispy cheese topping is so rich in savoury flavour from the Parmesan and the smooth cheese sauce coats everything nicely. And thanks to the short gnocchi cooking time and grilling rather than baking this dish it’s ready in under half an hour. I think a few cherry tomatoes dotted over the top would add a lovely pop and freshness and using a blue cheese or a strong cheddar would be delicious if you happen to have those in the fridge too.

Banana Bread with Chocolate, Oats and Honey

By 10 Comments

banana bread with chocolate, oats and honey

You know those bananas that you keep avoiding in the fruit bowl? The ones which got a bit speckled a few days ago and now are fully fledged brown? Well, throw out your normal go-to recipe because my banana bread with chocolate, oats and honey is the way to go. Adding a few extra ingredients gives it a delicious flavour and texture and I have been very much enjoying having a slice for breakfast each morning. Any excuse to start the day with chocolate.

ingredients

You will need (for one banana bread loaf):

  • 125g butter
  • 3 medium overripe bananas
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g honey
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 250g plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 75g oats, plus a few extra
  • 100g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

method

Grease and line a loaf tin and preheat the oven to 160C.

Melt the butter and honey together in a small saucepan and stir to ensure they are well combined.

Mash the bananas in a large bowl then pour in the butter and honey and crack in the eggs. Whisk everything together well.

Sift the flour, sugar and baking powder into the banana mix and fold everything in gently. Stir in the oats and most of the chocolate chunks.

Pour the mix into the prepared tin and then sprinkle the extra oats and leftover chocolate over the top.

Bake for an hour, then check on the loaf to see if a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle. If not, keep baking and checking it every 5-10 minutes until fully baked.

Leave the loaf to cool in the tin for a few minutes before removing and leaving to cool on a wire rack.

The oats on top of the banana bread have a lovely toasted flavour and the oats inside the bread swell up and have a deliciously chewy texture. Who can resist a slice of warm banana bread? It’s even harder to resist when you know it’s covered in and is full of melted chocolate. Dark chocolate is definitely the best choice for this as it works so well with the sweetness from the bananas, sugar and honey. The honey gives the cake a beautiful mellow flavour and slight sticky texture. If your banana bread lasts a few days and you want to freshen it up, try lightly grilling or microwaving it and serving with plain yoghurt. Honestly one of the best breakfasts imaginable.

Golden Beetroot Remoulade

By 14 Comments

golden beetroot remoulade

Beetroot has to be one of my favourite root vegetables. I love all the different colours you can get and a recent addition to my veg box was a bunch of golden beetroot. At first I thought about boiling it and mixing it with white wine vinegar and some spices. Then I got to thinking about proper comfort food and a golden beetroot remoulade would be the perfect finishing touch to a rather traditional dinner. A fantastically earthy alternative to using celeriac.

ingredients

You will need (for a good bowlful of remoulade, enough for dinner and leftovers for the next day):

  • 2-3 medium golden beetroot, peeled and grated
  • 3 heaped tbsp good quality mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp plain yoghurt
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • Juice 1/2 lemon
  • Small handful parsley, roughly chopped
  • Salt and pepper

method

Squeeze any excess moisture from the beetroot. Luckily with golden beetroot there are no purple stains to clean off of your hands and the rest of the kitchen when you’re done!

In a bowl mix together the mayonnaise, yoghurt, mustard, lemon juice, parsley and seasoning. Stir everything together well and then add the grated beetroot.

It is important to use a good quality mayonnaise for this for two reasons: firstly, it’s the base of the remoulade so you want it to taste excellent and secondly, you want it to be good and thick otherwise your finished remoulade might be a bit runny. No one wants runny remoulade.

I served my remoulade with some steamed new potatoes which had been covered in butter and fresh herbs, a little rocket salad and some delicious honey roast ham from the local butcher. A little update, or my version of, something that I know my grandparents would enjoy immensely. Simple flavours with a little pepperiness from the rocket, punch from the mustard, sweetness from the beetroot and freshness from the herbs. I can also confirm that beetroot remoulade makes a fantastic addition to a cheese sandwich; preferably one with very strong, crumbly cheddar.

Beetroot and Feta Dip

By 15 Comments

Beetroot is one of my favourite vegetables; it’s sweet, earthy flavour is like nothing else. I like to roast it with other root veg, boil it and add a little rich balsamic vinegar for a simple side or salad and I have tried smoking it on the barbecue in the past too. This latest batch of beetroot however I decided should be turned into a beetroot and feta dip. Firstly because the colour would be glorious and secondly because I wanted something punchy and full of flavour to serve with some delicious sourdough. read more

Chargrilled Broccoli, Potato and Pesto Salad

By 11 Comments

chargrilled broccoli, potato and pesto salad

It was one of those evenings. You know the ones, where you look in the fridge expecting a sudden moment of inspiration and the fridge just stares blankly back. I’d put something down on the meal plan but for one reason or another didn’t manage to cook it; sometimes I forget to buy an ingredient or I use it all in another meal forgetting to save any for later in the week. My potato, chargrilled broccoli and pesto salad came out of seemingly nowhere. This meal’s saviour turned out to be a little pot of pesto; it transformed a sorry looking collection of vegetables into a rather tasty meal.

ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • 2 large handfuls new potatoes
  • 1 small head broccoli
  • Small handful green beans, sliced diagonally
  • 3-4 tbsp pesto (fresh from a deli or homemade if you like). You could use a vegan pesto to make the meal vegan
  • Small handful pine nuts
  • 2 handfuls washed rocket

method

Start by scrubbing the potatoes and then chopping them into halves or quarters depending on their size and how you like them. Leaving them a little larger just means they will take a little longer to cook. Put the potatoes into a pan of cold salted water and bring the pan to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until cooked through.

Chop the broccoli into small florets and pop them in a steamer over the potatoes for 1-2 minutes until bright green but still crunchy.

Get a griddle pan onto a medium/high heat and tip the broccoli in. Keep the broccoli moving occasionally but allow it to get chargrilled at the same time.

Re-use the same steamer and pop the green beans above the potatoes for the last few minutes of the potato cooking time.

Drain the potatoes and green beans and put to one side.

Put a small frying pan onto a medium heat and add the pine nuts, moving them round the pan often until they are toasted.

Mix the broccoli and pesto into the potatoes and beans and then serve up with the rocket and top with the pine nuts.

The chargrilled broccoli adds such a great flavour to this salad, if I was having a barbecue I’d definitely try the broccoli on there before mixing into the salad. This is a really hearty and filling dish and would be a great side but I enjoyed it just on its own. A few halved cherry tomatoes, some leftover chicken or salmon would be delicious additions and would probably leave you enough for lunch leftovers the next day.

Lemon Almond Biscuits

By 19 Comments

Lemon Almond Biscuits with tea

When the nights get darker and colder I reach for two things: one is the big cast iron saucepan and the other is my collection of spices. But for all the big flavours, homely soups, stews and curries that seem so apt at this time of year sometimes I crave a little delicacy. Something subtle, light and simple is what I’m after and these Lemon Almond Biscuits are exactly that. Just the ticket at the end of a busy day with a cup of tea, preferably Earl Grey. These little biscuits take less than half an hour from start to finish; perfect.

Ingredients

You will need (for around 15 biscuits):

  • 150g butter, cubed
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 150g plain flour
  • 25g ground almonds
  • Zest 1 lemon

 

Method

Put all of the ingredients into a mixer or a bowl and combine to form a dough.

Preheat an oven to 150C.

Divide the dough up into small balls, slightly smaller than a golf ball, then put onto greased trays. Leave a little room between each of them so they can spread out. Press the top of each one lightly with a fork.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden. Leave to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

These aren’t the snappiest of biscuits, they’re not supposed to be. They are ever so slightly soft in the middle and all the better for it. If you would prefer them to be crisper then just press them a little more with the fork to make them thinner. The lemon and almond flavours are subdued and these easy biscuits are the perfect antidote to a busy autumn evening. Uncomplicated to bake, unfussy to eat and with all the comfort of a good shortbread I’ll be keeping some of these in the biscuit tin for the next few months.

Mini Toffee Pear Pies

By 15 Comments

pears for making pies

I think pears are annoying. Lovely, but annoying. They sit around in the fruit bowl looking all delicious and they’re never ripe. Then, when one is ready to eat the rest immediately go ripe too and then you have to eat them all at once. Well I’m not standing for it any longer, I decided that I would use the pears while they are under ripe so I can enjoy them while waiting for the others to ripen. The word ripe has lost all meaning. These mini toffee pear pies are made from surprisingly few ingredients (if you buy readymade pastry) and are just perfect for celebrating the pear in all its I’m-never-quite-ready-ok-now-I’m-too-ready glory.

Ingredients

You will need (for 12 mini pies):

  • 6-7 medium pears, just under ripe is ideal (alternatively you could use some sharp apples)
  • 75g salted butter
  • 2 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
  • Zest 1 lemon
  • 1 sheet readymade and rolled shortcrust pastry
  • Milk for brushing
  • Caster sugar

Method

Start by making the pie filling. Chop the pears up into small chunks and get a frying pan on a low/medium heat.

Add the butter and the sugar to the frying pan and leave to soften and mix together. Once you have a lovely, dark brown, smooth sauce tip the pears in and continue to cook for a few minutes so that the pears get well covered and the sauce thickens. Add the lemon zest. Put to one side to cool.

Roll the pastry out on a floured surface to make it around half as big again. You will need two fluted pastry cutters: one 8.5cm and one 6cm.

Lightly grease a 12 hole cupcake tin.

Cut out 12 circles of pastry with the larger cutter and put these into the holes in the cupcake tin. Re-roll the pastry and cut out 12 circles with the 6cm cutter.

Preheat an oven to 180C.

Spoon the cooled pear mixture into each pastry case, top up each mini pie with any leftover caramel sauce.

Brush the edge of the pastry cases lightly with milk and then put the smaller pastry circles on top. Seal with your fingers or a fork. Brush the tops of the pies with a little more milk, add a small steam hole in the top of each pie with a sharp knife, then sprinkle with a little caster sugar.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

I served a few of them warm, straight from the oven with a drizzle of double cream. What a little piece of loveliness that was. The fruit inside is soft and slightly sharp, the toffee sauce has bubbled up onto the pastry and made a sticky, sweet edge and the pastry is warm and crisp. Adding the lemon prevents the pie from being overly sweet. These would be perfect to take on a picnic or to nibble on for bonfire night. Alternatively, and this is quite a niche suggestion, if you have a log burner, pop a couple of pies on a piece of foil on top of the burner and wait for them to get warmed through before serving with ice cream.

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