dinner Archives - Page 8 of 11 - All That I'm Eating

Chard and Smoked Bacon Open Lasagne with Basil Oil

April 1, 2013 By All That I'm Eating 28 Comments

I think everyone has a particular vegetable that they always end up cooking the same way. I simply couldn’t have another plate of steamed or stir fried chard so I put my thinking cap on and set about making a chard and bacon lasagne. I also realised maybe chard isn’t the only vegetable I haven’t paid much attention to. Whenever I have leeks around they normally end up in a slow cooked pork stew; namely because I don’t really like leeks and I can’t taste them as much this way. Courgettes are another example (and I’m sure the bane of many vegetable gardeners’ lives) and they almost always end up as fritters. To avoid characterless chard this simple open lasagne is perfect.

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

8-10 rashers smoked streaky bacon
1 head chard
2 large garlic cloves
250ml crème fraîche
Salt and pepper
3 sheets fresh lasagne
Small handful basil
Extra virgin olive oil
Small handful Parmesan

Method

Start by cutting the bacon into small strips and put into a frying pan with a little oil. Get the bacon frying while you prepare the chard.

Strip the chard leaves away from the stalks and put in to two separate piles. Slice the chard stalks to roughly the same size as the bacon and shred the leaves.

When the bacon is turning golden brown add the chard stalks to the pan and fry for a few minutes until the stalks have softened. Crush in the garlic and then add the chard leaves. Fry for another minute or so until the leaves have started to wilt and then add the crème fraîche, plenty of pepper and a little salt. Keep cooking this, stirring occasionally, until you have a thick sauce. read more

Homemade Burgers with Kohlrabi Coleslaw

February 18, 2013 By All That I'm Eating 21 Comments

There’s nothing quite like a good burger. I don’t like them to be so thick that you end up dribbling half of it down your face when you’re eating it but also they can’t be so skinny that you feel like you need three of them to fill you up. There’s something so satisfying about making your own burgers; getting all squelchy mixing it all together is something I very much enjoy. A coleslaw filled burger is one of my favourites; creamy, crunchy and punchy it also makes great use of kohlrabi. Kohlrabi is a bit of a funny vegetable to try and use. Lovely in a salad or stir fry it can get a bit tiresome always treating an ingredient in the same way. My recent acquisition of a kohlrabi in the veg box was not to be used in a stir fry but was to be made into coleslaw. It might be the best use of a kohlrabi I have found yet.

You will need (for two):
250g beef mince
1 medium onion
A splash of Worcestershire sauce
2 small carrots
1 small kohlrabi
Mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Burger accessories like cheese, lettuce, buns etc.

Start by making the burgers. Finely chop the onion and add about a third of it to a bowl with the mince, Worcestershire sauce and some salt and pepper. Squeeze all of this together with your hands until well mixed and then form into burger shapes. Fry the burgers in a little oil until cooked.

While the burgers are cooking put the rest of the onion into another bowl and peel and chop the carrots and kohlrabi to the same size as the onion. Stir all of the vegetables together in the bowl with a good dollop of mayonnaise and a little salt and pepper.
When the burgers are almost ready I like to add a thick slice of cheese while they’re still in the pan so it starts to melt. Assemble your burger how you see fit; I would always opt for plentiful gherkins. read more

Crispy Chilli Beef Stir Fry with Purple Kale

November 30, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 20 Comments

You know when only a take away will do? I get that feeling sometimes and short of actually eating said take away there’s not much else that can fulfill that craving. The issue I find is the subsequent guilt after consumption because I always order too much and somehow eat it all anyway. At least that was before I made this stir fry. This has everything I want when I’m craving a take away but using my own ingredients. I’d like to think it’s healthy but I’m not entirely convinced.

You will need (for two):
150g beef cut into strips
A few tbsp flour, seasoned with salt, pepper and cayenne
Groundnut oil
A few large purple kale leaves, cut into thin strips
1 large chilli, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
4 spring onions, sliced
3 tbsp dark soy sauce mixed with 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
Noodles to serve

Get a wok on a high heat and add about 1cm of groundnut oil. While the oil heats up mix the beef with the seasoned flour until it’s all coated. When the oil is smoking add the beef and fry for about a minute or until cooked and crispy. Remove the beef from the wok and place to one side. Pour away any excess oil but leave a little to cook the vegetables.
Add the kale to the wok and fry for about 30 seconds before adding the chilli, garlic and spring onions. After a minute or so add the soy sauce mix and then put the beef back in. Serve on top of some noodles.
A tip: this stir fry tastes great because everything is cooked in smoking oil but this can lead to slight choking as the kitchen fills with smoke. I would put the extractor fan on full blast and tape down any toupées. read more

An Autumn Picnic 2 of 3: Garlic Butter Mushroom Burgers

November 4, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 14 Comments

By now those picnic attendees that are left will be crying out for some sustenance and these garlic mushroom burgers really hit the spot; they are warm, juicy and full of flavour. There are several reasons why I chose to use mushrooms rather than meat: you don’t need to take an extra pan, minimum effort is required for delicious results and I think they are actually nicer! Also they sit happily on the BBQ needing barely any attention so you can get on and enjoy the picnic without having to stand and watch over them.

You will need:

4 large mushrooms Garlic butter (butter, garlic, parsley and black pepper) 4 bread rolls

I prepared the butter before I left by crushing three garlic cloves into about 50g butter and mixing it together with a few sprigs of chopped parsley and some black pepper.
Take the mushrooms and wrap them (gill side up) in some foil so they are completely covered. Put the parcel onto the edge of the BBQ, so it is not directly over the heat, and leave them to soften in their own juices for about 20 minutes. When they are soft put a little of the garlic butter onto the mushroom gills and leave the parcel open so that some of the moisture evaporates. After about five minutes toast the buns on the BBQ and put a mushroom in each bun. read more

Greek Style Baked Spaghetti and Feta

October 5, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 25 Comments

When I was on holiday I endevoured to try as many new Greek foods as possible. I stopped at sampling some of the more unusual (lamb’s brains in intestine) but immensely enjoyed the baked goods and baklava. One of the things I tried and absolutely loved was tomato baked spaghetti with feta; Italian Greek fusion maybe. Either way after a day at the beach, and a carafe of very easy to drink red wine, this meal was exactly what I needed.

Foraging in Greece would be an amazingly acidulated affair; lemons, limes, olives, figs and pomegranates were dripping from the roadsides. I loved the fresh herbs that were used in all of the hot food I had and that no matter where you went bread and dessert were obligatory and free of charge. I had a great time and I can’t wait to try and recreate some of the great flavours I tried while I was over there. Here is my interpretation of one of my favourite dishes.

You will need (for two):
Olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 fat clove garlic, chopped
400g cherry tomatoes
Small handful of basil and parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
170g spaghetti
200g feta read more

Pork Wellington

August 7, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 22 Comments

Comfort food is wonderful. It’s always the things which are full of bread, cheese, pasta, pastry and the like. Sometimes I want the comfort without the guilt, and particularly for this, without the expense. Beef wellington is as magnificent a dinner as they come; it’s one of my all time favourites. However, pork fillet is about a third of the price of beef fillet and therefore makes a brilliantly cheaper alternative.

I had to ask my butcher to save me a pork fillet as they sell out like there’s no tomorrow. Possibly because the pigs are fed mostly on apples for the latter part of their life meaning the meat has an unrivalled flavour. So with marvellous meat and flavourful fillings I set about making my pork wellington. If anyone knows why it’s called wellington I’d be pleased to find out; let’s hope it’s not an unflattering term for the shape of the finished meal.

You will need (for four):
500g pork fillet
1 pack puff pastry
250g mushrooms
Knob of butter
A small glass of white wine
1 egg, beaten
Salt and pepper read more

Broccoli Cheese – Tenderstem in 10 challenge

July 22, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 25 Comments

With all the miserable weather it seemed positively autumnal but it’s not the time for stews, long bakes and comfort food. You may have seen my broccoli pesto post last week; it was a good dinner, marvellous in fact, but I was left with another pack of broccoli. Another meal in under 10 minutes using less than 10 ingredients needed to be devised for the Tenderstem challenge.

I wanted to make something recognisable and filling, healthy and indulgent and of course quick and simple. After much head scratching I was almost at the point of deciding that I was ridiculous and almost opted for a broccoli sandwich when I changed my mind. Thank goodness I did; imagine how soggy a broccoli sandwich would be, no amount of condiments could cheer that up.

And so to dinner. Broccoli cheese doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as cauliflower cheese but it has all the flavour.
You will need: read more

Broccoli, Walnut and Blue Cheese Pesto – Tenderstem in 10 challenge

July 12, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 23 Comments

Broccoli is a brilliant vegetable but occasionally I find myself at a loss for what to do with it. It’s great with spices, superb with salty soy and oyster sauce and phenomenal with blankets of cheese. So when the kind people from Tenderstem asked if I was interested in taking part in their challenge I gladly accepted; a chance to really think outside the box.
The challenge was to make a meal using the Tenderstem broccoli using less than 10 ingredients in less than 10 minutes. I felt like a Ready Steady Cook contestant. I received a lovely parcel which contained the broccoli as well as a kitchen timer to keep me on track! read more

Wet Garlic Pizza Bread and Tiger Tomato Salad

July 8, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 23 Comments

It’s a good job I’ve no aspirations to become a vampire. Garlic seems to divide opinion; you either can’t get enough of it or can’t stand it. I love it. There are of course many meals where it serves the purpose of adding to the background flavour rather than dominating the meal but a life without garlic, for me, would be a very miserable one indeed.

A few juicy stems of wet garlic arrived in my vegetable box. I knew they would be pretty powerful and pungent and it seemed only right to make garlic bread. However, garlic bread alone does not a meal make and fortunately I had some brilliant tiger tomatoes that I picked up from the farmers’ market. I’m not sure how clearly you can see the tomatoes but they are glorious; vibrant red flesh, green seeds and dark green striped skin.

You will need, a light lunch for two:

For the dough: 500g strong white flour, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 7g sachet yeast, 300ml warm water
3 wet garlic bulbs
Small handful fresh parsley
Tomatoes, spme very ripe and tasty ones
6-8 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
A few fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper

Start by making the dough. I confess that since the acquisition of my food mixer, making bread dough is simple and carefree. Put all of the ingredients into the bowl, turn the dough hook on and come back 10 minutes later to perfectly kneaded dough. Lazy? Perhaps. Easy? Definitely. Leave the dough in the bowl, cover the top and leave until doubled in size; an hour or so. read more

Beetroot, Walnut, Goat’s Cheese and Orzo Pasta ‘Salad’ with Dill Dressing

June 23, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 30 Comments

We are coming to the end of last year’s stored beetroot and can look forward to some fresh summer beetroot soon. I haven’t planted beetroot this year as I decided I would grow peas, beans, more beans, tomatoes and courgettes only. Not to worry though as last year’s beetroot are still popping up in my vegetable box and down at the local market. I’ve called this a ‘salad’ because it sort of falls in the salad category with the beetroot, walnuts and dressing but at the same time it is a pasta dish; a very luminously coloured pasta dish at that. read more