Sunday 20 November 2011

Chorizo Carbonara

Based on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls River Cottage every day book

Ingredients

250g spaghetti, linguine, or other long pasta
1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
1 cup Tupperware Mexican Chorizo (recipe follows), crumbled (or Spanish chorizo, diced quite small)- I just used Spanish chorizo as I couldn't be arsed essentially doing two recipes for one meal! The Tupperware Mexican chorizo can be found in the book or online though.
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


Add the pasta to a large saucepan of well-salted boiling water and cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the chorizo and fry briskly for about 10 minutes, until crisp and cooked through. If you’re using the soft Tupperware chorizo, you can start with a bit of a lump and break it up with a spatula as it fries, so it forms lots of succulent little nuggets and crumbs, thereby maximizing the surface area available for crisping.

Beat the egg yolks and cream together and season lightly (since the chorizo is already highly seasoned).

When the pasta is done, drain thoroughly and immediately return it to the hot pan. Tip in the crisp chorizo, followed by the egg mixture. Use 2 forks to mix the eggy cream into the hot pasta. It will cook in the heat of the pasta, coating each strand in a light, creamy sauce. Serve right away, with a final grinding of black pepper on top.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Cheesy Bacon Pancakes

This is a Schwartz recipe. You'll find I quite like them, they have lots of good inspiration on their website and I'm sorry to admit I quite like their packet mixes, yes I am perfectly capable of making my own and know that I should but sometimes it's just quicker and easier to use one and it's much better than getting a ready meal in! I'll put the recipe below and then underneath I'll put how I change it!

1 packet Schwartz Cheddar Cheese Sauce Mix
300ml (½ pint) milk
25g (1oz) butter
225g (8oz) unsmoked back bacon
1 tbs olive oil
225g (8oz) button mushrooms, sliced
1 tbs Schwartz Oregano
6-8 ready made savoury pancakes
2 large tomatoes, finely chopped
mixed salad to serve
Schwartz Black Pepper to season

Method

Make up the Cheddar Cheese Sauce, following the packet instructions.

Meanwhile, grill the bacon until crisp and then chop into small pieces. Stir the bacon into the sauce. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the mushrooms with the Oregano for a few minutes until browned. Add to the sauce.

Spoon the sauce into the centre of the pancakes and roll them up. Place the pancakes in an ovenproof dish and then scatter the tomatoes on top and grill for 10 minutes.

Serve with a side salad and season with Black Pepper.


Well I don't use the tomatoes on top - instead I usually put on a tomato sauce, last time I just mixed a tin of tomatoes and some garlic salt and herbs and poured it over, previously I've bunged a little jar of pizza topper over or something like that, depending what I've got in.

I usually put a little bit of cheese on top of it all just to melt.

I usually use Italian or mixed herbs instead of oregano

Oh and I don't serve with a salad, more likely to do sweetcorn or something with it.

SW Bacon and Veg Pie

One of my absolute favourite recipes, really healthy and so yummy.

Recipe shamelessly copied and stolen from Julie S- Thanks!

1lb 12oz/794g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and chopped
Salt and black pepper
7oz/198g carrots, peeled and finely chopped
3½oz/100g green beans, trimmed and finely chopped
3½oz/100g courgettes, finely chopped
3½oz/100g celeriac, peeled and finely chopped
Fry light
10oz/283g lean bacon, all visible fat removed, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
3 eggs
4 tsp dried parsley
7oz/198g fat-free cottage cheese with onion and chives
1lb 2oz/511g ham, all visible fat removed, finely chopped
3½oz/100g frozen peas
4oz/113g parmesan cheese, grated

1. Preheat your oven to 180c/350f/GM4. Boil the potatoes for 20-25 minutes or until tender, drain well, season and mash.

2. Meanwhile, boil the carrots, beans, courgettes and celeriac for 3-4 minutes, drain and set aside. Place a frying pan sprayed with fry light over a medium-high heat. Stir fry the bacon for 7-8 minutes. Add the onion, fry for 3-4 minutes and then set aside.

3. Whisk the eggs, parsley and cottage cheese together. Add to the mash. Add the cooked veg, bacon and onion, ham and peas.

4. Spray a medium-size pie dish with fry light. Add the potato mixture, sprinkle over the cheese and bake for 35-45 minutes.

Syns per serving: Extra Easy FREE*
* Add 6 syns if not using the cheese as a Healthy Extra


Sticky Gammon

Here is the link to what Shauns Sticky Gammon is based on

BBC Good Food Sticky Gammon Steaks

He has changed it quite alot like and he won't give me a proper recipe but basically the gammon is chopped up not whole and he uses a pineapple juice instead of orange and chops pineapple up into it too. Oh and we have it with noodles not pak choi haha.

It is yummy though.