Posts Tagged ‘Lemon’
Sunday, December 12th, 2010
Nope, not the secret behind the Colonel’s spicy burger (sorry KFC lovers), but a baked chicken dish which makes a great substitute for a Sunday roast. The ingredients might seem a bit summery, but they do a great job of kicking this dark, winter weather where the sun don’t shine. It’s also pretty low maintenance, so you’ll still be able to drink wine, wrap presents, watch the Come Dine With Me omnibus, or whatever else you want to do.
Ingredients (serves 2-3)
6 organic chicken joints, legs and thighs
8 cloves of garlic
20 or so baby plum tomatoes
1 chilli, de seeded and chopped
1 lemon
150ml white wine
Handful of fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
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Tags: Basil, Bread, Cavolo Nero, Channel 4, Chicken, Chilli, Come Dine With Me, Garlic, KFC, Lemon, Olive Oli, Tomatoes, White Wine, Zinger
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | No Comments »
Monday, July 26th, 2010
My Mac has recovered, so its back to France for a few posts.
When we visited the food market at Forcalquier, as mentioned in this post, the missus spotted some courgette flowers for sale. We both remembered seeing Jamie Oliver deep frying some ricotta stuffed flowers on one of his shows, and despite not having a cookbook or any access to the interwebs, we decided to gave it a go.
Without blowing my own trumpet, the results were great, and to be honest it was easier that I thought it would be. The following recipe serves 6 as a small starter (2 flowers each), and although I didn’t at the time (because my father ain’t fan of the spice) I’ve added some red chilli. Not very French, but there you go.
Ingredients
12 large courgette flowers
For the stuffing
250g Ricotta
50g Parmesan, grated
1 tablespoon finely chopped basil
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
Zest of 1 lemon
1 red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
Salt & pepper to taste
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Tags: Basil, Batter, Chilli, Courgette, Flowers, Fried, Lemon, Mint, parmesan, Ricotta, Stuffed
Posted in Lunch, Recipes, Snack, Travel | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Whilst my Mac is being re-habilitated I don’t have access to my holiday pics, so I’ll have to come back to the stuff I rustled up in France at a later date. But my camera is still working, and I’ve bought my schizo old mac back from the dead, so I can do a bit of posting in the meantime.
This recipe is my take on the tapas classic Gambas al Ajillo, and It’s pretty simple and quick too. Buy the biggest, fattest prawns you can afford. Serves two as a main course.
Ingredients
8 King prawns / Tiger prawns
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 dried or fresh red chilli, chopped
20g unsalted butter
35ml extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/2 large lemon
Salt to taste
Handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
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Tags: Butter, Chilli, Garlic, King Prawns, Lemon, Olive Oil, Parsley, Salt, Sourdough, Tapas, Tiger Prawns
Posted in Lunch, Recipes | 3 Comments »
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
It’s been hot, hot, hot in London town this week, and the warm weather has got me thinking about summer food. Aside maybe from a decent burger on a barbie, for me it’s the Mediterraneans that totally nail ‘al fresco’ eating. Grilled meats, crunchy veg and fresh zingy flavours.
These lamb wraps have all that and more. The taste of the spicy, charred, marinated meat and the tzatziki work really well together, and the wraps mean that the dish is still pretty light. We don’t have a garden, so our griddle pan has to do.
Ingredients (makes 3 large wraps)
For the lamb
400g lamb leg steaks
Handful of fresh oregano leaves, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
Juice of one lemon
50ml extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the tzatziki
200g 0% fat Greek yoghurt
1/4 cucumber, sliced and diced
Handful of mint leaves, chopped
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Tags: Chilli, Cucumber, Garlic, Lamb, Lemon, Mint, Olive Oil, Onion, Oregano, Paprika, Salad, Tzatziki, Wraps, Yoghurt
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | 3 Comments »
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
The Asparagus season in the UK (apparently) runs from 24th April to 21st June, and its a time of year that I love because I can’t get enough of the stuff. I often think the best way to eat it is to keep it simple with a bit of melted butter and seasoning, but sometimes it doesn’t hurt to mix it up a bit.
This ‘recipe’ gives the Asparagus a tasty Italian twist, and is as quick as a very fast thing to put together.
Ingredients (serves 2)
20 spears of Asparagus
Juice of half a lemon (30ml)
70ml Extra virgin olive oil
20g grated parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper
2 slices of bread (sourdough)
Method
First up, put a pan of lightly salted water on the heat, and then prepare the asparagus. The ends of the spears will be quite woody, so snap them off. The spear will break naturally at the right point when bent between your fingers.
Next prepare the dressing. Juice the lemon, pour into a bowl, and add the olive oil and Parmesan. Whisk together vigorously to form a creamy dressing.
The water should be simmering by now, so drop in the spears. They’re going to cook for around 5 minutes until tender. Whilst they’re simmering away, cut and toast two slices of sourdough.
When ready, drain the asparagus and plate up. Place the toast on the plate, and rest the asparagus tips on it. Give the dressing one final whisk, and then spoon over the tips.
Serve immediately. Eat the asparagus and then the delicious dressing soaked toast.
Tags: Asparagus, Lemon, Olive Oil, parmesan, Sourdough, Toast
Posted in Lunch, Recipes, Snack | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, I’ve learned quite a lot from my mother in cooking terms over the years. For the most part its been a case of me picking up stuff by watching her at work, but every now and then I’ll steal a recipe or two off her too.
This cake is one of those firm family favourites, and it even gets the royal seal of approval from my very sweet, but ever so fussy niece, Ksenia. It’s a bit tangier than most lemon drizzle cakes because of there’s more lemon juice in the glaze, and that’s how we like it.
Ingredients
For the cake
125g unsalted butter
175g self-raising flour
175g caster sugar
2 large eggs
Zest of 2 lemons
4 tablespoons of milk
A pinch of salt
Butter for greasing your loaf tin
For the ‘drizzle’
The juice of 2 lemons (about 6 tablespoons)
Zest of 1 lemon
100g icing sugar
Method
You’re going to bake this cake in a loaf tin, so first up, prepare and line it. Use a half kilo tin, smear it with butter, and then line with greaseproof paper. Now set your oven to 180 c to get it up to cooking temp.
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Tags: Cake, Drizzle, Eggs, Flour, Icing, Lemon, Mum, Sugar, Syrup
Posted in Recipes, Sweet Stuff | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
Veal had a bit of a bad rep in the 80s, but that didn’t stop the veal escalope becoming one of my favourite things to eat when I was growing up. There used to be this great Italian restaurant called La Baita up the road from my folk’s place in North London that we’d to go to on a pretty regular basis. I pretty much always ordered the veal escalope, which was served with sauteed potatoes and deep fried courgette. Not exactly healthy, but very tasty.
This is a bit of a remix of that childhood favourite. The prep is a bit fiddly, but well worth it.
Ingredients
For the Veal
2 veal escalopes
Seasoned plain flour
Thyme, finely chopped
Breadcrumbs (enough to coat both escalopes – 250 ish g)
1 egg, beaten
For the Courgette & Potato Cake
1 large potato, grated
3 courgettes, grated
1 medium onion, finely sliced
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Tags: Breadcrumbs, Cake, Chilli, Courgette, Egg, Escalope, Italian, Lemon, Milanese, parmesan, Potato, Recipe, Salad, thyme, Veal
Posted in Dinner, Recipes | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
The final course of our valentines meal was a lemon posset with heart shaped shortbread biscuits (forgive the cheese).
The Posset is pretty much as old school as it gets with roots in 12th century England where it was drunk for it’s medicinal properties. I’m not sure this recipe could ever be described as good for you, cream and sugar tend to be frowned upon these days, but it is delicious, and very easy to make.
Ingredients
For the Posset
300ml double cream
75g caster sugar
1 lemon zested and juiced
For the shortbread
45g icing sugar
90g plain flour
30g cornflour
15g ground almonds
125g butter
Lemon zest
Golden caster sugar
Method
First up, put the cream and sugar in a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 3 minutes, making sure it doesn’t boil over, and then take off the heat. Allow to cool to room temperature, add the lemon juice and then whisk. Divide the mixture by pouring into two glasses and then put in the fridge to set.
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Tags: Almond, Biscuits, Buter, Cream, Desert, Flour, Lemon, Posset, Shortbread, Sugar, Zest
Posted in Reading, Sweet Stuff | No Comments »
