Sun-dried tomato stuffed pepper

A delicious meat-free dish, perfect as a starter or for a healthier mid-week dinner

Serves 1 as a main, or 2 as a starter
- 1 large red pepper
- 60g cous cous
- 2 tsp red pesto (I used a Napolina tomato & garlic one)
- salt & pepper
- dried mixed herbs
- sun dried tomatoes, chopped
- soft goats cheese, crumbled
- 1/2 slice of bread, crumbled
- parsley to garnish

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Cut the red pepper in half and de-pip it. In a baking tray, brush the pepper inside and out with oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes (or olive oil). Place in the oven for 10 minutes to soften.
3. Prepare the cous cous according to packet instructions (add boiling water to a bowl of dried cous cous and cover for 5 minutes until soft to the bite and fluffy).
4. Stir the pesto into the cooked cous cous, season with salt & pepper and dried herbs, and stir in as many sun dried tomatoes and as much goats cheese as you wish.

5. Remove the peppers from the oven (they should be softer and have a bit of colour), and stuff each half with the cous cous mixture.

6. Sprinkle with the chunky breadcrumbs then bake in the oven for another 15-20 minutes, or when the pepper is cooked and the breadcrumbs crisp. Garnish with parsley and serve!

Enjoy :)

Crispy chicken goujons

These moist chicken goujons are full of flavour and have a golden, crisp crumb - perfect for whipping up a quick, delicious meal. Making chicken goujons from scratch isn't as time-consuming or as tricky as you may think, and they taste far better than shop-bought goujons. The other good thing is that they taste just as delicious cold, for lunch the following day!

Makes 8 goujons

- 8 good quality mini chicken fillets

- handful of plain flour

- seasoning

- 1 egg, beaten

- 2 slices of wholemeal seeded bread

- handful of freshly chopped parsley

- olive oil

1. Take 3 shallow bowls and fill one with flour - season well.

2. Fill another with the beaten egg.

3. In a food processor, blitz the slices of bread until crumbed, then mix with seasoning, and the chopped parsley, and add to the third bowl.

4. Take a chicken fillet and first, dip in the bowl of flour, coating the chicken (this helps the egg to stick).

5. Next, dip and coat in the beaten egg, then into the breadcrumbs until fully coated.

6. Set aside, and continue this process with the rest of the fillets.

7. In a large pan, heat some olive oil, then fry the chicken goujons, turning when one side is crisp and golden.

8. Cook for about 20 minutes on a medium-high heat to ensure the chicken is cooked through, and to get the breadcrumbs perfectly crunchy.

Enjoy :)

Herb puff pastry sausage rolls

Credit goes to my mama for this post, since she made these, and was the one who came across the pastry with the recipe on the packaging. I just wanted to share this with you guys because they were soooo delicious, the best sausage rolls i've ever tasted! I've had home-made sausage rolls before but they were just the standard sausage cut in half and rolled in plain puff pastry with some beaten egg and seasoning - they are good too but you should definitely give this recipe a go, it has a lot more flavour. The pastry is from Sainsbury's in the fridge section (not freezer, although you can freeze it) - it is the ready rolled herb puff pastry. The recipe is on the packaging but I will write it here anyway for you to look at.

Ingredients (serves 6)

- 1 pack of Sainsbury's ready rolled herb puff pastry

- 250g lean minced pork

- 100g lean bacon, finely chopped

- 1 medium onion, finely chopped

- 50g fresh breadcrumbs

- 1 egg, beaten

- pinch grated nutmeg

- salt and pepper

1. Remove pastry from the fridge 20 minutes before use, and pre-heat the oven to 200 degree / gas mark 6

2. Mix the mince, bacon, onion, breadcrumbs, 3/4 of the egg, nutmeg and seasoning together until well combined.

3. Unroll the pastry and cut in half lengthways. Spread half the filling along the centre of each pastry strip. 4. Roll up the pastry to enclose the filling, leaving the join underneath.

4. Using a sharp knife cut each length into 10, and make 2 shallow cuts into the top of each. Brush with the remaining beaten egg.

5. Place on a lightly greased baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through and golden.

Enjoy :)

Stuffed mushrooms

I cooked these the other night and had them with stuffed pepper as well as a main course, but these would make perfect starters. These were so flavoursome from the onion, cheese and salty bacon, and the soft mushroom texture went perfectly with the crunch of breadcrumbs sprinkled on top! Some chopped fresh parsley would have finished this off but I didn't have any in the house - would also improve presentation if sprinkled on top to add extra colour.

Serves 2

- 2 large flat mushrooms

- 4 rashers of bacon, chopped

- 1 red onion, chopped

- olive oil, for cooking

- parmesan, grated

- 1 slice of bread, torn to make breadcrumbs

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180 degrees.

2. Cut the stalks off the mushrooms, and chop into small pieces.

3. Fry the bacon in some olive oil, then add the onion and mushrooms. Cook for around 5 minutes, or until the onion is softened. Set aside.

4. Brush the flat mushrooms with olive oil and fry for a few minutes to begin softening.

5. Place on a baking tray and top with the bacon and onion mixture. Grate some parmesan on top and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes. (Lots of water will probably seep out of the mushroom during cooking, so don't be surprised if the tray is wet)

6. To finish off, top the mushrooms with breadcrumbs, and cook under the grill for a coule of minutes, or until the breadcrumbs are toasted.

Enjoy :)

Chicken with katsu sauce

First of all I have to apologise for the photo - I didn't get one which really shows the sauce and it all looks a bit unclear and messy - I think I was just far too excited about eating it to worry about the photo! I got this from Lisa Faulkner's book again, and just like the macaroni and cheese dish from her book (here), it was very yummy! The sauce was mild which was perfect for me considering I don't like spicy food, although it did leave my mouth feeling hot. The sauce was also nice and sweet from the apple, it tasted so delicious mixed in with the wholegrain rice. And last but not least, the chicken! Who doesn't love crispy chicken!? It really is so simple to breadcrumb your own chicken and actually quite fun dipping it in the egg etc. It was perfectly moist chicken with crunchy crumbs, which complimented the smooth sauce and soft rice brilliantly. I was very weary about cooking this because I have never made any type of curry sauce in my life and had no clue of the consistency it was meant to be or anything - I still don't know if I did it right, but my boyfriend really loved it and suggested that next time there should be more sauce. So either he's just greedy with sauce, or I made it too thick haha...

Serves 4 (I halved it)
- 4 chicken breasts
- seasoned flour, for dusting
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 75-100g dried breadcrumbs
- oil, for frying
- wholegrain rice, to serve

For the sauce
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1/2 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 200ml chicken stock
- 200ml water
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 2 small apples, peeled and grated
- 1 tsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp cold water
- salt & pepper

1. To make the sauce, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and garlic until softened and slightly brown. Add the turmeric, curry powder and ketchup and stir. Add the stock, water, soy sauce and grated apple, season with salt & pepper, and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Add the cornflour paste and cook for a further 2 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

3. Blend with a hand blender or food processor until smooth and set aside until needed.

4. Meanwhile, wrap the chicken in cling film and flatten with a rolling pin.

5. Put the flour, egg and breadcrumbs in 3 separate shallow dishes. Dust each chicken breast with flour, dip in egg, and coat in breadcrumbs.

6. Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken over a medium heat for about 7 minutes each side until cooked through. Don't forget to boil or microwave some rice!

7. Reheat the katsu sauce gently and serve with the chicken and rice. I served with broccoli as well.

Enjoy :)

The best macaroni and cheese

I had never even made mac n cheese before the other night, which shocked me because it is such a delicious meal. I hadn't actually eaten it for a couple of years which also came as a shock, and probably added to the reason why I loved it so much! I bought Lisa Faulkner's new cookbook (which is absolutely amazing by the way, will post a link at the bottom) the other day, and I found this recipe in there, and it worked perfectly. I was sceptical at first about using leeks in this dish as I'd never heard of it in mac n cheese before, and I wasn't even sure I liked leeks. But honestly, the leeks work so well in this - and they don't have an overpowering flavour like I thought they would - they are just soft which mixes well with the roux sauce. I'd never even made a roux sauce before and everyone always barks on about how difficult it is because it can get lumpy etc. But I had no problems with the ratio of milk, butter and flour, or with the method in this book. The sauce was so smooth, silky and cheesy that I practically ate half of it before it even went in the oven! This recipe has pancetta/bacon in, but of course it would be just as lovely without if you are vegetarian. The only complaint me and my mum had about this dish was that we wanted more! So definitely try this recipe, because it is hands down the best mac n cheese I have ever tasted....

(Sorry for the long intro and that the pictures aren't that clear/great. Need to invest in some fancy square white plates!)

Serves 4-6  (I halved it)
- 300g macaroni
- 75g pancetta, cubed (or bacon)
- 2 leeks, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 50g butter
- 50g plain flour
- 600ml milk
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- a dash of Worcestershire sauce (like Lea & Perrins)
- 225g cheddar cheese, grated
- 75g parmesan cheese, grated
- 65g breadcrumbs
- salt and pepper

Few notes: definitely make sure you stick to the ingredients because they really do all add different flavours and textures to the dish which make it so delicious. Particularly the flavour of the Worcestershire sauce, and the texture of the crunchy breadcrumbs on top!
Also, don't be afraid of making a roux sauce, just stick to the method!

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/190 degrees. Cook the macaroni for 10 minutes in salted water, then drain.
2. Meanwhile, in a small frying pan, brown the pancetta over a medium heat, add the leeks and fry until softened. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour, beating with a wooden spoon to form a roux. Cook this for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Add the milk gradually, stirring all the time until the sauce has thickened. Add the mustard powder, Worcestershire sauce and salt & pepper. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the cheeses (saving a little to sprinkle on top)
5. Mix the leeks and pancetta into the macaroni then spoon into an ovenproof dish. Pour over the cheese sauce and sprinkle over the breadcrumbs. (My sauce was quite thick so I mixed the sauce with the macaroni, leeks and pancetta, and then spooned into the dish - I'm sure the other way works just as well though!)
6. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until bubbling and crisp on top

Enjoy :)

Amazing book - definitely recommend - so many different recipes to suit all different styles and tastes. Love how it is separated into Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, rather than starters, mains etc. Her mini intros of each recipe really make you inspired to try them. I sat for about 2 hours reading it from cover to cover!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Recipes-My-Mother-Daughter/dp/0857206168/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334007221&sr=8-1

Crunchy potato wedges

Everytime I make wedges I usually just slice the potato, add some oil and seasoning and bake in the oven. Don't get me wrong, they are delicious like that but I stepped it up a whole new yummy-level by adding breadcrumbs and fresh parsley. We had these delicious crunchy wedges with the beef burgers (see previous post for recipe). They were full of texture and flavour, perfect!

Serves 2
- 2-3 large baking potatoes, sliced into wedge shapes
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- salt & pepper
- generous amount of paprika
- 1 wholemeal crust of bread, crumbled into crumbs
- handful of fresh parsley, chopped


1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees. Drizzle some of the oil into a deep baking tray and place in oven to heat up.
2. Remove the tray from the oven, and lay the wedges in the oil. Drizzle with the remaining oil. Season with salt & pepper, and sprinkle with paprika.
3. Coat the wedges in the breadcrumbs and parsley. Toss the tray until all combined.
4. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the potato is cooked through, and the breadcrumbs are crisp!

Enjoy :)