Persian Inspired Rice & Pheasant, with Chestnut Patties and Cauliflower Puree

This ended up being a really popular post on the Instagram Page and so I've prioritised the recording of the recipe.

This dish came about because we had Jonathan's parents for a couple of days over the Christmas period and I'd planned on doing a rare beef salad, but the meat, although beautifully hung, was spoiled and so we had to ditch it, meaning a very quick menu replan out of the freezer.

Fortunately I had 3 packs of 4x pheasant breast from the Farmer's market as they had been on 3 packs for £10. Then it was very much a case of what did I have in the store cupboard. After a swift gin and tonic, this dish was the result, and it was absolutely beautiful.

And apologies to the legacy of Persian cuisine for me totally messing with your food. I'll hope you'll forgive my joyful inspired culinary moment based on my small knowledge of Persian food.

This dish is a bit of a challenge but it's a pleasure to cook and great fun if you can bring in a sous chef to help you out. There's a lot going on but none of it is particularly difficult if you take your time and enjoy the fact that it isn't a fast food dish.


SERVES 8

COST £   (£13 total - approx £1.65 a head)

DIFFICULTY - medium

TIME  approx 50-60mins

For the Persian Inspired Rice. (v) 
This makes a fabulous salad dish when served cold. It's a dish inspired by a very similar rice dish that we've had as a side dish on Christmas day for nearly 20 years.

INGREDIENTS

1tbsp olive oil
3 cups of wild rice
3 cloves of chopped garlic
2 onions
1 heaped tbsp of powdered coriander
1 tsp of coriander seeds
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 heaped tsbp of fennel seeds
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp of whole blanched almonds
1 tbsp of chopped blanched almonds.
5/6 chopped dried figs
2tbsp of dried cranberries
2 knorr veggie stock cubes
1-1.5pints of boiling water
1 fresh ripe mango (which is a cheeky alien addition but works)

METHOD 
1) Finely dice the onions and add to a heavy bottomed frying pan with the olive oil, cook until translucent. Add the chopped garlic and spices and cook out for about 1-2 minutes
2) Add the rice and turn over in the oil.
3) Make the stock by adding the stock gels to the boiling water and pour half of it into the pan with the rice. Stir occasionally to stop it sticking.
4) When the rice is on the turn (approx 20 minutes) add the chopped figs, cranberries and stir, adding the rest of the stock little by little waiting for it to absorb before adding more. Continue cooking until the rice is on point and all the liquid has been absorbed.
5) Add the nuts and fresh chopped mango, stir, place a lid over the top and set aside for at least 20 minutes for all the flavours to infuse.

*

For the Pureed Cauliflower (v) 
A little time consuming but worth it as it serves as your sauce.

INGREDIENTS
1 cauliflower
0.5 pints of double cream
Nutmeg

1) Steam or microwave the cauliflower florets so it has minimal water contact.
2) Using a hand blender, blitz the cauliflower until it's smooth as possible.
3) Stir in the double cream and the powdered Nutmeg and then pass through a fine sieve until a smooth puree is achieved.

*

For the Pheasant

Much hilarity accompanied my attempts at sous vide.
 I think we might invest in a vacuum gadget being as
they aren't too expensive and the sous vide
 technique makes cooking for big numbers super easy. 

Pheasant has a reputation for being a little tricky, in that if it's 
over cooked or under cooked then it can go tough, but please
 don't let that put you off this wonderful sustainable healthy 
meat. In oder to prevent it going tough it is really recommended 
that you firstly sous vide the pheasant, which sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is.

We had great fun using the method suggested in The Field, the classic British Country magazine but it comes very much with 
a non liability form.


HOW TO SOUS VIDE AT HOME

• Place the pheasant breasts, 4 at a time into a ziplock food bag.
• Add a dash of olive oil and a sprig of rosemary along with a grinding of pepper
• Press out as much air as possible as you ziplock it up, and then taking a drinking straw, insert into one corner of the bag, sucking the rest of the air out to create a vacuum
• Place in a pan of water at 67 degrees Celsius for approximate 20-30minutes.  
• Then pan fry your pheasant breasts in hot butter until the breasts take on a golden brown colour. Rest for at least 5 minutes and then slice thinly. 

A jam / cooking thermometer is
crucial for this activity

*

For the Chestnut Patties

INGREDIENTS

6 good quality Herby sausages

8 slices of back bacon

cooks chestnuts

METHOD

1) Split the sausages and place into a bowl. 

2) Add the chopped chestnuts. 

3) mould into small patties and wrap in a slice of bacon

4) Oven bake for 20-30 minutes on 180 until cooked through. 

Traditional Celebration Trifle

There are some things not to be messed with. Part of their pleasure is the tradition and nostalgia, and this is never truer than when we're talking about the classic English Trifle, which is one of the few times I'm an advocate of cutting the same culinary corners my mother, mother's mother and mother's mother's mother also used.

There's only one tiny modern modification that I've added, and that's the addition of a couple of spoonfuls of Chambord, a black raspberry liquor which I use instead of sherry.

This is one of our family's favourite puddings. There's something incredibly nurturing and celebratory about the combination of smooth creamy custard, and punchy raspberry jelly, and everything is better with cream. When our daughter had severe chicken pox and could barely swallow, her sad-eye request was for mummy's trifle. The girl lived off it for almost four days, and was the only time she smiled. That's the power of trifle. It's literally happiness in a bowl.

Traditionally, trifle is served on Boxing Day, New Year's Eve or any other family celebration day, such as birthdays, but honestly, if the weather is grey and you've got an afternoon to kill, most of the ingredients can be in permanent store aside from cream and milk, and it's the perfect mood enhancer.

Enjoy x


SERVES 10
COST £  (approx £8 - less than £1 a head)

INGREDIENTS: 

Trifle Sponges
Tin of raspberries in syrup (In this very rare case, tinned work better than fresh)
Raspberry Jelly squares
3/4 pint of boiling water
2tbsp of Chambord liquor
2.5tbsp of Birds Custard Powder
1 pint of milk
2tbsp of sugar
1.5 pints of Double cream, whipped until very stiff.
Sprinkles to decorate.

NOTE about the Bowl: kitsch vintage is best. Cut glass is transformed in candlelight, adding to the showgirl nature of this dish. If you haven't had a heavy crystal bowl passed down to you, then they are very often available at charity shops, car boots, and flea markets for just a few pounds. We use Jonathan's granny's bowl, and the sentimentality adds an extra layer of sweetness.


METHOD
1) layer the bottom of a heavy glass bowl with trifle sponges. Spoon out the tinned raspberries over the sponge and a couple of spoons of syrup over the sponge.
2) Make the jelly according to instructions, except reduce the amount of water slightly to ensure a good firm set. I use 3/4 of a pint rather than the recommended pint. Allow to cool slightly before pouring over the sponge mix. Set in the fridge until firm.
3) Whilst the jelly is setting, make the custard, according to the directions but instead of using 2tbsp to a pint of warm milk, use 2.5tbsp to ensure that it sets. When the custard is is thick enough to see spoon tracks, set aside in the pan, covering the top with clingfilm  (pressed against the custard) to stop a skin forming. Allow to cool. If time is short, place the custard in a bowl and then place the bowl on top of a bowl of ice, stirring continuously for about 5-7 minutes to take the heat out.
4) When the jelly is set and the custard is cool (but not cold enough to set) pour over the jelly base and return to fridge, where it can sit for about 2 hours.
5) Whip double cream until is is stiff and then spoon over the trifle, smoothing it.
6) Go crazy on the sprinkles.

SERVE with either a glass of Chamord and sparkling wine, or a glass of ice wine.

Homemade Crab and herb Ravioli

Years ago, I made quite a lot of homemade pasta, and then with the busy-ness of a young family, it became a quick fix after the school run to chuck some dried pasta in the pan whilst multi-tasking. 

Today we got the pasta maker out of the cupboard, and I thought it would be the perfect mummy, daughters kind of cooking activity. As it happens, they chose to sit at the breakfast bar doing their homework and leaving me to it - yep, I have those kind of gloriously quirky kids. So, in the end, to the backtrack of Chris Country radio and the ocassional question about the Victorians, I started making pasta.

I had forgotten just how easy it was - and how glorious it is to take some really basic ingredients and turn it into something substantial and sustaining that will feed a crowd on a really small budget. Pasta making is truly an act of alchemy.

And even though the girl weren't massively engaged in making it, they certainly took a very active interest in eating it.

INGREDIENTS

200g of plain flour
2 large eggs
pinch of salt


FOR CRAB & HERB FILLING
1 tin of white crab meat
small bunch of coriander (about 10 stalks)
small bunch of dill  (about 4 stalks)
Red chilli to taste.


METHOD

1) Combine the flour, egg and 2-3tbsp of water. Mix well into a dough and knead for about 4-5 minutes.

2) Flour your pasta maker and ensure that it is on the largest setting. Feed the pasta through and then fold it in half and feed it through again. Gradually reduce the setting on the side, folding and feeding and folding and feeding so that all the glutens breakdown and you start to notice a change in the texture of the pasta. Continue doing this until you are happy with the consistency and size.

3) Flour a ravioli tin and cut a length of pasta to a little longer than the tin.

4) In a bowl, mix the crab meat and the blitzed herbs and chilli. Spoon a little mixture into each diet.

5) cover with another layer of pasta and using a rolling pin, roll over the ravioli creating a tight bond between the two sheets. Holes and open seams are your enemies (that's how the water gets in)

6) set aside on a floured board for about half an hour so that the pasta dries a little and becomes more stable.

7) cook in a large simmering pan of water for about 5-7 minutes. (They'll float to the top when they are nearly cooked and give them another 3 or s minutes when they get to that stage.)

8) In the meantime, sauté some spinach in butter and with garlic and soft poach runny eggs to sit on top.

Cook Book Review: Yotam Ottolenghi JERUSALEM

Having watched Yotum Ottonlenghi's cookery program a little while ago, we purchased the cookery book on a wave of vegetable enthusiasm. Although not a Vegetarian book, many of the recipes have vegetables as their stars rather than meat.

As part of our frugal snob project, one of the tenants is to try new foods and to start cooking from the literally hundreds of cookery books we own. Having not touched 'Jerusalem' since we got it, I decided to try both a vegetarian and meat based recipes from the book - and I am so pleased I did; I feel that my cooking has been injected with a fresh and interesting new lease of life.

Pearl Barley Risotto with
marinated feta cheese.
An absolutely gorgeous dish
packed full of big flavours and
the ideal comfort food. 

The flavours are full and the dishes just different enough to make it feel like a real foodie experience. I like the little anecdotes and extra information that heads up the recipes, and the instructions are clearly laid out, if not a little unnecessarily complicated in places.

Chicken with Caramelised onion
and cardamon rice with barberries.
This made a huge portions is
great for a big crowd.  

I highly recommend this cook book for those who love food adventures and who want to embrace food that is both familiar and exotic all at the same time. If you love aromatics and spices, this book is for you. It's also great for big family or crowd cooking. 

I highly recommend this book and give it 5 STARS.  

Holy Nora - where has Bircher muesli been all my life?

So surprised how seriously lovely this was.
In truth, I was expected a rather unpleasant experience
and what I had instead was a creamy, indulgent bowl
of loveliness that gave all the 'naughty treat' vibes
whilst creating a halo of nutritional virtue. 

Breakfast - the meal of champions, or so they say. Now, I've never really done breakfast - not unless we're talking elevenses of either a full English fry up or a weekend brunch, but this whole eating just because you've got up and need to boost your energy stores -nope.

But in the interests of the Frugal Snob project, I have been trying to eat a better breakfast knowing that in my heart of hearts, it's the 'better' thing to do. My go to has been a slice of wholemeal toast with peanut butter, because the salty creaminess is just about bearable.

However, Jonathan is a breakfast man (he also does that whole healthy drinking water thing, too) and having spent quite a bit of time in the Nordics, we have come across the idea of that nordic style of breakfast - oats, muesli, flax, sunflower seeds, fruits, yogurts, all that healthy stuff.

You've seen the beautiful images floating around Fantasygram I'm sure. Big socks, giant knits and fairy lights - little kilner jars of ridiculously healthy 'cold porridge'.

It's never really appealed to me as I'm the 80's generation who grew up on Readybreak with five tablespoons of sugar but as we have said, The Frugal Snob project is all about experimentation and doing things differently - embracing a more healthy lifestyle and so.....

I went out yesterday and purchased a kilner jar (although I have since discovered this isn't entirely necessary) and 2 giant bags of oats from TESCO for 70p a bag - which I have now discovered was a) slight oat overkill and b) ridiculously economical for the amounts you make.

Putting on my new wave nordic folk - which actually, I am genuinely a massive fan of (check out the incredible Rebecca Karijord and Anna Ternheim, who I'm listening to at this moment) I set about making Bircher muesli

The idea is to make it the night before, so it's perfect for those who are in a rush in the mornings or who want to take it to work as part of their commute ritual - which is what Jonathan has done. Although be warned, as pretty and instagramable as his blueberry and pistachio Bircher was when he made it in his kilner jar, he's just messaged me to say that after a 40 minute overland and underground commute it looks like it's now been through a washing machine.

I have a plan for that - and it's going to involve a sewing machine; watch this space for Hipster commuter Bircher Museli carriers coming soon.

INGREDIENTS for 2 generous servings (but you can multiply and it will keep in fridge for 3-4 days)

110g Porridge oats
200ml Greek yogurt
350ml Whole milk or semi-skimmed

You can fiddle with these quantities depending on your personal preference of consistency.


TOPPINGS:

Grated apple, sunflower seeds, flax, chi seeds and honey

Blueberry compote (simple cookdown Blueberries with a tablespoon of honey)

Fresh blueberries, pistachios, honey or maple syrup

Cherry compote with flaked almonds


METHOD: 
In a tupperware box add the oats, yogurt and milk and then leave over night to soak and chill.

Add your toppings.

Yep, it really is that simple and I can't imagine us now ever looking back.

Is trendy instagram 'Bowl Food' just food porn?

Lunch today. It may not be beautifully
styled but it was certainly more of
an experience than I'd been banking
on and it's made me think. 

So, in the interests of spreading the Frugal Snob message out to a wider base and engaging with a community who really know what they're talking about when it comes to foo and environment, I set up an instagram account for The Frugal Snob. You can follow it here. 

I am a massive Instagram girl and use it a lot with the other side of my life, which is writing YA fiction. I love the aesthetics of Instagram and how it brings out people's passions and creativity.

The food communities are insanely food obsessed. I mean, half an hour on there and I feel somewhat of a fraud, but I'm carving out  my own little cosy, middle-aged, elder niche and have had some great interactions so far.

It's fascinating exploring other people's relationships with foods, and being that a lot of what we are doing on Frugal Snob is about trying to change our lifestyle habits as a family, obviously I have been engaging more with the health guru timelines than the copious amount of accounts that are temples to the great burger and BBQ

Instagram is full of beautiful presented #bowlfood
or #nourishbowl as they are sometimes hashtagged
I shall be following them much closer from
now on as I'm converted. 

Because of that, I've come across this really pretty but sort of food porn version of eating called 'Bowl food'. Now when I first started seeing picture after picture of food arranged like carefully arranged flower arrangements, my grumpy middle-aged lady mode switched immediately to cynical.

WHAT IS BOWL FOOD?

Well, I'm certainly no expert but what I see is the idea that you take a bowl and you arrange your ingredients in it (attempting to be artful, I guess) so that they are all separate in their own little sections, with the idea that you can see how your various components measure up against each other and balance. It also helps you check your colours as well as separating them out so you're forced to mindfully select what item you're going to choose rather than just dipping into it all jumbled up.

WHY IS BALANCE SO IMPORTANT?

I've been reading (well, actually TEDx Talk watching and internet surfing) around the idea of superfoods and nutrients, mostly with the idea of satisfying my own beliefs that a lot of it is all nonsense and over hyped.

However, it seems that it's not quite such nonsense after all. I'm educated, like the vast majority of folks and we all know what a healthy diet looks like - or at least we think we do, but these guys, they are seriously into knowing how foods work on the various parts of the body, and importantly, how our requirements change depending on our age, lifestyle and medical health.

As a young family, we've had our share of health issues over the last twelve months. There's me who's diagnosed prematurely perimenopausal and having suffered years of IBS, there's our daughter who has had two episodes of pneumonia in three months and as a result has obliterated her immune system, then there is hubby who is having a minor mid-life crisis about his executive commuting lifestyle, and we have a pre-teen who is hormonally all over the place.

We're a great candidate for needing some serious nutritionally input and boosting - which is partly why our family project is The Frugal Snob.

So having read about nutrition plates, and rainbow food and food colour theory over the last few weeks and how it can medically and psychologically impact on our well being, I returned to some of the food bowl gurus and have given it a bit of a go. Now my Instagram page prides itself on the fact that all the food pictures are real food that is minutes away from being in our bellies, so it's not food porn, but food love -- so this is my lunch today. It's not perfect but I'm applying the principles that I've picked up and here's my findings.

WHAT DID I DISCOVER? FOODPORN OR FOODLOVE? 

1) It's ridiculously filling to eat like this -- I left nearly 1/3 of it.

2) By dividing your food up like this, every forkful becomes a conscientious mindful choice, slowing the eating process down and helping you engage with your food.

3) I'd forgotten what some of those flavours tasted like in their natural standalone state. I can't remember the last time I had celery without a big spoonful of stilton on it.

4) It felt clean and light - now I know that's hocus-pocus, but I can't fully explain how it just felt good to eat. Like when you're thirsty on a hot day and you drink a chilled drink.

5) In preparing it, I made choices and thought more carefully about how I was balancing out my vitamins and mineral intake in a way that I don't normally do when slapping together a cheese sandwich.

6) It was easy to eat whilst typing at my desk - which is how I have lunch everyday despite working at home.

So, what's the conclusion - it may look all a little foodporn - but trust me when I say, just like with other aspects of our lives, sometimes it's nice to make the extra bit of effort and feel like a goddess.

Cookbook Review: 'Delia's Vegetarian Collection'.

Today I'm doing a quick book review on Delia's Vegetarian Collection, which is proving to be an absolute inspiration and motivation. We have a joke in our house about vegetarian food, and it comes from trying to eat less meat for years. We go through the vegetarian recipe books, magazines and invariably ask, "Nice but where's the lamb chop?"

So many vegetarian recipes are what we think of as side-dishes and seem to sit on the plate missing something, a bit like a room without the focal point of a fire. 

A lot of vegetarian recipes also rely on the whole one pot / mixed pot kind of meal, which is okay, but I have always preferred my foods separated out on the plate, so that I can blend and mix my own combinations. It's a reason I have never gone too potty over pasta dishes or risottos; after a couple of mouthfuls, all mouthfuls are the same - sometimes, like with rice pudding, that's the beauty of it, but a lot of the time, it's just disappointing. 

NOT THIS BOOK: Thank the heavens for Delia, a long term heroine of mine. Delia and Floyd are my first memories of the whole cooking thing. It's thanks to them that I fell in love with food and cooking. Now, Floyd was not the man to turn to in a meat-free crisis, but Delia has proven her goddess reputation with her book 'Delia's Vegetarian Collection'. 

When you flick through it, you see recipe after recipe that is proper, wholesome, home cooked, comfort food that has a main focal point to the meal. She  has managed to collect many recipes in this book whereby you don't even think about 'where's the lamb chop'. 

The only criticism I would have of this book is that her methodology is sometimes over complicated for the same end result. I used her Chickpea cake recipe last night as a starting point for the recipe I posted earlier today - but being an intuitive home cook, who REALLY struggles with following instructions, the very lengthy method was a little confusing. I read it over a couple of times and then streamlined it in my head, missing out or combining several stages so that it became a lot less overwhelming. 

But other than that, this is definitely a book that is worth investing in if you are determined to make the switch from total carnivore to more meat-free days. It won't leave you disappointed. 

4.5 STARS and highly recommended. 

IT's currently on Amazon for around £6.50 in the hardback. Here's the link  But it's also worth checking out your local charity shop, too. That's where I got mine from a year or so ago. 

The ultimate mouth party: Spicy chickpea cakes with Red onion and coriander Salad

Throw a party for your mouth and embrace
Meat Free Monday in style. Perfect
pick you up for a cold and gloomy day
as it has tastes of summer. Don't stomp
on the citrus element of this dish. It's the
ingredient that makes it. 

Okay, so I have fallen in love. If you are people who love BIG flavours then these moreish little chickpea cakes are for you. They are fabulous for entertaining on a big scale because you can just multiple the quantities and batch cook them.

There is a definite nod to Indian cuisine and I went quite heavy on the green and red chilli because I like it spicy.

This recipe is an adaptation of Delia Smith's Chickpea Cakes in her fabulous book Vegetarian Collection (A book I can't recommend highly enough).

I've stripped down the rather long methodology and tweeked a few ingredients due to my own stock cupboard staples and the result is divine.

LEVEL: EASY
COST: SUPER CHEAP (approx)  £1 per person
TIME: 30-40minutes all in.

SERVE on top of a big salad platter. I added avocado to the salad just to balance out with the heat of the chick pea cakes.

INGREDIENTS: (Serves 3 as a main or 6 as a starter) Makes about 12 cakes.

1 Tin of chickpeas
1 finely diced medium onion
1 red onion
1 bunch of coriander
1 tbsp of low fat mayonnaise.
1 egg
1 lemon
cup of flour.
2 medium garlic cloves
1/2 a green chilli
1tbsp fennel seeds
1/2 tbsp caraway seeds
1tbsp turmeric
pinch of dried red chilli flakes

METHOD

The smell that will fill your
house is amazing and will
make you feel instantly
uplifted. 

1. First thinly slice the red onion. Place in a nice serving bowl. Roughly chop half the bunch of coriander (approx 10-15 stalks) and then squeeze the juice of half a juicy lemon (1 full not so juicy lemon) and let sit whilst you prepare the rest of the meal. 

2. Place the caraway and fennel seeds in a heavy based frying pan. Warm and then add the diced white onion and cook until softening down and taking colour.

3. Add the garlic, turmeric and chopped green chilli. Stir for a couple of minutes.

Don't over blitz your chickpeas.
You want them to still hold some
structure and texture. 

4. Meanwhile: Using a blender, pulse the chickpeas and about 15 stalks of the coriander until they are broken down but retain some texture.

5. Add this to the frying pan with the onion mixture and give a good stir. Squeeze in the juice of half a juicy lemon. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

6. Add the mayonnaise and stir thoroughly.

7. Taking a table spoon, heap the mixture and then work in your hands until it becomes a small ball. Dust it in flour and then using a pastry brush, brush with beaten egg.

Would make a great buffet
party dish, too. 

8.
Fry off in batches until it takes a golden colour. Place on a baking tray in the oven for 10 -15 minutes whilst you prepare the salad.

Serve on one big platter and get folks to dip in.

TIP: They would be nice served with a pot of lemon mayo or a yogurt and mint raita. We served ours with a mango and apricot chutney we had lurking in the back of the cupboard (part of some random hamper we got at christmas LOL)

Fail of the week: Shocking Avocado story ...

Well, welcome. Thanks for following my somewhat hyperbolic click-bate kind of title - and yes, there is some irony in there (just a bit) but on a more serious note, there is a valid and important point in my failure this week.

This week were away the weekend travelling to see Jonathan's nan right at the top of the country. She was celebrating her 100th birthday - which is certainly reason to celebrate.

Last week, avocados came home in a
brown paper bag, which was then folded
ready for the next green grocer tip. 

As a result, I pre-booked a shopping delivery from Waitrose (Who, interestingly by using their ultra-user-friendly website and combining their genuinely good offers, I find to come out cheaper by the time I get to the end of the receipt - kudos to Waitrose.)

This meant that we did not do our usual green grocer's shop and the impact is immediately evident, and to be honest, it's made me feel quite shameful.

I appreciate that avocados are delicate little creatures, who bruise easily and who people are quite precious about (I count myself in that bracket). I appreciate Waitrose have a duty to their client base to ensure that people's avocados get to a home in good condition and only have us in mind

BUT

Last week, I got four avocados from our green grocers, shoved in a brown bag, transported on a bus with handfuls of other overloaded bags, knocked by two kids, and they still managed to get home in one piece - okay, one had a little bruise but really? I just cut it out.

This week, avocados came in home delivery
in 2 sets of plastic houses and cellophane
wrapping. 

OR

Why not pack avocados in paper based boxes, like eggs?

THIS IS THE VERY REAL result of straying off the path and falling back onto easy one click shopping where you do it without thought.

I can't promise I won't fall into this trap again - I'm human and family life is busy and often distracting, but my heart sank a little with self-disappointment today.

I guess there is another option in that I keep the avocado plastic boxes and put them in the 'shopping bag'  basket we have in our kitchen and then I can use them to transport my non packaged avocados from the green grocers in the future. At least then, it won't feel so disposable.

LET'S THINK OUTSIDE THE PLASTIC BOX

EASY HOMEMADE GNOCCHI, with ANYTHING YOU LIKE

This is a recipe that once tried, you'll come back to over and over again.

1. It's SUPER EASY
2. It makes you feel like an Italian Domestic Goddess
3. It's SUPER CHEAP
4. It's versatile to the point you can pretty much stick anything you like over it. 
5. It's great to make with the kids. 

When Roo was weaning and we were very skint, I made a lot of gnocchi. That was about 9 years ago. We were mad for the stuff, and then I kind of just forgot about it. Well, in the interests of our budget saving, I returned to it last night - and honestly, I can't believe how easy it is and how silly I've been for not making it in several years. 

I had forgotten the simple joy of making dough, cutting it and then watching with child-like fascination as it pops to the top of the boiling water announcing to the world that it's cooked. 

I'm going to give you last night's recipe but at the end of it, I'm going to talk you through some fabulous alternatives. 

Last night I fried mine off in butter - because that is how I really love gnocchi, but very often you don't need to do the frying stage, especially if you're going to do sauce based bakes - more on that later. 

Gnocchi is so versatile, you can do a lot of
different things with it. Last night we had it
with wilted spinach and blue-cheese and
roast tomatoes. It was delicious with salad,
and very man-pleasing LOL. Jonathan
said it was his favourite dish of the week,
and there has been some stiff competition
this week. 

So many recipes and cooking books suggest that Quick and Easy is all people want. This has always frustrated me. There are some days that I actually want to take it SLOW and MINDFUL in the kitchen; when I'm not looking for a chuck it together kind of deal. I want dishes that I can chill out and cook with the kids whilst chattering about school, life and the universe. This is one of those dishes. 

It's a time to put on your pinny and the radio and lose yourself in the simple pleasures of turning basic ingredients into something special, just as if you were a magician. 

This dish will do ANY social occasion from after school children's dinners, to date night, to big family gatherings, to Sunday lunches. 

LEVEL: EASY

COST: £ (per portion, the gnocchi is about 40-50p a portion and then toppings vary) 

VEGETARIAN

TIME: About an 1 hour of lovely relaxing prep. 

INGREDIENTS  (Serves 6)

Basic Gnocchi recipe

1. 4-5 medium potatoes peeled, quartered and boiled until just soft. 
2. 90-100g of flour 
3. 1 egg

Pan Fried in Butter with wilted spinach, blue cheese and warm tomatoes. 

a couple of teaspoons of butter

1 bag of spinach or 2 large bunches from the market

1 palm size piece of blue cheese - gorgonzola or stilton or any other blue cheese

5-6 cherry tomatoes. 

METHOD. 

The dough should just hold
together like this. You'll
feel when it's right in
your hand. 

1. Rice or mash your boiled potatoes until they are fluffy and lump free (I always use a ricer) 
2. Scatter and fold in half the flour into the mashed potatoes 
3. Add the beaten egg and fold
4. Add the rest of the flour. and with your hands, begin to turn the dough over in the bowl. You want to keep the dough as soft as you can but so that it still holds together. You may need to had a small handful of extra flour if you're potatoes were a little bigger. 

NEXT 

They firm up whilst cooking
and go a little heavier and a
little slimy. 

1. Cut the dough into about 6 pieces and using your fingers on a floured board, make it into a small sausage / snake shape. Cutting it into small pieces a little wider than the width of a fork. 
2. In a large pan, bring water up to the boil and turn down to a gentle simmer. Plop your little soft dough balls into the hot water and watch as they sink to the bottom. After a minute or two, they will float to the surface and let you know they are ready. 



Cut them a little wider than
a fork and then press the
fork in - the idea is that
it will trap the sauce and
flavours, as well as making
it look pretty. 

3. Scoop from the surface and put on a plate. Repeat this process until you have used all your dough. 

NEXT - if you're not making a sauce-baked dish (see below for details) 

Fry until golden brown

1. In a frying pan, heat butter and oil until the butter starts to foam. Fry them off in batches (if you add too many, the residual water will make them sweat rather than fry golden brown.) Each batch takes a few minutes and they need a little care so as to keep them golden and not burned. 

2. In the same buttery pan, add your washed spinach and wilt it down. Spread out across the bottom of an oven proof dish and layer up the gnocchi around it, pulling out bits of spinach to make it look pretty. Add crumbled blue cheese and the tomatoes halved. 

3. Warm through in the oven for about 15 minutes. For the purposes of last night, I wanted to serve it with salad so didn't want it piping hot - just warmed, but leave it in for 20-25 if you want it really hot. 

TOP TIP: You can make these in big batches and then keep them in the fridge in a Tupperware box for 3-4 days, just heating them up when and as. 

OPTIONS & IDEAS

SPINACH AND PARMESAN

I split the gnocchi portions and fed the girls with the gnocchi, wilted spinach and parmesan - a drizzle of truffle oil is wonderful on top. 

BAKED TOMATO GNOCCHI

Stop at the boiling stage and place in a casserole dish / oven proof lasagne dish. Add pasta, basil leaves and mozzarella and bake for around 30-40 minutes. 

CREAMY CHICKEN GNOCCHI BAKE

Stop at the boiling stage and make a white cheddar cheese sauce. Add either fried or roasted chicken, asparagus or peas and / or blue cheese and pour over the gnocchi, baking for around 30-40 minutes 

PAN FRIED WITH HOT SMOKED SALMON & HORSERADISH CREAM

Pan fry the gnocchi, place on a warmed plate and flake over hot-smoked salmon or trout. 

3tbsp Mayonaise

1 tbsp Creme Fraiche

1 tsp (to taste) Horseradish

PAN FRIED WITH PRAWNS & SCANDI CREAM & DILL

Pan fry the gnocchi, place on a warmed plate. On the side place the Prawn and Scandi Cream & Dill mix

3tbsp of Mayonnaise

1 tbsp Creme Fraiche

About 2-3 tbsp of finely chopped dill

3 handfuls of small atlantic prawns. 

The options are endless and I look forward to reading some of your favourite combinations in the comments. 

Parmesan Truffle Polenta with Garlic Wild Mushrooms.

So of all the dishes I have made during the last fortnight, this has to be my absolute favourite. It's so packed with big flavour, indulgent, and elegant enough to be used for entertaining - or humble enough to eat on the sofa with a box-set.

Polenta can be a bit of a tricky ingredient to conquer,
but I promise you that it's worth the persistence. It's
temperamental but divine once you've cracked it - and
like most life-skills, once you've learned how to
do it, it becomes second nature. It's delicious with
chicken / guinea fowl and fabulous with casseroles
and stews. Be brave. 

Polenta is one of our family favourites, but there's no denying that it's a little bit of a tricky beast to master. We like ours soft, just slightly loser than the consistency of cream mashed potato. We also like it heavily loaded with butter and parmesan; so this isn't the best of the healthy eating recipes, although it is all natural ingredients and it is meat free, so it has that going for it. It's also fantastically economical as an entertaining / dinner party dish.

The trick is to fry your mushrooms longer than you think you need to and play Russian Roulette with your chopped garlic pieces so they are just on the cusp of burning. You need them to caramelise but not go bitter.

This is why I'm giving this recipe a MEDIUM-TRICKY level because it's very much about being confident to work organically with the recipe and the instructions, and also because quite a lot could go wrong with this recipe if you don't keep your eye on the ball. It all happens within a slightly hectic 8 minutes - but honestly, the results are more than worth it, and I promise you, the more you cook with polenta, the easier it gets.

If you've never cooked with polenta, I would save this recipe until you've got it down pat. The best way to do this is to cook polenta as a mashed potato replacement with big stews and ragu so that if it goes a little wonky, it doesn't matter too much. I cut my teeth making polenta for Sunday lunch to go with Chicken or Guinea fowl, as it makes a lovely Sunday lunch accompaniment.

LEVEL: MEDIUM-TRICKY (Polenta experience recommended)
COST: £ approx £2 a portion
VEGETARIAN
TIME: 10 minutes start to finish.

INGREDIENTS: (Serves 2-3)
3 cups of Polenta grains
Hot water approx 750ml
35g of butter
truffle oil
Standard Box of mixed wild / exotic mushrooms
3 large cloves of garlic
Good handful of grated parmesan

(I'd serve it with wilted spinach in future, although I served it with Salad this week, which was fine but wilted spinach or black kale would be nicer)

METHOD
Okay, hold your horses, you're going to have to multi-task.

• Each polenta grain mix has ever so slightly different properties so follow the ratios they recommend on the box. The ones I have given above are a rough guide and I sometimes add a little more water as I go along to thin it slightly. 

• Boil water in a sauce pan and add half the butter, then sprinkle the polenta over the top, stirring all the time. It will swell almost immediately, but it's still quite grainy. You need to cook it out until the grains split and it transforms from grainy to floury/ soft. It will thicken rapidly and that's fine just keep stirring. If it becomes so your spoon doesn't move easily through it, add a little more water. 

• Add in the parmesan and the other half of the butter (be as generous as your conscience will allow) turn down to a low heat and continue to stir with one hand - it will take around 8-10 minutes for it to change state. 

• Meanwhile, in a good heavy frying pan, melt a knob of butter and a splash of olive oil (to stop the butter burning) until it foaming. 

• Break the mushrooms apart with your fingers - and for the button mushrooms, slice into 1cm slices. 

• Roughly chop the garlic at least 3 cloves but more if you like. 

• Place the sliced button mushrooms in the butter first and let them start to get brown. Add the garlic at this point and give a good stir / toss of the pan. 

• Add the broken down softer mushrooms and cook out until they are golden brown and the garlic has started to caramelise. This may take a good 6-10 minutes. You don't want them soggy but golden.

• Add about 1-2tbsp of truffle oil to your polenta and spoon onto a warmed plate. It should just hold but sort of sag around the edges.

• Place the mushrooms on top 

Snuggly, Creamy, Warm Rice Pudding...

On a cold winter's day, when the ice
is on the cars and the night has come in
early, the perfect remedy for the January blues
is the rich, creamy, indulgent hug that
old fashioned rice pudding gives you. 

My children love Rice Pudding, which was my completely self-interested excuse to make homemade rice-pudding. 

My mum was a great cook but she never really liked puddings and so didn't often make them, which is a bit like me now. However, one of my resounding memories of my childhood is my mum's homemade rice-pudding. 

Simply, one day, after years of me loving and eating the tinned rice-pudding (hot or cold) my mum produced a casserole dish from the oven and presented me with homemade rice-pudding. Perhaps it was its completely unexpected arrival that added that extra note of sweetness, but ever since, Rice Pudding as been one of my favourite non-pudding-sort-of-girl puddings. 

Then whilst we were in Copenhagen over New Year's Eve, every tea room and eatery we went in had a very special rice pudding dish on the menu, which when I first ordered it, I hadn't realised was something very specific to Danish Christmases. Which is why, when on Jan 2nd when I went to order it, I was told in no uncertain terms that Rice Pudding was finished for the year! It seemed that it was as ridiculous as me asking for Christmas Pudding in July.  

Rice Pudding, the Danish
Christmas way. We had this
in a tea-room in Copenhagen.
Served cold with almonds and
 a cherry compote, it's a very
 special celebration dish. 

In Denmark, it's served over the Christmas period, cold, creamy and with almonds, topped with a rich cherry compote. Next year, on our Christmas Eve's Eve Book Gifting Night (another tradition we've adopted from our beloved Denmark) I shall be making it the Danish way. 

But for now, whilst it's gloomy, grey, icy and snowy, the only way I can think of Rice Pudding is hot from the oven, baked with the caramelised bits around the edge and the nutmeg turning the top a golden brown. 

It's not a necessarily cheap dish to make but it's worth making indulgently if you're going to do it. There's no room for skimping on calories here. 

This is a mash-up recipe from my mum, who she thinks used a Delia Smith recipe all those years ago -but to be honest, no one can really claim to own the Rice Pudding recipe; it's been a nursery pudding for as long as time itself. 

INGREDIENTS: 

1/4 a packet of pudding Rice

1 standard can of Evaporated milk

1 pint of milk

30g of golden caster sugar 

25g of butter

1/2 a nutmeg

METHOD

Heavily butter line a heavy based casserole dish

Pour in the rice 

the evaporated milk

the milk

the sugar

the butter

Give it a good stir with a wooden spoon and place in the oven on 180 for around 40 minutes. Remove it and give it a really good stir, loosening the rice from the bottom. 

Grate half a nutmeg over the top and return to the oven, turning it down to about 120 for a further 40-50 minutes.

Serve immediately. 

TOP TIP, if left or you put left overs in the fridge, it has a habit of going solid as the rice takes up more of the liquid. Don't panic, get another ovenproof pan, spoon in the solid mass and break down with a fork, add about a cupful of milk and return to the oven for 15-20 minutes and it will be all good again. 

Look At This Really Rubbish Photo...

As the title of this blog post suggests, it really is a rubbish photo and yet it is one of the proudest photos that I have taken, and the reason why is because it is the actuation of a resolution. It is the visible results of making a change that is important for our children's future.

Visible difference of the lifestyle choices
we are making as a family. We've got a
long way to go, but we've made a start and
the feeling of making a difference is powerful.

It was with a very heavy heart that we watched the BBC's Blue Planet with the gorgeous David Attenborough, and watched as the most incredible, noble, miraculous sea-life navigated our increasingly polluted oceans. We, all of us, have the power to do something about that in our own small way. 

There's a long way to go, there's no denying it but as a family, we hit our goal to only have ONE black bag of rubbish and to recycle all our other household gods. We SMASHED that target in our second week of trying. 

BREAKING DOWN PACKAGING.

We've always generally recycled, in as we've always had a full glass / plastic box and a full paper box, but being as this is an honest place, I was a lazy recycler - if it was easily one thing or another it would get put in the bag and if he was a sort of mash up of materials, it often, for the sake of what I thought was time saving, just got shoved in the main bin. 

NOT ANYMORE - nope, this just goes to show the impact of how taking that extra 1-30 seconds to tear apart packaging and separate the materials makes a massive accumulative difference.

This week we had three recycling boxes, a full food box from peelings, scraps and tea bags, and just one black bag of landfill. 

Our aim is to get down to just 1 black bag a fortnight - and being as there shouldn't be any smelly food items etc in the bin, that should work. 

MINDFUL SHOPPING. 

This result isn't just about better waste sorting, but of shopping more mindfully, of buying less packaging in the first place. By turning to a mostly meat-based diet and shopping at the green grocers,  using paper bags in that old skool way, the amount of potential rubbish being brought into the house has reduced significantly. 

Big and Small Revolutions. What a trip to the coffee shop taught us last night.

Last night, after drama-rama class, I took Betty to Cafe Nero as a treat for going up a level in her reading at school. It was freezing cold, her sister was at the later  drama session and we had an hour to kill.

Huddling round with our hot-chocolates we chatted about the day and suddenly, because I have all but killed our coffee-cake cafe habit (saving us nearly £200 a month), this 'naughty' rule-break felt really special.

It went to show how mindset is so adaptable and that the smallest changes can make the biggest difference. There have been many times I've sat in the coffee shop not really being present with the girls because it's all so much part of routine, but last night wasn't like that. I wasn't going to waste our precious treat checking my phone or glancing through the newspaper. No - heading out and spending £12 on a tea-time treat was suddenly seen in terms of being 25% of our weekly food bill challenge. It was special. It put it firmly in perspective.

What was also interesting was that as Betty didn't finish her chocolate cake, which was almost bigger than her head to be fair, we asked to take it away with us. The barista was very happy to pack it up and grabbed for a clear plastic box. I bravely asked if he would mind putting it in a paper bag and explained that we were trying to reduce our plastic as part of our New Year resolutions.

He broke into a wide grin and told me that I was just one of many people that day who had said something similar and that many people had started bringing their own cups.

So as Betty and I walked back to meet Rosie, hand in hand chatting away, swinging our paperbag of left-overs by our side, it made me feel that we are actually part of a vastly spreading movement between ordinary families like our own who are genuinely determined and committed to making as much change as we can - and I felt genuinely optimistic that things are changing.

Brilliant Blue Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

WE LOVED THIS MEAL.

We had these last night because our original meal plan (which was fish gratin) was taking into account that usually we have 4 for dinner on a Tuesday and as it was just the two of us, I didn't want to use the larger fish portions that were in the freezer.

Instead, I did break the rule of heading to the supermarket more than once in the week, but I was good when I got there, just picking up a pack of field mushrooms.

We still have stilton left over from christmas and so this proved to be a very economical meal with surprising results. If you are a die hard carnivore who really misses meat, then this dish is a really great compromise, and I promise you, you won't miss the meat element of your dinner.

The sweet potato is a really important element in elevating this dish from just being a stuffed mushroom; it adds a really satisfying layer of flavour, and the sweetness works beautifully with the salty blue cheese.

This has by far been one of our favourite veggie dishes and we'll be having this as part of our regular meal plan.

LEVEL: EASY
VEGETARIAN
COST $ approx £0.60p per person
TIME: 10 minutes prep and 20-30 minutes cooking.

INGREDIENTS for 4

4 field mushrooms.
3 medium sweet potatoes.
2 slices of white bread
1 cup of blue cheese broken into pieces
1 tbsp of olive oil.

METHOD
Blitz the bread into breadcrumbs. Add the mushroom stalks and blue-cheese and blitz in a blender.
Place the field mushrooms into an oven-proof dish.
Spoon mixture evenly into the field mushrooms and drizzle over the olive oil ready for the oven.
Cook on 150-180c for about 25-30 minutes until the topping has gone a nice golden brown and the mushrooms have relaxed.
Meanwhile peel and boil the sweet potatoes, When they're soft, add a teaspoon of butter, stir in and then blitz with the hand blender.

On the plate, spoon the sweet potato onto the plate and place the mushroom on top. Serve with a selection of green vegetables or salad.

The Very Early & Dramatic Effects of our 2018 Life Detox.

What we thought was going to be a really hard
change to make, what we thought was going to be
a month of iron will-power and sacrifice is turning
into one of the most positive months of
our lives. The decisions we are making are so
flipping obvious now we're actually living them.

We're now almost three weeks into our new family approach to living - call it a kind of detox if you want to be all hip and trendy. It's hard changing a lifetime of behaviours. It's hard breaking habits, and that's why having the eye on the prize at all times is important.

It's about rewards and it's about ambitions; it's also about acknowledging that the actions you took before had consequences - I guess it's about adulting LOL.

So where are we as a family 3 weeks on.

* Skin: 
okay, so after a very visible reaction to the change in our diet and most importantly alcohol reduction by 75-80% less alcohol, my skin has literally transformed. 3 weeks on and I'm positively glowing, which at 37 is a nice perk. My skin feels much more velvety, like the cover of a good book, the pores have reduced and it's definitely in better condition, I now just need the tiniest dab of moisturiser to look like I've a full face of makeup.

After last weeks spot outbreak taking me back to teenage angst, this is a welcome relief. I had four great big zits (there's seriously no other word for them) across my neck / jawline - something I have never had before. Not only were they painful, but they we a weird distraction. This also happened across my shoulders. Obviously in the age of google, I looked this up in terms of alcohol reduction and yep, there, clear as day, this was my body detoxing. It was that visible. It was that causal. That was the crap pushing out of my body.

* Energy & Mental Health: 
You really aren't going to like this but yes, I have WAAAAAY more energy. Eating lighter, smaller and better balanced portion sizes before bed, and not drinking half a bottle of wine +  means I'm getting far better sleep quality. I've not had an attack of insomnia in almost twenty nights. My temperature fluctuations at night are settling down.

I'm finding the morning and the school run a LOT less of a struggle, to the point I'm almost sociable when in the first hour I wake up (and trust me, my family have learned over the years to let a sleeping bear lie when it comes to mum and bed)

I am SOOOO much more productive as a result.

The house is more organised, better kept. I've tackled jobs that seemed sometimes overwhelming and all of this is leading to a much better state of mental health and reduced stress responses. Our evenings have suddenly become viable time to do something other than sit on the sofa and drink wine. We're better as a couple at tidying before bed and this feels like some of the mum working from home burden is being considerably lifted.

As a result of the house being better organised and more efficient, I'm getting more time to actually do my work. I could never settle to write in a messy house and that ate into my time and motivation.

*Weight Loss: 
I'm going to reiterate that this is not a weight loss project, but it is a welcome side effect and upholds my belief that if you get life in the right balance, then weight is naturally maintained at a healthy level.

I'm guessing there are two factors that are causing my rings to finally spin around and my watch to slink up and down, and my jeans to need pulling up (I haven't weighed myself as I don't want that to become a focus and then I lose track of the real objective)

1)  the thousands of less calories we are not consuming through alcohol / wine -- but this is important; we're not replacing our evening drinking with replacements; mostly because all of those we've tried are crap. We've gone to drinking a cup of tea / green or black and that being enough. Dinner is Cranberry and tonic, a single glass, which is the only bearable soft drink.

2) generally more energy meaning that the metabolism is kicking in and burning off calories.

*Money:
We have saved hundreds of pounds in the first three weeks, which after Christmas has knocked some of the deficit that Christmas brings about. We are well on target to meet our 10k savings this year.

*Children & Values: 
Our children lead a very privileged life, I'm not going to deny it. Our philosophy has always been that as long as they are kind, compassionate, empathetic and not spoilt dicks, then they could pretty much have what they wanted when it came to books, stationary, magazines, day trips, fossils, fillet steak and lobster (trust me, our eldest is one of those) etc etc -

We reflected that although our kids seriously rock - and I mean they do. They care deeply about the planet and the vulnerable of the world (almost to the point it weighs too heavy on our 10 year old empath's mind) we also had to acknowledge that our kids were losing sight of the value of money.

International travel, tasting menus, patisseries from the Savoy, theatre trips etc were all becoming part of their 'norm' which is kind of what we wanted, but at the same time, there has to be a true appreciation of how many hours of the day job goes into paying a restaurant bill of a few hundred pounds, of how many books sold it takes to upgrade to business class on the plane - and how CHOICES have to be made to spread money out as best we can to maximise the experiences we have, pay the bills without worry, and to stash away for the future.

Never is this more apparent than in the super market and the 'Can we get' mantra that seems to pour out of a lot of children's mouths. The solution to this has been the lists, which also have the pre-checked prices next to items. The power  of being able to say 'It's not on the list' was immense, it was like Wonder Woman's arm shield.

I must have said 'It's not on the list' about 20 times on our last supermarket trip - and do you know what, there wasn't a SINGLE challenge about that. Not a single comeback, just a sort of huffy acceptance - and you should have seen their face when I said they could get an 80p treat of creme caramel pots that wasn't on the list. I don't think I've seen such appreciation for anything from either of them in a long time.

*Planet & waste
I can sense that previous habits are being broken and new ones are being established. The food waste bin was full this week and although we didn't quite make our waste target of 1 black bag last week, we have two days to go and we have only filled one black bag of rubbish in our kitchen. This is an insane difference. We were usually around 4 black bin bags and two recycling boxes a week.

This week we are looking at 4 recycling boxes + a full food recycling bin and just one black bag of landfill rubbish.

Two huge cotton shoppers were filled with veg from the green grocers, significantly reducing the amount of packaging we normally have from vegetables from the supermarket.

We had begun to make the change to cotton bags about 3 years ago but have been a bit haphazard, often forgetting them. But we have used no plastic carrier bags in 2 weeks - that's about 6 less plastic carrier bags floating around the ocean, landfill. I've got into the habit of a foldaway in my pocket and visiting the supermarket only once or getting home delivery has made a big difference.

There have been no straws or coffee cups in three weeks either. It's the small things that add up. I think that that action alone has reduced our plastic / cup consumption by one standard carrier bag full of waste - over a year, that's significant.

It's three weeks in, not long enough to become habit changing / breaking behaviour yet. But let's put it this way, Feb is coming and Dry January is becoming just Dry and the things we are putting in place are becoming sustainable and part of our routine.


Here's to better health, better bank balances and a better planet.

Hot Veggie Burritos

Saturday night is a chance for us to properly veg out (in all ways). It's sofa and t.v dinner and ridiculously light entertainment t.v. But it's great to do that once a week when the rest of the week is so much more structured.

A super economical vegetarian meal, just
perfect for a t.v dinner. 

This week, I decided to cook something spicy and easy that would be perfect for a sofa dinner, and that we could drink alongside our Budweiser Prohibition beer (more on that later.)

We wanted a veggie option being that is part of our 2018 resolution and the idea of Mexican child bean burritos just seemed to hit all the sweet spots. Spicy, cheesy, fun food.

This is great for feeding a crowd on a budget, too. There's something quite joyful about this dish, which maybe comes from the spices.

LEVEL: EASY/MEDIUM
COST: $
VEGETARIAN
TIME: About 1 hour cooking and half an hour prepping.

INGREDIENTS: (serves 4 at two burritos each)
1 medium onion
1 tin of mixed beans
1 tin of kidney beans
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tbsp of oregano
1 tbsp mixed dried herbs.
2tbsp of hot smoked paprika (adjust to preference)
1 tbsp of cayenne (adjust to preference)
1 dried red chilli (omit for preference)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes, blended to a puree
Two handfuls of grated cheese
Fresh red chilli
Sour cream
8 soft tortilla breads

We served ours with sweet potato wedges, just wedged, oiled and baked in the oven with a dash of hot smoked paprika.

AS there was just the two of us, I split the bean mix and froze the other half portion, making it a super time economical meal.


METHOD:

• Sweat off onion in heavy based casserole dish. 
• Add in the oregano, paprika and cayenne and stir until well mixed. 
• Add the tinned beans and stir. 
• Add the tinned tomato puree
• a half pint of veggie stock 
• Cook down until most of the liquid has gone and the bean chilli is looking thick and good for filling approx 30-40 minutes on a medium to low heat. (Stir it occasionally as not to catch on the bottom) 
• Leave to cool a little and then in an oven proof dish, fill the tortillas down the middle, roll them into a wrap and flip onto the ovenproof dish so that the join is underneath. 
• Sprinkle with cheese and fresh chilli rings. 
• Return to oven for about 15-20 minutes until hot and the cheese has melted and started to brown. 

NOTES: We served it with Budweiser prohibition larger /beer - which I'm afraid to say, I took one mouthful and rejected the rest. It put me in mind of old fashioned toilet water. Was far too perfumed and flowery for my taste. Will not be buying again.