Tag: recipe

First Time Making, Recipes

First time making: spiced apple juice

It’s finally the festive season, and this year, I needed a non-alcoholic mulled wine or cider alternative (after all, Christmas is all about minced pies and mulled wine). I’ve looked through the Jamie Oliver incredible mulled cider recipe and the Nigella mulled cider recipe, and have taken the spices I like best out of the two for this spiced apple juice recipe. Oh, and of course, as there’s already plenty of sugar in the juice, there’s hardly any need to add sugar in there.

I’ve always loved mulled wine and ciders with bits of fruit in the pan, so I’ve included chunks and apple and clementines as well.

This takes about 5 minutes to prep and will serve however many people who will be able to drink a litre of spiced apple juice. As this is made from juice, it’s perfect for children and your designated driver.

Spiced_Mulled_Apple_Juice

Ingredients
1 litre of apple juice
1/2 apple
2 clementines
1 stick of cinnamon
3 cloves
2 fresh bay leaves (optional)
2 tbsps of honey

Continue reading “First time making: spiced apple juice”

Unknown's avatarblenderandbasilLeave a comment
Shredded pork and coriander
Recipes

Shredded pork and coriander recipe (xiang cai chao rou si)

This simple and quick pork and coriander stir-fry dish comes from Northern China, just south of Beijing – from Shandong – and is part of the Lu cuisine (which is why it’s not a stew this time!)

Sometimes it has been modified to a spicier dish (by adding chilli), but the original version only uses salt, soya sauce, cooking alcohol, ginger and spring onion for flavouring. My family never made it with chilli peppers, so this is what you’ll find here.

The best cut of pork for this stir-fry is the fillet (aka the tenderloins). The cheapest pork I found during my shopping trip was already cubed, so that’s what I’m using. To make up for the cut, I’m cutting these into smaller pieces here. The aim is for it to cook very rapidly, so the prep time is roughly 10 minutes, but it should only cook for around 5-6 minutes.

This version of the recipe serves 2.

Shredded pork and coriander

Ingredients
200g of pork
1 egg
1 tbsp of plain flour
4-5 spring onions (small)
2 slices of ginger
1 tbsp of soya sauce
1 tbsp of Shaoxing rice wine
200g of coriander
Salt to taste
2-3 drops of sesame oil

Yes, that’s not a typo, you really do need 200g of coriander! Continue reading “Shredded pork and coriander recipe (xiang cai chao rou si)”

Unknown's avatarblenderandbasilLeave a comment
Meatloaf
Recipes

Hearty winter meatloaf with tomato sauce recipe

Now that the weather is getting colder, a good serving of meatloaf can warm you right up. That, and I had some bread to use up. I’ve adapted this recipe over time from the BBC Good Foods hot or cold meatloaf recipe, as I prefer my meatloaves a bit nuttier and slightly herbier, but with less onions. The tomato sauce compliments the meatloaf really well, so I’ve included it here.

This will serves 4 people. Prep time is roughly 15 minutes, and it will need 1 hour in the oven.

Meatloaf

Ingredients
500g of minced pork
4 tbsps of powdered parmesan
1 tbsp of dried oregano
2 slices of granary bread with nuts
1/2 an onion
30g of fresh parsley
8 slices of prosciutto
1 egg

For the sauce:
2 vine tomatoes
3 tbsps of tomato sauce

Continue reading “Hearty winter meatloaf with tomato sauce recipe”

Unknown's avatarblenderandbasil1 Comment
cinnamon buns_recipe_rolls
Recipe Review, Recipes

Smoking Hot Cinnamon Buns

It is definitely about time to get festive, and nothing fills me with more Christmas spirit than some good old baking. This time, rather than taking out the Sardinian recipe book, I turned to the opposite side of Europe and got inspired by the Scandinavian islands. Mouthwatering memories of sinking my teeth on the most amazing cinnamon buns during a trip to Stockholm made me search through the several recipes available on line. I was even tempted to use my sourdough to make them when I saw this recipe by Chef In Disguise. But since these were my very first cinnamon buns, I opted for a simpler and quicker option, found in Nigella’s book How to Be a Domestic Goddess.
This recipe will make 20 buns and takes about 2 hours to make.

Continue reading “Smoking Hot Cinnamon Buns”

Unknown's avatarblenderandbasilLeave a comment
Omurice
Recipes

Omurice – omelette with fried rice

Omurice is basically fried rice wrapped in an omelette – two delicious foods in one! It’s a western-inspired Japanese recipe, and you can generally find it in all sorts of cafés. It can look like a piece of edible art (as you can see from this rilakkuma-inspired omurice). Whatever form it may take, at the heart of the dish is always fried rice, omelette and the all-important tomato ketchup.

This recipe serves 2 (makes 2 omurices), and takes 40 mins to cook. I have pre-prepared the chicken here, as this version is more meat-heavy than what you’d normally find, and I didn’t want the chicken to feel dry. It’s been marinaded in buttermilk overnight.

Also, I prefer using buttermilk for omelettes, as they make the omelettes much fluffier than using milk or just using eggs without either.

omurice

Ingredients
200g of chicken breast
100ml of buttermilk
3/4 cup of rice
1 block of chicken stock cube
3 eggs
1 tbsp of powdered parmesan (optional)
A pinch of black pepper
150g peas
1/2 onion

Tomato ketchup

You’ll also need salt to taste.

Continue reading “Omurice – omelette with fried rice”

Unknown's avatarblenderandbasilLeave a comment
thanksgiving_stuffedchicken_boiledchicken_wholechicken_recipe
First Time Making, Recipes

Thanksgiving recipe – a Sardinian take (pudda prena a sa sarda)

This traditional Sardinian recipe will be a great alternative to your classic Thanksgiving roast. Instead of being cooked in the oven, this bird is boiled, instead of giving you turkey sandwiches as leftovers, this will give you succulent tender meat to add to your salads and a rich stock for your risottos, soups or meat stews. It brings me so many childhood memories because this is the Sunday dish my grandma used to prepare for the family. Like she would have done, I used a nice corn fed rampant chicken: my butcher cleaned it for me so it was ready to stuff. I would have needed the inside organs for the stuffing, but they were not included in the purchase, so I bought some chicken hearts separately. Another must-have ingredient is lard: according to all my family, it is the very ingredient that keeps the stuffing together and gives it the right texture. But worry not, just like I did, you will be able to find it at the supermarket.

Continue reading “Thanksgiving recipe – a Sardinian take (pudda prena a sa sarda)”

Unknown's avatarblenderandbasil4 Comments
bottarga_fennel_sardinianfood
Recipes

Bottarga: the Sardinian Gold

Bottarga (also called bottargo or bottariga…) is a delicacy widely used in the south of the Mediterranean: several cuisines have this fish roe amongst their ingredients, but it is commonly associated with Sardinian cuisine. Hence, it is an indispensable element of my cooking.
bottarga_sardinian
The preparation of this magical ingredient is rather simple: the fish roe is usually taken from grey mullet or tuna, and it is left to dry in salt after being pressed into an oblong shape. This is then coated in beeswax for preservation purposes. It has a very strong fishy flavour, which is a real speciality to be used for antipasti like in this marvellous cabbage and pine nuts dish (photo below) or as an addition to fish based pasta (like a parmigiano of the sea).

Continue reading “Bottarga: the Sardinian Gold”

Unknown's avatarblenderandbasilLeave a comment
Imitated_crab_Sai_Pang_Xie
Recipes

Imitated crab (sai pang xie) – an imperial recipe from Beijing

There’s a story behind this imitated crab (sai pang xie) recipe, and it starts with the Empress Dowager Cixi craving crabs. Unfortunately, being based in Beijing means a lack of fresh crabs, so the imperial chefs found a clever way to cook eggs to make them taste as good as crab meat. I love this recipe because you can make a huge quantity of the “crab” without breaking the bank – and the bonus is that there’s no need to get fiddly with crab shells!

There are many variations of the recipe, starting with the poor-man’s version with just eggs. Others use white fish and a touch of prawns to achieve a texture closest to crab meat. I’ve used only prawns here, as I prefer that more seafood-y taste.

I’ve also used a salted egg, as this adds a little extra punch to the recipe, but you can use normal eggs. If you’re using normal eggs, then make sure you add more salt in the egg white and egg yolk mixes.

Lastly, this version separates the egg white and egg yolk to create two parts with different textures. The egg white is the crab meat, and the egg yolk is the crab yolk. The most basic form of this recipe doesn’t bother with separating the two, but I really think that this step makes a huge difference to how good it tastes, so it’s not worth skimping on that.

The version below serves 2, and takes roughly 30 minutes to cook. Most of it is time spent chopping the prawns though!

Ingredients
4 eggs (optional: 1 of the eggs can be a salted egg)
2 thick slices of ginger (roughly 3mm and 5mm thick each)
90g of prawns (alternatively, use 70g of white fish and 5-6 prawns)
2 tbsps of Chinese rice vinegar (you need the dark coloured vinegar)
Optional: 1 tbsp of Chinese shaoxing cooking wine

You’ll also need salt to sprinkle into the egg mixes and olive oil for the pan.

Imitated_crab_Sai_Pang_Xie Continue reading “Imitated crab (sai pang xie) – an imperial recipe from Beijing”

Unknown's avatarblenderandbasil2 Comments
Candied_sweet_potato
Recipes

Bonfire night recipe: candied sweet potato

It’s time for fireworks and toffee apples. Yes, it’s time for Bonfire Night. For something a bit different from apples, you can also coat sweet potatoes in sugar. Here’s a very simple recipe for doing just that. It’s a flexible recipe: you can use any type of frying oil you like, and you can cut your sweet potatoes into cubes or strips. I like doing them into smaller slices simply because I like more sugar than sweet potato. Hey, it’s not a healthy recipe by any means (you’re doing some serious frying and coating things in sugar), and we’re not going to eat this every day, so anything goes!

This is from a Chinese recipe where you’d normally cut the sweet potatoes into cubes and also create “threads” with the sugar afterwards to make it look pretty. I generally do that if I’m having this as a standalone dish, but this time it was a small side with the main meal. When you make this with sweet potato cubes, make sure that you don’t brown it as much as I’ve done. I like a crispier taste when having it as a side.

The below serves 2 as a side. You can easily scale it up.

Candied_sweet_potato

Ingredients
1 sweet potato (roughly 300g)
100g cane sugar (ideally not brown sugar for this)
1 tablespoon sesame

You’ll also need oil for frying and half a cup of water. I used olive oil here.

Continue reading “Bonfire night recipe: candied sweet potato”

Unknown's avatarblenderandbasilLeave a comment
Halloween_Squash_Mince_Recipe
Recipes

Halloween recipe – sweet potato and squash mince bake

Halloween is just a few days away, and it’s the season of pumpkins, squash and other things orange. This sweet potato and squash mince bake is a modified Chinese recipe – the original uses processed fish balls instead of mince, and uses only squash or pumpkin, but I prefer cooking with fresh meat, and mixing in the sweet potato gives you a more balanced mix of your veg intake. It will make a nice main dish to go with all the beautiful Halloween cakes and snacks on the BBC website, for example (love their Good Food section!)

This recipe takes a bit longer than the others we’ve listed so far, and a lot of it is prep time. There’s a lot of chopping involved. If you want to save a bit of time, then M&S do a bag of mixed butternut squash and sweet potato cubes (350g). I used an onion squash for this recipe, not only because it’s the right size and I don’t like leaving half-cut veg in my fridge, but also because the flavour isn’t as sweet, so works well with sweet potatoes.

Halloween_Squash_Mince_Recipe

There are also two other easily swappable elements in the recipe, and they are the mince and the salted egg. You can use any type of mince you like apart from lamb – lamb tastes too strong and doesn’t balance well with the rest of the flavours. I’ve used pork and beef before, and this time I’ve used veal as it was on offer.

The salted eggs are from the original Chinese recipe, but not to worry – if you can’t get hold of them, then normal eggs will do just as well. You’ll need to add a bit more salt along the way, but the whole point of the recipe is that everything will half-disintegrate and mesh together, so normal eggs are just as good.

This recipe takes around 1 hour to make, and will serve 3-4 people.

Ingredients
1 onion squash (roughly 500g)
1 sweet potato (roughly 300-400g)
2 salted eggs
5 peppercorns
300-400g mince
5 tablespoons Chinese shaoxing cooking wine (optional)
100g Greek cheese

You’ll also need olive oil and salt to taste.

We’ll be starting in a frying pan, and will then move the mix into the oven, so you’ll need to prepare a baking tray (lined with foil if you want to save some scrubbing later). Continue reading “Halloween recipe – sweet potato and squash mince bake”

Unknown's avatarblenderandbasilLeave a comment