Month: October 2023

Witch’s Fingers

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Halloween has become a total sugar fest, and not everyone has a sweet tooth

If you’re having a Halloween party and don’t want your little humans bouncing off the walls off their t*ts on sugar then try these.

They might look creepy but they’re pretty tasty and are easy to make (you might even get your tiny humans to help). Even better you’ll only need 3 ingredients.

I used string cheese for this, but you could also use hard cheese like cheddar cut into batons. For the meat part I used Parma ham but use any deli meet you like.

Makes 8

8 Cheese strings/batons of hard cheese

8 Slice of Parma ham or Prosciutto (or other deli meat)

8 Almonds

Method

Cut a 1cm slit in one end of the cheese stick and wedge the almond in the slit.

Wrap the cheese stick with the meat, leaving the almond showing so it looks like a finger nail.

Mauritian Chicken Curry

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I was lucky enough to visit Mauritius last year and stayed at the amazing Outrigger resort. While there, their very sweet and super talented Chef Matthieu showed me how to make this fantastic curry.

Mauritius was populated largely by slaves and indentured servants brought from India and the Asian sub continent to work on the sugar plantations. So their food is highly flavoured and draws influence from many different cultures.

Ingredient for the curry paste.

Now that the cold wet weather is back I needed a little reminder of lush and beautiful place I visited and the warm friendly people who were kind enough to share this recipe with me.

This curry is usually eaten with roti flat breads, but nan bread or rice are also great with it.

Ingredients

500 Grams Chicken breast or thigh meat (cut into bite sized chunks)

1 Onion (finely chopped)

1 Tbsp Minced garlic

1 Tbsp Minced ginger

1/2 Tbsp Chilli powder

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 Tbsp Salt

2 Tbsp Oil

1 Tbsp Garam masala powder

For the curry paste

1 Onion (finely chopped)

100 Grams Dessicated coconut

2 Tbsp Fennel seeds

5 Cloves of garlic

2 Cinnamon sticks (or 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon)

Method

  • Marinade the chicken with the minced garlic and ginger, salt, chilli powder and lemon juice for 30 minutes
  • Heat a large frying pan before adding the coconut to toast until light brown, stirring regularly (don’t take your eyes of this, as it can burn in a second). Remove from the pan a set to one side (or else it will keep on cooking with the heat of the pan)
  • Add 1 Tbsp of oil and cook 1 chopped onion over a medium until it starts to caramelise.
  • Add the toasted coconut, caramelised onion, garlic cloves, fennel seeds and cinnamon to a blender and blitz until you have a crumbly paste
  • Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large pan, before adding the diced chicken and finely sliced onion and seal over a high heat for 1-2 minutes. Reduce the heat and add the paste, cook this for 5 minutes before adding 500ml (1 pint of water) and the garam masala powder and mix well.
  • Simmer gently for a further 20-30 minutes. Adding more water if you think it needs it. It should be quiet a loose curry, as the sauce is the best bit for mopping all the delicious flavours with flat breads.

Pear and Chocolate Muffins

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Rich chocolate muffins with a bite of juicy pear in each one.

Ground almonds in this recipe keeps these super light and moist, yummy.

Makes 12

Ingredients

150 Grams Ground almonds

2 & 1/2 Tsp Baking powder

40 Grams Cocoa powder

175 Grams Butter, plus 1 Tbsp

175 Grams Sugar, plus 1 Tbsp

3 Eggs

150 Grams Self Raising flour

4 Tbsp Milk

4 Firm pears (peeled and cored, and cut into 2-3cm chunks)

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (Celsius). Line a muffin tin with paper cases, or else grease the cups with extra butter to make them easy to remove
  • Add a tablespoon of butter and sugar to a frying pan and melt before adding the pears. Gently cook over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally (don’t let them get too soft). Remove from the heat and allow to cool
  • With an electric whisk, or stand mixer cream the rest of the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  • Add the eggs one at a time and continue mixing, (don’t panic if it looks like it’s curdled, it’s fine)
  • Add the milk and the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until well combined
  • Empty the pears into the muffin mix and gently fold them into the batter with a metal spoon until they are evenly distributed
  • Spoon equal amounts of the mix into the muffin cases and bake for 30 minutes
  • Allow to cool and then dust with icing sugar

Hearty Autumn Soup

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Soup is virtually impossible to mess up. So when it’s cold and wet outside its the ideal thing to make that’s cheap and easy. Its also a great filling lunch to bring to work if you’re on a budget.

This soup is vegan friendly, but if you need a meat fix, you can also add some cooked chorizo or smokey bacon and reduce the amount of smoked paprika.

Ingredients

1 Small Leek (roughly chopped)

2 Handfuls of either cabbage, kale or cavelo Nero (shredded)

3-4 Small potatoes (skins left on, and cut into 3-4cm cubes)

1 Vegetable stock cube

1 Tsp Smoked paprika

1 Can Black beans (you can use any type you like)

3 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

1 Tsp Chilli powder (optional)

Large sprig of rosemary, or thyme

1 Tbsp Vegetable oil

500ml Carton of passata

1 Tbsp Tomato puree

Salt

Method

  • Heat the oil in a large pot over a medium heat and add the leek. Fry until the leek starts to soften
  • Add the potatoes, tomato puree, chilli powder, rosemary and paprika and cook for 2-3 minutes
  • Add the crumbled up stock cube, pasatta, garlic, 1 litre of water, and bring the soup to the boil. Add your greens and beans, reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are soft
  • Check the seasoning and add salt if you think it needs it.