Oozy Boozy Mushroom Risotto & Steak

Cooking with wine is always a dangerous move, I always plan a recipe writing "add one glass of wine", all I am doing is kidding myself really, I end up plonking half a bottle in & drinking the rest. This recipe is really delicious & heartwarming, I decided to serve steak with the risotto this time as I was having a dinner party and needed that va va voom but it can be enjoyed by itself as a vegetarian dish. That old rule "dont eat garlic & kiss someone" might apply to this recipe, I personally think thats a crap rule, garlic smooches for all I say. 

This recipe should always be served with nice wine, garlic bread & lovely people to enjoy it with.

Ingrediants

Steak (I used flat iron but each to their own)

1 stick celery

1 onion

15g dried porchini mushrooms

2 sprigs rosemary

1 chicken or vegie stock cube

300g arborio rice

1 glassof wine (or however much you decide to plonk in)

500g mixed mushrooms

3 sprigs thyme

Bulb of garlic

Parmesan Cheese

Butter

A lemon

Method

Place the onion, celery & dried porchini in food processor & pulse until finely chopped. Put some olive oil in a frying pan & add the mixture. Stir while it cooks. Finely chop the rosemary & add with the rice. Stir for about a minute. Then add the wine & stock cube with boiling water. Stir until all the moisture is absorbed. Keep stiring & continuinely adding moisture if needed. Add the mushrroms with a large knob of butter to another pan with loads of garlic and cook them whilst still stiring the risotto pan. When the rice has begun to soften add the cooked mushrooms, thyme leaves, squeeze of lemon and stir in some butter. At this point check your seasoning, you will probably need salt & pepper adding. Keep stiring. When its almost done, heat up a griddle pan & put a knob of butter in with some salt & pepper and cook your steak to your own prefence. When all cooked chop the steak and serve over the risotto with a nice bottle of white wine ( Gavi is always great), garlic bread and parmesan.

Enjoy xo

GOAN FISH CURRY

Indian food is in my heart, I have warm memories of going out for food with my popa who was born in India, Delhi & trying all these unusual delicious dishes. My popa taught me so much; about life, about love, about family, there are not enough words to eloquently describe how fantastic a man he was. Indian food always reminds me of him, it reminds me of spending time with my family and cousins, and it reminds me of those Sunday's ending up in rusholme at the Sanam eating enough to explode

With Spring blooming and the evenings getting longer, I wanted to make a light, fresh, healthy dish that packs all those beautiful Indian spices that I love so much. What is better than making a Goan Fish Curry, milder than its northern counterparts; this curry has a sweet and sour element that is extremely addictive. 

As always, make with love, for the people you love.

RECIPE

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp mustard seeds

Thumb of fresh root ginger

1½ tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp turmeric

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 red chillies, chopped

2 tsp tamarind paste

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 can coconut milk

600g firm white fish fillets (I used Haddock but Cod, Monkfish of Talapia would also be nice)

A few coriander sprigs, to garnish

Method


Heat the oil in the pan, add the chopped onion and mustard seeds and cook over a low to medium heat, until the onion is soft and light golden in colour. Peel and grate the ginger and add to the pan, then add the ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, garlic and chillies. Cook, stirring frequently, for a minute or so, until the aroma of the spices is released. Add the tamarind paste, chopped tomatoes and coconut milk to the pan, then pour in 100ml water. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for about 10 minutes, until thickened slightly. Season to taste. Tip the fish into the pan and cook for 2–3 minutes. When the fish is just cooked – it should be opaque – remove from the heat. Serve with rice, naan and scatter with the coriander.

Enjoy! Don't blame me if you get addicted to this recipe! 

MEATBALLS

Everyone has something that they love, for me its cooking. When I have had a really shit day, I want to cook, drink a glass of red wine and create an amazing dish. This is a recipe I discovered a couple of years back and has been a favourite ever since. Sometimes the loved simple recipes are the most important. This dish is all about proper home cooking, big bold flavours and enough garlic to keep away any potential suitors 

Enjoy this dish with a bottle of red wine

Meatballs:

3 tbsp breadcrumbs

Milk

Red Chilli

200g minced beef

200g minced pork

3 garlic cloves, 

flat leaf parsley

Flour

Grana Padano

For the tomato sauce:

2 shallots

3 garlic cloves

½ red chilli

Glug of red wine

2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes

Small bunch of basil

2 tbsp pitted green olives

1 tbsp chopped oregano

Tsp Honey

Tsp Balsamic Vinegar

Tip the breadcrumbs into a bowl, pour on just enough milk to cover. Put mince, garlic, parsley, cheese, chilli and breadcrumbs in bowl and mix with hands. Then roll into balls, you choose shape. Then dust in flour and brown til slightly chared in a pan. Once cooked remove & put to side. Deglaze the pan with a splash of wine, then gently fry the shallots, garlic and chilli for 2-3 minutes until soft. Add the tinned tomatoes along with the basil and some seasoning. Throw in the olives and let the sauce simmer and thicken. Add the meatballs to the tomato sauce and then transfer to an ovenproof dish. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve with garlic bread, spaghetti, wine and friends

BEERCAN JERK CHICKEN, SPICY AVOCADO & MANGO SALSA, RICE & BEANS!

The sounds and smells of summer is intoxicating; the sizzling of meat on the BBQ, freshly mowed grass, suncream drenched skin, cold refreshing glass of pimms. Its the season to party, hang out with good friends and eat delicious food. After frequenting numerous festivals, I have been fortunate to taste some of the best street food around. Over the years I have developed a love for caribbean food, with its complex flavours and its fresh punchy kick. Known as soul food as it promises to deliver soothing comfort food that evokes warm feelings and memories. How can you not get excited about food that claims to do that!!

Food for me is all about love, happiness and family. My Dad, who to this day is still the best cook I know, he teached me about quality ingredients, good food and flavor. My Grandma who might not be quite Delia Smith but she is famous for her vegetable soup and Rhubarb crumble and finally Emma, my best friend, the only person I know who really shares my passion for good food, she also makes an amazing green thai curry. Its these people and influences who got me interested in cooking and made me care about what I put in my body. Also made me believe that if you put passion and love into your cooking you will only achieve greatness.

This recipe packs a punch and a kiss all at the same time and should be enjoyed with the people that you love....

Beercan Jerk Chicken

Free Range Chicken

Can of beer

2tbsp dark rum

2tbsp honey

Glug of vinegar

3 cloves garlic

A piece of ginger the size of your thumb

1tbsp all spice

1tbsp black peppercorns

1tbsp dried chilli flakes

2 scotch bonnet chillies (seeds if your feeling brave)

1 good handful of fresh corriander

Juice & zest or 2 limes

1tbsp salt

3 spring onions

2tbsp oil

Preheat oven to about 150 making sure that there is enough room for the chicken to stand upright. First drink half the beer out of the can and then impale the chickens arse with the can so the chicken is standing upright. Then chop and put all the other ingrediants in blender & blitz. Marinade chicken and put in oven for 2 hours.

Spicy Avacado & Mango Salsa

Avacado

Mango

Red Onion

Red Chilli

1 Lime

Corriander

Chop all ingredients and mix together with a squeeze of lime. Mmmm....

Rice & Beans

Brown rice

Beans 

Tumeric

Salt

Paprika

Leave beans to soak over night in salty water. Then cook rice in rice cooker with beans and add teaspoon of tumeric and paprika and hey presto!

Enjoy and don't be afraid to experiment with the ingredients!

X X X

BITCHEZ BURGERZ! MAPLE, BACON, PULLED PORK BURGER!

Valentines is such a fucking bitch, everyone moaning or being disgustingly happy! A couple of years back I got my heart well and truly broken by some absolute loser who didn't deserve my tears; it was Valentines day and quite frankly I wanted to suffocate myself under a duvet, but my beautiful friend Hannah Clark rang me up, told me to put my best dress on, sacked off her boyfriend and took me for a slap up meal at the Hilton. It was honestly the loveliest thing that someone has ever done for me and absolutely meant the world. It was that though that made me make my vow, valentines is for my bitches, the people who really wont ever let me down, will always dry my tears and hold my hand. So this valentines I decided to woo the ones I love with a tower of meat! I introduce "Bitchez Burgerz"!!!

Ingredients

Maple Syrup

Bacon

Burger Buns

Burgers

Pulled Pork

Onions

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Onion Rings

Gherkins

Cheese

BBQ Sauce

First, buy a joint of pork, slow roast until looking slutty, then cover in BBQ sauce, slow roast for another 30 mins. Then buy beef and make burgerz! You can also buy pre made burgerz, look, I’m not gonna judge as long as you eat ALL the meat. Grill. Cook your bacon, grill or fry, I honestly don’t care. Then build. BUILD. BUILD. BUILD. Make sure it has every bitching thing on there, including those dirty onion rings. Serve with fries. This is one to make the bitches cry. Oh meat, you are my sanctuary! If your heart hurts call 911 or alternatively call burger king. 

I love you ladies & men xxxx

A burger poem....

CHICKEN, CHORIZO & CHICKPEA STEW

After living in Madrid for a year I got an addiction to chorizo that I've not quite fully recoved from yet. This is one of the most delicious, heartwarming dishes that leaves you completly satisfied but still wanting more! The flavours really complement each other perfectly and its an absolute dream when enjoyed with good friends and a bottle of red wine

Chicken, chorizo and chickpea stew

Chicken thighs

Chickpeas

Chirizo

Onion

Garlic

Red wine

Chopped tomatoes

Chicken stock

Bay leaf

Brown off the chicken skin on the thighs in a pan, add chopped garlic, onion & chorizo. Turn down heat and add chicken stock, slowly simmer for 2-3 mins. Add tomatoes, red wine and chickpeas and bring to boil to reduce sauce for 5-10 mins. Turn down heat and add bay leaf and leave to simmer for an hour. ENJOY with a big honk of crusty bread & a large glass of red wine!

PIZZA PERFECTION

Dough, glorious dough, why do you taunt me so! No real introduction needed, just a sheer love and appreciation of a bloody good pizza. DE-LI-CIOUS. I have died and gone to pizza heaven.

Dough

1 kg white bread flour or Tipo '00' flour

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 x 7 g dried yeast sachets

1 tablespoon golden caster sugar

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

650 ml lukewarm water

Sieve the flour and salt on to a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a jug, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough. Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size.  Now remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands. You can either use it immediately, or keep it, wrapped in clingfilm, in the fridge (or freezer) until required. If using straight away, divide the dough up into as many little balls as you want to make pizzas – this amount of dough is enough to make about six to eight medium pizzas.

Tomato Sauce

olive oil

4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced

1 bunch fresh basil, leaves picked and torn

3 x 400 g good-quality tinned plum tomatoes

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Place a large non-stick frying pan on the heat and pour in 4 generous lugs of olive oil. Add the garlic, shake the pan around a bit and, once the garlic begins to colour lightly, add the basil and the tomatoes. Using the back of a wooden spoon, mush and squash the tomatoes as much as you can.  Season the sauce with salt and pepper. As soon as it comes to the boil, remove the pan from the heat. Strain the sauce through a coarse sieve into a bowl, using your wooden spoon to push any larger bits of tomato through. Discard the basil and garlic that will be left in the sieve, but make sure you scrape any of the tomatoey goodness off the back of the sieve into the bowl. Pour the sauce back into the pan, bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes to concentrate the flavours. It will be ready when it's the perfect consistency for spreading on your pizza. 

I decided to top my pizza with mozzarella (torn not chopped) and anchovies (because anchovies are delicious). The rest is really up to you! ENJOY!