The Leek Show

We stumbled across a leek show in the local pub one day. I didn't realise leek shows were still held these days.  Here's some pictures of the lovely veg and flowers:

Chicken, Lemon and Garlic Casserole

Chicken, Lemon and Garlic Casserole

This recipe was on a Slimming World Calendar.  You don't have to be a dieter to enjoy it though!

Serves 4

500g skinless, boneless, chicken thighs, cut into chunks

2 onions, chopped

2 large carrots, cut into batons

1 bulb of garlic.......yes a whole bulb

700ml chicken stock

200g green beans, halved

1 lemon, thinly sliced

freshly chopped tarragon (or a pinch dried)

Spray a large lidded non-stick frying pan with oil and brown the chicken pieces. (use a small amount of oil if you don't like spray oil...I don't)

Add the onions, carrot, whole garlic bulb and stock.  Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes, covered.

Add the green beans and lemon slices.  If using dried tarragon, add it now.  Cook, without a lid, for approximately 10 minutes until the green beans are cooked.

Remove from the heat and remove the garlic bulb.  You can throw this away, or alternatively, squeeze the garlic out and add to the casserole.

Sprinkle with fresh tarragon and serve.

For a completely one pot meal, add some new potatoes with the carrots.

Stollen Bread Pudding

Stollen Bread Pudding

Well, Christmas is over and there's a little bit of stollen left, it's a bit sorry for itself, slightly dry.  Mmmmmm, lets make it into a pudding.

So, I sliced it up and put it into a small baking dish and sprinkled it with a few chopped nuts.

Then I beat 2 eggs with some milk and cinnamon and poured it over the bread in the dish.  

I left it to soak for about 30 mins then sprinkled it with demerara sugar and baking it in the oven.

The oven was on about 180-200'C and I baked it for about 20 minutes, until the eggy bit was set.

Delicious.......................

Miryani

Miryani

This dish is like a Biryani with a Mexican twist.

I used a pork fillet thinly sliced.  Marinated it with ginger, about 1" grated, 1 garlic clove, a few jalapenos, chopped, juice of a lime and a big spoonful of Chipotle paste.

Meanwhile I cooked the rice with some frozen mixed veg as I was a bit lacking in fresh veg.

After about 1 hour of marinating, I fried the pork until browned with some chopped green pepper.

Next I layered the meat and rice in an ovenproof dish, added about 100 ml stock, covered with foil and a lid and baked in the oven for about 30 mins at 200@C.

It was very tasty if I say so myself (and guess what? I do)

Plum & Almond Crumble Slice

Plum & Almond Crumble Slice

It's described as a buttery tray bake, full of new season fruit and spice.

I made it for my turn at afternoon tea at work and it went down a storm together with the Mint Aero Cookies.  One comment was "I'd pay good money for this !"

250g pack butter, very cold
225g caster sugar
300g ground almonds
140g plain flour, plus 25g
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
approx 6 plums, stoned and cut into 6ths
50g flaked almonds

Heat oven to Gas 4/180ºC. Grease and line with baking parchment a 20cm x 30cm baking tin.

Put the butter, sugar and almonds into a food processor, pulse until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Remove half of it and set it aside.

Add 140g flour to the processor and whizz until it forms a dough. Tip into the tin and press down with the back of a spoon.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.

To make the filling, put the butter sugar mix that you set aside earlier into the processor saving a few tbsp for the topping. Add the eggs, cinnamon and baking powder and whizz to a soft batter.  Top the shortbread base with this then put the plum pieces on top of this.

Bake for 20 minutes then sprinkle with the remaining crumble mix and the flaked almonds.  Cook for another 20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool in the tin before slicing.

Mint Aero Chocolate Cookies

This recipe is a variation on chocolate chip cookies and was passed to me by my niece Danielle.

Mint Aero Chocolate Cookies

Cream together 100g butter or margarine and 75g light soft brown sugar.  Mix in 175g self raising flour, 2 tbsp milk, 2 tbsp golden syrup and a 113g bag of mint aero balls.

Place in lumps on a greased baking tray and bake at 180'C/Gas 4 for 10-15 minutes until golden. Cool for a couple of minutes on the tray then transfer to a cooling rack.

Middle Eastern Meatloaf

This is a Waitrose recipe and it's quite tasty........

Middle Eastern Meatloaf

125g Bulgar wheat (dry weight)
grated zest of 1 orange
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, coarsely grated
250g pack minced lamb
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp pine nuts 
50g sultanas
2 beaten eggs

Preheat the oven to 190'C, Gas 5. Grease and line the base of a 1.5k (2lb) loaf tin. Cook the bulgar wheat in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes until tender.  Cool slightly then drain well and tip into a large bowl.

Stir the remaining ingredients into the bowl and mix well to combine.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared loaf tin and press down very well with the back of a spoon.  Bake for 40-45  minutes until cooked through and nicely browned.  Turn out of the tin and slice.

They suggest serving it with lightly steamed Savoy cabbage, we had it with steamed Kale.

You could use cooked brown rice or even couscous in this recipe and I found I had no pine nuts so I used almonds instead.