Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Korma

YUMMM :)

The stock:
The seeds and skin of one butternut squash
2 stalks of celery
1 Carrot
The skin and trimmings of the onion (don't use the papery bits!)
Fennel, Corriander and Cumin seeds.
Cinamon
Salt

To make the stock, simply add all cold water to all of these things and allow to boil for half an hour. You can taste the water to check the taste, it should be deep but sweet and spiced.

The curry:
Ghee
1 White Onion, diced
4-5 cloves diced garlic
Diced ginger- about a wedge? How much is a wedge?
1 Diced small birds eye chili, a dried one is preferable in this dish
1 Butternut squash, seeded, peeled and diced into largeish chunks.
2 Red peppers, sliced
A Korma Spice blend- blend your own, or buy one if you're lazy
The Stock (see above)
A bay leaf
Coconut milk
1 Fresh Lime
Roughly chopped coriander and toasted cashew nuts to finish

Right.....
Fry the onion in ghee with the garlic, ginger and chili until the onion has softened.
Cover with a lid to do this and let the onions sweat in their own juices slightly.
Add the diced pumpkin and peppers, and 3-4 tablespoons of your Korma spice blend.
Stir it good'n'proper. Add the stock until the vegetables are just about covered, add the lid and allow to simmer- add a bay leaf. Add more spices if you don't think you've used enough.
Once this has boiled down add coconut milk and again, leave to simmer. This is a good time to add some fresh coriander as it tastes very different when it has been allowed to cook a little in comparison to when it is used as a fresh garnish.
When the curry is a consistency you're happy with, add the juice of half a lime. This is really important to bring forth all the flavour! Don't miss out on the lime, and don't use lemon instead.

Serve with rice. Top with freshly chopped coriander and toasted cashew nuts. (Almonds would be nice, and you can get away with pecans)

Lime, Chocolate and Chili Cake

As you can see, I haven't got around to remembering the recipe yet. Come back later. xxx

Tzatziki

I make a Cypriot version of this Greek meze with an emphasis on mint and garlic, although its not unknown to use dill or parsley, I'd quite like to try it with coriander. Watch this space.

This is good with pita, falafel, jacket potato, although it was traditionally served as an accompaniment with meat.

You need-

Natural Yogurt/Greek Yogurt

A cucumber

Garlic

Fresh mint

Salt

Grate the cucumber. Strain the water off by leaving it in a sieve for a few hours, you can speed this process up by applying pressure to the grated cucumber- using a wooden spoon or a tin can but this might stretch your sieve. Salt can be used to help draw out the water but be aware that whatever salt you add will end up in your tzatziki too. I like to chop the cucumber slightly as I don't like the stringy strips of cucumber. The idea is basically to remove the water to prevent the tzatziki from becoming watery.

Mix this with the yogurt, then add crushed garlic, chopped mint and salt to taste.

Et voilá! I fucking love this stuff, literally eat it out the bowl with a fork.

Thai Style Puy Lentil Soup

A very satisfying and slightly unusual soup.

Super super quick and super easy if you have Thai curry paste close to hand.

You need:

Puy Lentils

Bay leaves (or Kaffir Lime Leaves for a more authentic Thai flavour)

Shallots

Thai Green Curry paste

Coconut milk

A lime

Fresh coriander

Dark Soy sauce

Salt and rice vinegar

Browning sauce

Flavourless oil, for frying

Boil up the puy lentils. Salted water, with a bay leaf or a Kaffir Lime leaf.

When soft drain, remove the cooking leaves but retain the cooking water

Dice the shallots and fry in vegetable or sunflower oil.

Add a few generous tablespoons of Thai green curry paste.

Add most of the lentils to fry.

When the shallots have softened add a tin of coconut milk and some chopped coriander.

Leave to simmer for three/four minutes. Blend the soup using a hand-blender.

Right, when I cooked this it came out a pale-green colour, which although pretty was not too appetizing. I added some dark soy sauce for flavour and some browning (not brown, browning!) sauce to add depth of colour. You really only need a tinnnny amount of this stuff, it hardly tastes of anything but is great for darkening gravy etc. I fucked up and mistook it for soy sauce once.... don't do that.

Add the juice of half a lime (I would have added the zest had it not already gone into the curry paste earlier) The lime is, I think, essential for making the soup something really wonderful.

Add salt and rice vinegar to taste.

When I was happy with the soup I added a few extra un-blended lentils for texture.

Serve with some chopped coriander on the top.

Red Potato Gratin

Good served with something bitter or sharp to cut through the thickness of the cream.

As cooked by Jake, but probably inspired by Jean-Sylvain, who puts cream in anything and everything. (But hey, he's french.)

Red potatoes

White onione

Single cream

Fresh parsley, chopped

Mustard, salt and pepper.

Slice the potatoes and put in cold, salted water and bring to the boil.

While they are heating up, slice the onion into rounds and mix mustard and pepper into the cream to taste. (Or whatever to taste)

Drain the potatoes.

Arrange the potatoes and onion in an ovenproof dish, add salt. Potatoes absorb salt so you will need more than you expect. Top with cream and fresh parsley.

Bake until the top has browned.

Serve.

Sesame, Ginger and Soy Stir Fry

Very simple but very YUM. The orange of the pepper looks especially good against the green.

Obviously you can replace the vegetables with whatever you like though. :)

We used;-

Sesame seeds

Sesame oil

Fresh Ginger, diced

2-3 cloves of fresh Garlic, crushed

Green chili

Dark Soy sauce

Light soy sauce

Vegetable oil

Savoy Cabbage leaves

An orange bell Pepper

A Courgette

Spring onions

2-3 Shallots

Slice the shallots into rounds, and the rest of the vegetables into strips roughly the same size.

Fry the shallots and the spring onions, add the garlic/ginger/chili.

Stir stir stir stir stir

Meanwhile, dry roast sesame seeds.

Add the rest of the veg, more garlic if desired.

Add the roasted sesame seeds and a dash of dark soy.

Stir it up.

Serve with noodles, dress the noodles with a little more of the light soy sauce and sesame oil. Spoon the vegetables over the noodles.

Seriously, its fucking amazing.

Pizza alla Genovese

'Alla Genovese' means 'with pesto'

Inspired by http://expeditions-in-vegetarianism.blogspot.com/2010/02/pasta-new-potatoes-and-green-beans-with.html

Pesto
Garlic oil
Olive oil
New potatoes
Asparagus/Green beans (can use one, or both)
White onion
Red onion (only a small amount)
Mozzarella
Rocket
Parmesan cheese
Black pepper

Slice asparagus down the middle and trim the ends off green beans, drizzle with lemon juice and butter/olive oil and grill. While they're cooking, finely slice some new potatoes and rings of white onion. Dice some red onion into very small parts. When the vegetables have grilled, slice them up ready to go on the pizza.

Brush the pizza base with garlic olive oil.
Replace the tomato sauce with pesto.
Arrange the toppings on the pizza base. Top with mozzarella, sprinkle the finely diced red onion on the top for a contrast in colour.
Put pizza in the oven.
When the cheese is just starting to brown, remove the pizza and top with rocket, drizzle on some extra olive oil.
Return the pizza to the oven, finish cooking.
If you're feeling very fancy when the pizza is cooked you could finish it with parmesan cheese and black pepper, I think it really rounds off the flavours.

Aubergine and Chickpea Tagine

Delicious when served with almond and lemon cous cous.

1 white onion

1 Aubergine

1 Can of chickpeas (or dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked through)

Tomatoes (can't remember how many)

Spices;

Corriander, Tumeric, Chili, Cumin,

other stuff ill do it later

Fucking Good Chips

Here is how to make some fucking good chips;-

You need PO-TA-TOES, I use Maris Piper 'cuz my veg shop sells them cheap, but any potatoes which are good for boiling, roasting and mashing should do the trick.

Preheat the oven to 180C, put a generous amount of oil in a roasting dish.

Put the dish in the oven to heat the oil. I like to use olive oil.

Slice the potato into large wedges, about 1cm thick... or thicker, if you prefer. S'all about chunky chips.

Blanche them- that means put them in a pan, covered with cold water, add salt and bring them to the boil. Then take them off the heat, strain them and run them under cold water to stop them from cooking any further.

While this is going sort out your seasoning for your chips... since you have to add them to the chips quickly I suggest mixing it in a bowl beforehand.

I usually make spicy or herby chips. This basically means grabbing any herbs or spices which I'm in the mood for, mixing them in a bowl until it tastes right.

I'm fond of thyme and rosemary, or various kinds of paprika with caynne pepper, corriander, cumin and sometimes a bit of oregano for smokey chips. (Which NEEDS to be eaten with mayo or BBQ sauce.)

Anyway, get the roasting tray out of the oven and add the chips as quickly as you can, and toss them in the oil with the spices/herbs. Do this as quickly as you can so the oil doesn't cool off.

Hot oil creates a coating and seals food, if it goes cold your chips will simply sit there and soak up cold oil.... blergh. The chunkier your chips, the longer they will take to cook.

Roast your chips until they're starting to go brown, at which point add salt to them and return to the oven. The salt absorbs the moisture from the chips and so makes the skins nice and crispy.

Leave them in the oven for five more minutes and they should be most excellent chips. :)

Jacket Potato

Wash, prick with a fork.

Microwave for 5-10 minutes, depending on the size of yer spud.

Pre-heat the oven.

When the potato is done, coat it in a little olive oil and salt.

Bake.

When you're happy, cut a cross in the skin and push the flesh of the potato out by squeezing the sides, this lets water evaporate and makes scrummy fluffiness. :)

And you've still got a wonderfully crispy skin.

Using garlic-olive-oil is also very good.

Yummy fluffy couscous

I am very fond of couscous.

Simply heat oil in a pan, and coat the couscous in a little oil.

Add herbs and spices as you see fit.

Add the same measure of hot stock to the cous cous, take it off the heat and distribute the cous cous evenly across the pan.

Leave for four minutes, then fluff with a fork.

If you'd like to learn more about couscous check out;- http://homecooking.about.com/od/specificdishe1/a/couscoustips.htm

Variations:

Sundried tomatoes

Flaked almonds and grated lemon rind

Thai Green Curry Paste

Keeps in the fridge for ages. Fry the paste, add fresh food and serve with rice or noodles or use in a soup.

Need:

1 Green Pepper

1 Stalk lemongrass

1 shallot

Ginger

Garlic

Cumin- ground

Lime zest/lime juice

Soy Sauce (or fish sauce)

Fresh Corriander

Green chili

Coconut milk

Vegetable Oil

Basically... stick everything in a blender. Add as much garlic, ginger, corriander, lemongrass pleases you.

You need the liquids to make sure everything blends, I like coconut milk as it soothes the heat of the chili a little, and since I find soy sauce a bit too salty in large amounts I offset it with a tiny bit of oil.

But again, do as pleases you.

Spiced Paprika Butter

You will need;

Butter

Various Paprikas, I tend to use normal paprkia and a smoked paprika

Chili powder (if you want it really hot)

Melt the butter over a low heat and stir in the spices.

Done.

Tailor the paprika to the dish you're serving it with.

Red Potato and Kale Soup with Chili

From 'The Greens Cookbook'

I like to serve this with a spiced paprika butter and a sprig of fresh parsley on the creme fraiche.

The Stock-

Use the stems of the kale

The Soup-

1 bunch of kale

3 tablespoons virgin olive oil

1 Medium red/yellow onion, diced into 1cm squares

6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

1 Small dried red chili, or 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes

1 Bay leaf

4 medium red potatoes, diced into 1cm cubes

1.75 litres/3 pints stock

Salt

Pepper

Creme Fraiche

Cut the ruffles leaves of the kale, use the stems to make the stock. Cut the leaves into 5cm square and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot, add the onion, garlic, chili, bay leaf, salt.

Cook over a medium-high heat for 3/4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the potatoes and a cup of the stock- or use water if you prefer.

Stir, cook slowly for five minutes.

Add the kale, cover and steam until it has wilted, stirring occasionally. Add the rest of the stock/water, simmer slowly- covered. Leave for 30-40 minutes, until the potatoes are soft.

Either use the back of a wooden spoon to smush some of the potatoes, or blend some of the soup and return to the pot to create a background for the rest of the soup.

Best left for at least an hour to let the flavours deepen, add salt to taste.

The Greens Cookbook recommends to serve this without a garnish, with the exception of some creme fraiche. I like to make a spiced paprika butter and serve the soup with this however. Shocking eh? I follow the Greens book to the letter most of the time.

Dollop the creme fraiche in the center, add a sprig of fresh parsley on the top and drip a ring of paprika butter around the edge. Delicious.

Glamorganshire Sausages

I haven't typed up this recipe up myself as THIS is a good recipe.

For a twist, use smoked cheese and serve with a spicy relish.

Red Thai Curry Paste

Red Thai Curry Paste

Thai Curry isn't for everyone's tastebuds, although I'm quite fond of the tangy/zingy-ness it has. One of the nice things about making your own paste is that you can balance the spices to suit you... although thats the same with any kind of cooking. This is waaaaaaay tastier than shop-bought curry paste.

This is also very quick and easy to make, to make Thai Curry simply fry the paste in a wok and add whatever... fry it up, add extra coconut milk and leave to simmer. Despite being a lover of noodles I always prefer Thai Curry with rice as it soaks up the juices better. This could also be used as a marinade.

I use...

1 Shallot

1 stalk fresh lemongrass

4 tsp Corriander (ground)

2 tsp Cumin

2 tbs Tomato purée

3 cloves of Garlic

Ginger... I forget how much. (Sorry)

4 tsp Chilli

Lots of Soy sauce

Coconut Milk to taste

Dice the shallot.

To prepare check out this; http://www.finecooking.com/item/5480/lemongrass

Add your desired amounts of cumin, corriander, ginger, garlic, chili, soy sauce, tomato purée and coconut milk. Remember that you add more coconut milk when you are cooking so the taste will be less intense- coconut milk is the cream of Asia and soothes chili. If it looks a little dry add some oil- I try to use one with little or no flavour. Vegetable oil isn't my favourite thing in the world but does the job.

Stick it in a blender, whizz it up until smooth and you're done.

Orange and Avocado Salad

A simple, well-known but superb salad.

You will need;-

Oranges

Avocado

Shallots

Cucumber

Mixed Salad Leavess

-A dressing to compliment. This depends on what else you are serving the salad with.

I like a squeeze of lemon and lime as this salad goes will with deep, rich and smoky flavours- it provides a welcome burst of fresh and fruity.

Slice the cucumber- do this in a special way however. First slice down the center of the cucumber. Then use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and excess water, finally place the cucumber face-down and slice horizontally to make crescent moon shapes on a slight angle.

Peel the shallots and dice.

Peel and slice the avocado and the oranges- cut the oranges into quarters before slicing horizontally. Try to keep the avocado and the orange roughly the same sizes.

Mix the cucumber and shallots with the salad leaves. Then add the avocado and oranges and mix carefully to avoid breaking them up. Squeeze on fresh lemon, fresh lime juice and you're done.

Black Bean Chilli

Fucking amazing chili. Spicy for those who don't often eat chilli. I'm starting to find it quite mild... it really is worth investing in the proper chillies for this recipe (www.coolchile.co.uk) as they really make this dish. Think smoky, with a warming and complex 'heat' from the chillies and you've got this chilli. It is also incredibly cheap if you have the correct spices in your cupboard- when I make this I only have to buy beans, onions and tomatoes. :)

This can be made into a soup if you water it down, however it is also thick enough to be used as a main course. Try serving it with rice, on a baked potato is very good, I've also had this on toast and in a lasagna. Its really good if you ladle the chilli ONTO the cheese, as then it melts and goes stringy and cheesey when you get to the bottom....yum yum yum Fritters would also be good but I have yet to eat this with fritters. I have also in the past whipped up a simple Orange and Avocado Salad, dressed with squeeze of fresh lemon and lime juice. This really balances out the flavours in the chili.

A recipe from my much-beloved 'The Greens Cookbook'.

Makes 2 litres;

185g Black Beans, soaked overnight

1 Bay Leaf

4 tsp cumin seeds

4 tsp oregano

4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 Negro/Ancho Chili to make chili powder, or 2-3 tablespoons chili powder

3 tablespoons groundnut or corn oil

3 medium yellow onions, diced into 5mm squares

4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

1/2 tsp salt

675g tomatoes- skinned, seeded, chopped and juice reserved

(using tinned tomatoes is easier but if you have the time grill fresh tomatoes to really play up to the smoked flavour in this chili

1-2 tsp chopped chipotle chili

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

4 tablespoons chopped corriander

Garnishes-

Cheese (smoked cheese is best)

Diced Green chillies, roasted, peeled, diced

Creme Fraiche/Sour Cream

Corriander

Sort through the beans and remove small stones. Rinse well, cover generously with water and leave to soak overnight. (Or use a pressure cooker, be wary of over-cooking however.)

Next day, drain beans- cover with fresh water by 5cm and bring to the boil with a bay leaf. Leave to simmer and prepare the other ingredients.

Heat a small heavy frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds, when they begin to colour add the oregano. Shake the pan frequently to avoid burning the herbs. When the fragrance is strong and robust remove from the heat and add the paprika and cayenne pepper. The peppers will only need a few seconds to toast- the heat from the pan will suffice. Grind herbs to make a coarse powder.

Preheat the over to 190c/gas mark 5. To make the chili powder put the dried ancho or negro chili in the oven for a few minutes to dry it out. Cool it briefly and remove the stem, seeds and veins from inside the chili. Tear the pod and grind into a powder.

Heat the oil in a large pan and saute the onions over a medium heat until the soften. Add the garlic, salt, ground herbs and chili powder and cook for a further five minutes.

Add the tomatoes and their juice and a teaspoon of the chipotle chili (or however much pleases you best). Simmer this for 15 minutes; then add the (drained) beans and, if required, enough water so the beans are covered by 1.5cm water.

Continue cooking until the beans are soft -an hour or longer- make sure the beans are amply covered with water.

When cooked, taste and add more chipotle chili if desired. Season to taste with the vinegar, additional salt and the chopped coriander. At this point I have also added the zest and juice of a lime. Lime and chili work together very well in my opinion. :)

Garnish as you please, I normally miss out the other chilies and serve with the cheese, cream and coriander. This is because I can't find the poblano chillies directed by the recipe.

Tagliatelle with Courgette and Cream

Olive Oil

Courgette

Single Cream

A soft cheese

Salt, Pepper

Stock

Other herbs or spices

Tagliatelle

Slice the courgette- or whatever you've decided to put with your pasta. You could put almost anything- tomatoes, mushrooms, aubergine... I find it best to slice it into long, thin strips as if you were cooking a stir-fry- not quite julienne, you need some substance!

Fry in olive oil, with salt, pepper and whatever herbs and spices you choose to use. I used oregano, parsley and chili.

While this is frying put on the tagliatelle in boiling, salted water.

Add stock to the courgette until they and just covered and leave to simmer. When most of the stock water has gone sir in the cream and the cheese to make a sauce. Leave this on a low heat if the pasta is not yet cooked.

...and you're done. I added a handful of chopped olives at the end, something like diced sundried tomatoes would also be very good. :)

Dark Chocolate and Ginger Cake

A ginger preserve cake with dark chocolate for extra indulgence.

Cake ingredients;

200g Butter (Unsalted preferable)

175g Brown Sugar

2 tbs Golden Syrup

1 tbs Black Treacle

175ml Milk

2 eggs

250g Self-Raising Flour

50g Coca powder

2 tsp Ground Ginger

1 tbs Freshly grated ginger

1tsp baking powder

Syrup ingredients;

Fresh Ginger

Water

Sugar

Icing ingredients;

300g Dark Chocolate

200 ml Double Cream

4 tsp Ground Ginger

Flaked almonds

Cake;

Melt the butter over a low heat, add the sugar, golden syrup, treacle and stir thoroughly. Don't let this mixture get too hot or start boil. Set this aside and allow it to cool slightly before adding the milk, lukewarm is ideal. Beat the eggs -one at a time- into the mixture. It is very important the mixture is not at all hot otherwise you will cook your eggs in the sugar-syrup-buttery mix.

Sift the flower, coca, ginger and baking powder together. Stir in the ginger.

Take your wet mixture, and add it bit by bit to the dry mixture.

Fold it in with a wooden spoon to keep the air in it.

Put all of this into a tin which has been greased and lined with baking paper, stick it in the oven at 180c and let it cook for anywhere between 40-50 minutes. Or until its cooked through. Its better to cook this cake slowly on a low heat, it shouldn't dry out.

Syrup;

While the cake is cooking peel some more fresh ginger and slice it. Add this to a pan along with some water and sugar and boil it down to make the syrup.

Once the cake has cooled, use a toothpick or somesuch instrument to pierce holes in the cake. Pour the syrup over the cake. Wrap in tin foil and leave for 2-3 days. I was only able to leave mine overnight and the ginger taste was still very strong, the longer you leave it the further the tastes will mature.

Icing;

Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over a pan of boiling water. Add the cream and the ginger and stir well.

Then, ice the cake.

Dry-pan the almonds until they are lightly toasted, sprinkle liberally on the top of the cake.

Then sit down and enjoy, possibly with a glass of brandy.

Pasta, New potatoes, Olives and Green Beans with Pesto

I made this using leftovers from the fridge but it worked out very well;-


Pasta
New Potatoes, boiled and sliced
Green Beans, sliced
Red onion, sliced
Sun dried tomatoes, sliced
Olives, sliced
Mixed Salad leaves, roughly chopped (rocket, baby spinach etc.)
Fresh Basil, sliced
Garlic, finely chopped
Dried Chili, crushed
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Pesto
Parmesan

Put the pasta on to boil.
Fry the potatoes, beans, sun dried tomatoes and onion with garlic, oregano, chili, salt and pepper in olive oil.
Drain in kitchen paper to remove excess oil once cooked.

Once the pasta is cooked and drained, return it to the saucepan and add the fried mixture along with the olives, fresh basil, lettuce leaves a dollop of pesto and a drizzle of olive oil if its looking a little dry.

Turn onto a plate, crack some pepper over the top and some parmesan cheese and you're done.

Its quick, easy, tasty. :)

Ancho Chile Pizza Sauce

Ancho Chile Pizza Sauce

Can obviously be adapted into a pasta sauce. Or the chile can be omitted if you don't want a spicy sauce. Or you could add a variety of other herbs to suit the toppings on the pizza, thyme if you wanted caramelized onion and goats cheese pizza for example. This is a guideline recipe for a basic tomato sauce and is really very versatile. (Like every recipe)

1 Red onion, diced
4/5 Chopped Sun-dried tomatoes
1 Ancho Chile
Three cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 Bay leaf
Salt
Oregano
Fresh parsley, chopped
Balsamic vingegar
Olive Oil
2 cans of tinned tomatoes/a lot of fresh tomatoes
-Tomatoes chopped and juice reserved
Fresh Basil

If the ancho chile is dried prepare it by first soaking it in hot water for 20 minutes. Then, open the chile up and remove the veins and the seeds from the inside. This is easily done by simply scraping a knife over the flesh of the chile. If you wish, save the water used to soak the chile to add to the sauce to give it some extra spice. Dice the chile and set aside.

Heat some oil in a frying pan and add the diced onion, chile, sundried tomatoes along with the garlic, parsley, bay leaf, a teaspoon of salt and as much oregano as you feel is necessary. Once the onions are heated through add a dash of balsamic vinegar. Fry until the onions are soft, taking care not to burn them. Add the juice reserved for the tomatoes.

Using tinned tomatoes is obviously much more convenient but if you are using fresh you could perhaps roast them (to bring about a greater depth of flavour and a sweetness to the sauce) or grill them (to make them smokey) Once cool, peel them and remove the seeds but keep the juice. Chop them and set aside to use in the sauce.

Let the sauce simmer, about an hour is required for the tastes to really infuse.
Chop some basil and stir it in once you've taken the sauce off the heat.
Allow the sauce to cool before you add it to the pizza.

Lentil-Spinach Soup

A superb recipe from my much-loved "The Greens Cookbook".

This soup is very quick, very easy and very tasty. :)

The first time I cooked this I used Chard as I could not get spinach, any green leafy vegetable would suffice, depending on what kind of flavors you'd like in your soup. Also I'd like to try using other dried beans, I expect chickpeas would work well but I'm also thinking about butter-beans.

This soup is not blended so it is a good idea to chop your onion and celery up into the smallest bits you can- from an aesthetic point of view it looks better and from a culinary standpoint the larger surface areas allows the flavors to emerge better.

The Stock-

Use water plus any juice left over from the tomatoes

The Soup

225g Green/Brown Lentils - rinsed

1 Bay Leaf

1 Celery stalk, diced

1.75 liters of water

Salt

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

1 Large red onion, diced

2 finely chopped cloves of garlic

3 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped

3 medium tomatoes, or canned tomatoes. Chopped and juice reserved

240g Spinach, stems removed and washed

Red wine vinegar/Sherry vinegar to taste

Pepper

Parmesan Cheese or cremé fraîche.

Put the lentils, bay leaf and celery in a soup pot with the water with reserved juice from the tomatoes and half a teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil, scoop off and foam that forms on the surface. (I forgot to do this, soup tasted great but it doesn't look so good.)

Slow cooking to a low boil.

While this is going on, fry the onion in a pan with oil and a dash of salt. Lower the heat as you then add garlic and parsley, neither of which you want to burn of over-cook. Cook until the onion is soft, then add the chopped tomatoes. Cook this for a further five minutes. Next add this mixture into the soup pot.

Cut the spinach/leafy green of your choice into strips 1cm wide. Once the lentils are soft, stir this in with the rest of the soup. Add more water if its looking a little dry, and salt to taste.

Let this soup simmer for five more minutes. Add the vinegar to taste. (It brightens the flavors of the soup)

Sever with pepper ground freshly on the top, and either parmesan or cremé fraîche.

Carrot and Orange Stir Fry

Carrot and Orange Stir Fry

Tomato puree,

Light soy sauce,

Ginger,

Garlic,

Fresh lime,

Honey,

Rice wine vinegar,

Leeks,

Carrots,

Cabbage,

Beansprouts,

Oranges,

Peanuts,

Noodles (of your preference, I used some from a Chinese supermarket and can't understand the writing on the front, have no idea what they are called)

Sesame Oil

Mixed seeds- whatever you preference. I used sesame and pumpkin seeds.

Sauce- equal amounts of tomato puree to light soy sauce, finely diced ginger and garlic, a squeeze of lime juice and rice wine vinegar and honey to taste. Mix it up, set it aside. I tried grating a little of the zest from the lime and also the oranges and adding it to the sauce. Depending on how many you are cooking for, you really don't need much sauce- you want to coat the vegetables lightly in it.

Cook your noodles, set aside. Lets hope they're not the kind that get sticky when you leave them, if they are you'll have to cook them while you're cooking the other stuff, which requires a little more concentration.

Shred some leek and cabbage. Grate the carrots. Grab a handful of bean-sprouts.

Peel and slice the orange into large segments, chop the peanuts. I like to leave them a little chunky to add texture.

Add some oil to a wok and fry. Groundnut oil would be wonderful in this dish but sadly is not something I can afford. Fry the vegetables until they are slightly soft, add the peanuts and sauce. Cook lightly and add the noodles. Fry again. Add the orange slices, being careful not to turn them into mush in the wok- stir gently!

Dish it up, garnish with sesame oil and mixed seeds.

Yum. Yum.

I'm pretty sure this recipe could do with some fine-tuning, but it was pretty tasty today.

EDIT:: 19th FEB

Tried making a carrot and orange broth to make a carrot and orange soup with an oriental twist. I used Miso Paste instead of soy sauce and watered it down a little. The noodles absorbed all of the broth, next time I'll try cooking the noodles beforehand first (instead of IN the broth) and also put less of/no cabbage in the soup.)