Chicken and Mango Salad

♬ 'Metals' By Feist

A sharp and tasteful album which takes some getting used to as Leslie Feist brings something new and sharp, whereas her last album 'The Reminder' had a few more upbeat tunes, anyway her new album has already got me hooked.

Never thought I'd type this but really glad I'm back at work and it's a Monday! Last weekend I spent a lot of money on crap but glad I invested in new cds, hoping to give my housemates a break from Mark Ronson and Prince!

That's enough of the music part, now the food..

For those steering well away from certain carbohydrates for the next few months, try this super tasty salad for lunch or a light dinner.

I'm staring at the photo with admiration, it looks amazing. The excitement food gives me is similar to an adrenalin rush!

▶ Recipe for 1

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast fillet, chopped (100g).

1 mango

Vegetable oil

1 tsp clove powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

4 fennel seeds

2 cardamon pods

1 tsp chilli powder

Watercress, rocket and spinach salad bag.

2 mint leaves

Salt

Pepper

Dressing:

200ml fresh orange juice

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp dijon style mustard

2 tsps honey

Method:

: First fry the cardamon, fennel in a bit of vegetable oil.

: Once this smells fragrant add the chicken and the powders.

: Leave on a low heat, finely chop the mint and sprinkle on top.

: Meanwhile slice the mango and cut out small chunks, it's really up to you how much you want in the salad. I am a massive mango fan so all of it got involved!

: Lay a few of the salad leaves out on a plate, then disperse the mango.

: Make the dressing by adding all the ingredients in a tall plastic cup and shake, or use a jug and whisk.

: Once chicken is done (white on the inside, and tears away easily) distribute this over the mango and leaves.

: Pour the dressing over the salad, you might not need all of this so start off slowly!

: Season and dust the plate with cracked black pepper.

DONE!

The chicken combined with the mango will create a spicy and juicy texture, that is incredibly refreshing. 

Favourite Song:

ê 'The Circle Married The Line' By Feist

Full English Pancake

♬'Greatest Hits' By Foo Fighters

A fry up with Dave Grohl singing in the background, oh yes what a great start to the weekend! Before I face the stress of public transport I needed a full English that is cooking in one pan, and something that can slot on the plate. 

This delivered.

▶Recipe to serve 2 or 1 to cure a hangover!

Ingredients:

Pancake batter:

100g wheat free and gluten free plain flour (or normal plain)

1 large egg

200ml milk

pinch of caster sugar

2 pork and apple sausages (or vegetarian)

1 large egg

Spinach

Cherry tomatoes (or 2 large tomatoes cut in half)

Mushrooms (slice thickly or if you have button mushrooms leave whole)

Olive oil

Method:

: In a large non stick frying pan drizzle a bit of olive oil and cook the sausages.

: After 15 minutes cut the sausages open and add the mushrooms.

: Make sure there is enough space for an extra egg, spinach and tomatoes, now is the best time to move things around.

: Crack 1 egg opposite the mushrooms.

: Place the tomatoes next to the egg, leave on a low heat.

: Whisk all the pancake batter ingredients.

: Pour this around the sausages until the batter has surrounded everything in the pan.

: Place as much spinach as you want in one corner, you could add this before you pour the batter if you want.

: When bubbles start forming on top, shake the pan to loosen the pancake.

: The sausages should be done and have no pink showing on the inside.

DONE! 

Love it with a glass of orange juice.

Let me know if you added another favourite breakfast ingredient into the mix!  

Have a great weekend.x

Favourite Song:

ê'Times Like These' By Foo Fighters

Spotty Blueberry Cake with Blackcurrant Jam

What's on:

♬ 'The Best Of Run DMC' By RUN-DMC

Before I head out this cake has to be posted, simply because it is so deliciously soft and sweet.

What made me bake?

A CELEBRATION...

My bikram yoga practice came to a sweaty end today, no more bending and suffering for an hour and a half - now my attention has turned to boxing.

Back to the beautiful blueberry wheat free, gorgeous, scrumptious cake you are drooling at. 

▶ Recipe for 10 slices

Ingredients:

200g wheat free and gluten free self raising flour

150g caster sugar

150g soft butter

4 medium eggs

100g blueberries

Half an orange zest and juice (or 50ml milk)

Blackcurrant jam

Natural yoghurt or double cream (200ml)

Method:

:Preheat oven to 180°c, grease two 20cm diameter sandwich tins. 

: Whisk the sugar and butter until pale looking.

: Add the eggs one at a time and whisk.

: Sieve in the flour, put the whisk to one side and grab a large metal spoon.

: Use the spoon as a microphone while a good tune is on, then fold in the flour and blueberries.

: Incorporate the zest and juice, this flour needs a bit of liquid so this is why orange juice got involved - if you prefer milk that's cool.

: Divide the mixture between two tins, this is hard to get exactly equal, a good tip is to scoop in two spoons at a time.

: Bake for 25 minutes until golden at the top.

Take out and turn upside down on cooling rack, then you will see the most beautiful spots of blue. At this point I was mesmerised and knew this had to be shown off.

 Once cool spread blackberry jam and dollops of yoghurt, or whisk the double cream and spread that instead.

Originally the cake was going to be sandwiched with cream and I bought a pot of single cream - silly idea. I was whisking for about ten solid minutes then realised something is really wrong. Today's lesson, single cream cannot be whipped for a filling, only double cream.

Saw the yoghurt and put a few spoons of that on instead, I would recommend using yoghurt if you are serving this cake straight away.

Dust over with icing sugar.

DONE!

Favourite Song:

ê'It's Tricky' By RUN-DMC

Tomato Curried Stew with Sausages and Mushrooms

♬ 'Earthling' By David Bowie

Tonight's music choice once again inspired by Jo Whiley as she presented David Bowie in concert, who sounded unreal while I made this dish.

Dinner was going to be curried soup, then I saw a pack of pork and apple sausages and thought 'why not?'. Next thing I am chopping two sausages into 8 pieces and frying them with a random seed mix. There I was ready to sip on tomato soup and without thinking, ended up adding loads of spices and made an awesome dish. My mum makes the best and I mean the best lamb curry, your wondering where this is going - basically after all the lamb has gone, if there is soup left I like to eat it another day on it's own. This was originally why I chose to make curried soup. My mum's lamb curry should win awards and she should have a solid gold lamb chop trophy in the kitchen.

▶ Recipe to serve 2

Ingredients:

2 pork and apple sausages, chop each one into 4 chunks.

6 large mushrooms sliced then cut vertically down the middle.

Half a teaspoon of:

Nigella seeds

Mustard seeds

Cumin seeds

Fennel seeds

Fenugreek seeds

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 small red chili deseeded and finely chopped.

1 can of organic chopped tomatoes (400g)

Sea salt

Black pepper

2 tsp Worcester Sauce

Method:

: In a large pot add the vegetable oil, chili and all the seeds. 

: Once there is a bit of noise and activity tip in the sausages, put the lid back on, hold down and shake the pot around.

: Add the Worcester sauce.

: Then the can of tomatoes, fill can quarter way up with water and pour in.

: Season, stir once and simmer for 25 minutes.

Serve with coriander.

DONE!

O.M.G how fit does this look? I want to pick it up from the screen for second helpings. The good news is no bread in sight! How wonderful is that? Well the mushrooms and sausages are low in carbohydrates, I was tempted to buy some naan bread but held back.

A great dish for anyone who has come back from the gym and wants to chill while the kitchen smells of curry!  Few minutes to prepare and under half an hour to cook, beats waiting fourty five minutes for a fake out. Who knows what goes in a take away curry, this way you see and you eat. This hearty bowl filler reminds me of a classic sausage and mushroom sandwich with ketchup, which is heavenly and a bit naughty for breakfast!

Make it, eat it, love it.

Favourite Song:

ê 'I'm Afraid Of Americans' By David Bowie

P.s Very cool Alexander McQueen union jack jacket on this album cover, I would wear it and not share it.

NO CARB NO CRY?

HAPPY NEW YEAR LOVELIES.

2012 will be a GREAT year for food and music!

Let me get straight into this... reading glasses on, this is a long post.

Last year a few girlfriends told me they were going to try reducing or cutting out carbohydrates in order to lose weight. At that time I expressed my disgust and joked about it, now karma has slapped me in the face and during the end of 2011 my body was not loving rice, pasta, potatoes and bread.

The pain of acknowledging this was unbearable! How I craved a cheese and pickle sandwich at lunch, or wanted to dash to the chip shop for my favourite comfort food, and now a chip butty is completely out the question for a few months.

Bloating after consuming one of the above staples is common in many women, however it is not the end of the world, a healthy balance can still be achieved. There are many alternatives out there that we don't pay enough attention to.

FIRST

Go see your doctor especially if pain is excruciating.

SECOND

Switch to having or adding salads, soups, nuts, pulses, cous cous, bulgar wheat, or tortilla's to accompany meals instead of bulky potatoes or pasta.

THIRD

Eat fresh fruit and raw vegetables when hungry either as a snack (mange tout/apple/red pepper at the desk) or at the start of the day- at the moment when time permits, breakfast is a fruit salad with pro biotic yoghurt. 

Here is a lovely meal idea if you fancy a light salad on the side with a warm and herby fish in gorgeous broth.

♬

 I tuned into Jo Whiley on radio 2 as I prepared this mean looking dish:

Baked Sea Bass with Greens

▶Recipe for 2

Ingredients:

4 small mint leaves

3 sprigs of dill

5 basil leaves

1 Romano red pepper cut in small chunks.

The next three vegetables came in a pack so add however much you prefer of each.

Broccoli 

Mange tout

Peas

Olive oil

2 crushed garlic cloves

1 tsp rock salt

Small lime wedge

 Whole Sea bass with head and tail off (or two fillets 230g)

Method:

: Preheat oven 200°c

: Chop the dill and mint finely.

: Place the sea bass, all the vegetables, herbs and garlic in a medium pie/casserole dish.

: Pour olive oil, 200ml water and sprinkle rock salt.

: Make three big cuts in the fish then squeeze lime over the fish, then place on top.

: It should look like this...

So bright and beautiful.

: Bake for 30 minutes.

: When ready to serve cut the fish horizontally and lift the bone out the middle.

: Obviously as I am steering away from potatoes, a fine rocket, cherry tomato and parmesan salad with balsamic vinegar went beautifully on the side.

DONE.

 Not a bad start to 2012 if I don't say so myself!

Next Time:

⤵ If sea bass not available another chunky white fish like monkfish, cod or scallops would work.

ê

Favourite part of the show:

Jo spoke about the raw talent that was brewed in 2011 and how women took over music, so very true.

These were the top five albums in 2011:

1 - Adele 21 by Adele

2 - Christmas by Michael Bublé

3 - Doo-Wops & Hooligans by Bruno Mars

4 - Adele 19 by Adele

5 - Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay 

Ladies to look out for in 2012:

 Emeli Sandé

Lana Del Ray

Madonna

Nicki Minaj

Mita Patel

Exciting times ahead.

xx