Breakfast Yorkshire Puds

♬ 'XX' by The XX

Last night's boxing class has left me with legs that feel like they are made from iron and a stomach made from concrete! The first thing I wanted to do this morning was get this album on, stay in bed and avoid the sit up in order to get out of bed.

  Sometimes when I have an idea I check online to see if it's been done first, and if it has I get a bit disappointed, but with so many exciting and adventurous foodies out there, there are blogs booming with talent. Last night when I typed a recipe idea into Google, Jamie Oliver was the first name that popped up. Now I just want to make clear that I am not a copycat and I wanted to eat a Yorkshire pudding for breakfast ever since I made my own last Sunday. When I saw Jamie had already come up with this genius idea, my heart sank a bit, but hey its Jamie Oliver, this chef can, and will come up with something original and crazy and people will try it. I saw the recipe title and then closed the Mac straight away. I got a lot of love for Jamie, but I am just as original. I rushed downstairs with the XX, and saw what I had: some sausages, beans, spinach, tomatoes, eggs and milk. And excuse the abbreviation but O.M.G, get your mouth around this and you will wish you had it on a Sunday morning, not with your roast!

Who am I kidding...Yorkshire puddings are great with roasts, but these are well nice with beans instead of gravy.

    ▶ Get the XX on, it's time to start cooking..

Yorkshire Pudding Mixit Recipe:

Ingredients to make 6 in a yorkshire pudding tin, or deep muffin tin.

250g organic plain flour

150ml semi skimmed milk

4 large free range eggs, beaten.

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil

6 Helen Brownings organic speedy sausages.

Fresh spinach washed.

A few jalapeños.

6 chestnut mushrooms cut in quarters, or whole button mushrooms.

3 tomatoes cut in quarters.

Baked beans

Breakfast Cookit Method:

 : Sieve the flour in a bowl.

: Add 150ml of cold water in a jug, add the milk and mix.

: Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the egg mixture.

: Then pour in the milk mixture, add a little at a time.

: Whisk until it has a smooth consistency, season with a pinch of salt and pepper and leave in the fridge for 20 minutes.

: Preheat the oven to 200°c and put the tin you will be using in for a few minutes.

: Take out and pour about a teaspoon of olive oil in each hole, pop back into the oven until the oil starts to smoke.

: Pour the batter in a jug so it's easy to pour in the tin, once the oil is smoking hot you have to work quickly and carefully. 

: Pour an equal amount of batter in each hole, then add a sausage, mushroom, and tomato quarter. I mixed it up a bit and added half with spinach and jalapeños, of course this is entirely optional and only if you like a bit of spice in the morning!

: Bake for 25 minutes, do not open the door at all during this time. Don't worry if they haven't risen yet, they will and when they do it will be beautiful. 

: After 25 minutes, they should be golden brown and quite tall, take out the oven and touch the tops to see if they are crispy.

: Serve with hot baked beans and a grand cup of orange juice.

Have a great Friday, the fun has just started on this blog, I feel this weekend is going to be all about MixitCookit.

This time last year:

 ⤵ 'Spicy Eggy Bread

Favourite Song:

ê 'Islands'

Easter Treats

 Here are a few snippets from my Easter weekend...

♬ 'True Loves' by Hooray For Earth

As soon as I heard about this album, I was all over it like a hot prickly rash. 'No love' was on about 50 times today while I made an enormous feast for the family. I don't believe I put myself up for the task to be honest. Roast chicken, lamb...actually roasting everything! The leg of lamb got demolished straight away, it was so divine. The marinade was a garlic and rosemary butter, and that's it. Maybe the camera got shy due to how beautiful the leg looked. Simple yet wonderful. 

For the very first time I made Yorkshire puddings, and I screamed with delight once they puffed and rose to new heights. Thank goodness for rosemary, thyme and red wine, without these life would have been tough today.

Roast chicken with chili, lemon wedges, rosemary, thyme and garlic. 

Chocolate steamed pudding, filled with nutella, topped with a white chocolate crust and dark chocolate ganache.

Being in charge of a Sunday roast is not an easy task, managing time, having patience and listening to uplifting music definitely helps.

Pretty daffodils spotted on my morning run.

Favourite Song:

ê 'No Love'

Happy Easter everyone, eat and nap well.x

Mediterranean Stuffed Tomatoes

OOOOOOOH WEEEEEEEEEEE!

♬ 'Come Around Sundown' by Kings of Leon

I have Kings of Leon on in the background and a belly full of Indian food. Yes I gave in! I couldn't stay away from curry for more than 4 days. What a disgrace, but if you saw the lamb curry yesterday, it was waiting for me to scoop it up with a nice buttery chapati. Listen you have to sympathise with me on this, being at home mainly involves eating curry, and breaking away from that tradition is strange! Another tradition we had was to make toast on the grill, for years my parents refused to invest in a toaster! Every morning we had to keep an eye on the toast, because those extra minutes meant gold and buttery or burnarama. 

The juicy and plump tomato you are licking your lips at, was served this morning with poached egg on toast (obviously made on grill), and asparagus.  We are never short of tomatoes in my mums house as its a staple in most of her curries. An Incredibly succulent and satisfying start to the day, full of mediterranean flavours like olive oil, herbs, basil and of course the tomato.Eating this was an excuse to eat well before I consume my body weight in chocolate this weekend. I want to pick it up from the screen!

 Try as a starter or a make a whole tray of them for a bbq.

▶Get the grill fired up, here's the recipe:

Feeds 3

Time taken: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

3 medium tomatoes

4 teaspoons of cream cheese (Philadelphia)

5 large basil leaves, chopped.

Salt 

Pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

2 tsps Herbes De Provence

Method:

: Wash the tomatoes. 

: With a small sharp knife, cut out a small hole at the top and then keep on cutting in. Scoop out some of the seeds. 

: In another small bowl add 1 tbsp of oil, include the herbs and mix well.

: Drizzle over the tomatoes.

: Grill on the middle shelf for 15 minutes.

: While they are on the grill, make the filling by mixing the cream cheese and basil with a fork. Season if you wish.

: Once the tomatoes are done, take off the grill carefully and with two teaspoons fill them.

: Put a few extra basil leaves on top and you should be a happy bunny.

DONE!

This time last year:

⤵Scrabble Snack

Favourite song from album:

ê 'The Immortals'

Seafood Tagliatelle with Lemongrass

♬ 'Tease Me' by Chaka Demus & Pliers

 I was just dancing in my kitchen like a reggae wannabe. I'm sure I didn't look that bad, only one person pointing from their balcony. The title of the album is definitely the best track, and a sure winner every summer when convertible cars bless the streets of east London.

By the looks of it that won't be happening any time soon, apparently it's going to snow this week. Gosh, I am seriously tempted to jet set out of this grey country and dip my hands in some colour elsewhere. The week is going well, I haven't been tempted to make a curry or even give coriander any attention. Apparently mum will be making her legendary lamb curry this weekend - someone will have to hold me back!

One thing that excited me today is the above dish. A sauce with prawn, anchovies, rocket, spring onions, pomodorini cherry tomatoes infused with lemongrass. Seriously that was all in the sauce! A mouthful to read and trust me once your tongue touches this, you will want to brag about it the next day. Lemongrass has such a vibrant and lingering hold, combined with an anchovy it's like ka-pow!

Recipe for sauce to serve with tagliatelle:

Serves 2

Time taken including chopping and boiling pasta: 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

400g can of pomodorini cherry tomatoes.

75g anchovies in olive oil.

1 garlic clove

3 spring onions, chopped.

2 small sticks of fresh lemon grass.

225g raw jumbo king prawns.

Fresh rocket

Salt

Pepper

Method:

: While boiling water and cooking the pasta, this sauce can be prepared.

: Empty the anchovies and olive oil in a large frying pan, add the garlic, spring onions and prawns.

: Fry for 3 minutes then tip in the can of tomatoes, and immerse the lemongrass in the sauce. Do not stir, the tomatoes are so cute when they stay slightly intact and get softer.

: Simmer for a further 5 minutes then it's done.

: Taste to see if it needs seasoning. Chances are the lemongrass and tomato will be enough. 

Before serving, take out lemongrass and stir through the rocket.

Serve straight away.

DONE!

The verdict?

Your mouth will never let you forget this moment.

Definitely packing this for lunch tomorrow.

This time last year:

⤵ A fruity roast...

Favourite Song:

ê 'Tease Me'

Mustard and Sage Chicken with Dauphinoise Potatoes

♬ 'Watch The Throne' By Jay Z

Drop the roast and try something different. Jay Z, Kanye West, mustard, a leek and carrot, yes you read right. Get the gratin dish and peeler ready...

▶Recipe:

Feeds 3.

Time taken including peeling, chopping and all the fiddly bits: 2 hours.

Ingredients:

Mustard Chicken:

350g chicken thigh fillets, chopped in chunks or left as they are.

3 tsp wholegrain mustard

Half a tsp of dried sage

1 large leek, chopped.

1 large carrot, grated.

Olive oil

1 small clove of garlic, crushed.

Salt

Pepper

Dauphinoise:

Butter to grease dish.

4 large Maris Piper potatoes

Oregano

300ml single cream

Rosemary

Salt

Pepper

Parmesan

Method:

: Preheat oven to 200°c.

: Finely slice the potatoes, or use a mandoline slicer.

: Put in a bowl of cold water and rinse. Keep on a kitchen towel and dry.

: Lightly butter and rub a small crushed garlic clove all around the gratin dish, add black pepper.

: Line the potatoes neatly, pour over the cream, season and top with a few rosemary leaves, oregano and grated Parmesan.

: Bake for an hour and a half.

: Once an hour has gone by, use this time for the chicken.

: In a bowl marinade the chicken in a bit of olive oil, mustard, sage and season.

: Fry the crushed garlic in olive oil, time for the chicken to go in. After a few minutes add the vegetables and cook for 15 minutes until chicken is tender and leeks are soft.

: Check on the potatoes, once bubbling and looking scrumptious, serve straight away with greens and chicken. 

DONE!

Gorgeous, tasty and devoured in a few minutes.

Favourite Song:

ê 'Otis' by Kanye West, Otis Redding and Jay Z.