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Carbonara Revisted May 20, 2018

Filed under: Fast Food,Favourites,Italian,Meat,Pasta,Uncategorized — delishuss @ 9:02 am
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Pasta is my comfort food. This recipe is so simple and so satisfying. It’s from the Matt Preston Fast, Fresh and Unbelievably Delicious cookbook. It’s a great cookbook, it’s one of the cookbooks that I cook from the most. Lots of no fuss recipes and so many left that I want to try.

I’ve tried many methods for cooking a poached egg with varying degrees of success. My method is below but I’ve also given you Matt’s as well. The choice is yours.

Serves 4

Ingredient

  • 500g spaghetti
  • 6 rindless bacon rashers cut into long thin strips
  • 4 eggs
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 200g parmesan cheese, freshly grated
  • Freshly ground salt and pepper

Method

  1.  Cook the spaghetti as per the packet instructions with salted water. Drain once cooked.
  2. Add some olive oil to a heated pan and fry the bacon until nice and crispy.
  3. While the bacon is frying, it’s time to poach your egg. choose from either method below:

Grainne’s poached egg method

For best results, do one egg at a time.

  1. Fill a deep pan with some salted water to a rapid boil.
  2. Crack an egg in a ramekin.
  3. Once the water has come to a rapid boil, reduce to a simmer.
  4. Make a whirlpool in the water and slowly drop the egg into the whirlpool.
  5. The egg will take about 2 minutes to poached.
  6. Remove with a slatted spoon and place on kitchen paper until ready to use.

Matt Preston’s poached egg method

  1. Take a saucepan filled with boiling water, lightly salted. Create a whirlpool in the water with a wooden spoon.
  2. When the water is swirling, gently lower one egg at a time to the centre of the swirl. Turn off the heat and leave to sit for 3-4 minutes. Drain.

 

  1. Toss the pasta into the pan with the bacon and add half the parmesan, stir through.
  2.  Tong the pasta into a mound on each of the four plates, making a shallow well on the top.
  3. Lower the egg into the pasta well and grate loads of parmesan over each mound. Season with salt and plenty of cracked pepper. Sprinkle over the crispy bacon. Repeat for each of the plates.

 

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Sunday Roast Brisket March 26, 2018

Filed under: Meat,Roasts — delishuss @ 10:57 am
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Yesterday was a bit dull and dreary, perfect weather for a Sunday roast. After sifting through my bookcase of cookbooks, I decided on beef brisket. It was a choice between a more traditional southern style brisket from Gordon Ramsey recipe or a Jamie Oliver one. I asked the taste tester which he’d prefer and he gravitated towards the Jamie Oliver Mothership Sunday Roast Brisket one. I was a little intimated by the fact that there are Yorkshire Puddings to be made but I’d said I’d give it a shot.

A couple of things to call out, give the meat a good seasoning. I mixed an Oxo cube with the mustard and smothered the meat with it and I still felt it was slightly under seasoned. I’d go a bit easier on the blackcurrant jam as the gravy was a bit sweet for my liking. I also added a stock cube into the water for the gravy.

It’s a really satisfying plate of food and we have plenty of leftovers for all the other great recipes from the Jamie Oliver book (Save with Jamie).

Ingredients

2kg piece of beef brisket

Olive oil

2 large onions

2 teaspoons of mustard

1 Oxo cube

1 bunch of fresh rosemary

1.5kg potatoes

500g carrots

1 swede or parsnips

1 knob of unsalted butter

140g plain flour

1 tablespoon blackcurrant jam (I’d probably use 1/2 tablespoon)

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

400ml beef stock

Vegetable oil

2 large eggs

100ml semi-skimmed milk

 

Method

Brisket

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius/325 degrees Fahrenheit/ gas mark 3.
  2. Heat a frying pan and add a glug of olive oil.
  3. Season the brisket with salt and pepper and brown in the pan.
  4. While the meat is browning, slice the onions.
  5. Once all the meat is fried off, remove and set aside.
  6. Fry off the onions until brown in the frying pan. Add to the bottom of a casserole dish. (You can do all this directly in the casserole dish if you have gas, I only have induction).
  7. Rub the meat with the mustard and Oxo cube and rosemary leaves. Add to the casserole dish.
  8. Protect the meat with a sheet of wetted greaseproof paper. This keeps the meat moist and keeps in the juices. Cover with 2 sheets of tin foil and place in the oven.
  9. I like my brisket shredded, so I left it on for 5 hours. If you prefer to carve it, 4 hours will do. Check it half way to make sure there’s another moisture; if not, add a little water.

Veggies

  1. While the meat is cooking away, peel the potatoes, halving any larger ones. The original recipe says to parboil in salted water for 12 minutes. I chucked them in microwave for 6 minutes.
  2. Press the potatoes down with a masher gently until the split a little. Shake in some olive oil and plenty of salt. Potatoes love salt.
  3. Place in the oven an 1 1/2 before the end of the brisket cooking time.
  4. Peel and chop the carrots and swede or parsnips. Cook in salted boiling water for 20 minutes or until soft. Drain and mash with the butter. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.

Gravy

  1. Remove the potatoes and brisket from the oven and pour out some of the meat juices into a jug. Keep the meat and potatoes warm.
  2. Up the oven temperature to 250 degrees Celsius, 495 degrees Fahrenheit, gas mark 8.
  3. Heat a frying pan and add the flour, jam, vinegar, stock and resting juices. Similar until you have a nice smooth consistency. Keep it on a low heat until you are ready to use.

 

Yorkshire Puddings

  1. Grab a 12 hole shallow hole bun tray and add some olive oil to each hole. Don’t go too crazy as the Yorkshire puddings will end up being greasy and soggy.
  2. Place the tray in the oven while you make your pudding mixture.
  3. Put the flour and salt and the eggs in a jug and whisk. Slowly add in the milk and whisk until you have a smooth consistency that’s not lumpy.
  4. Carefully take the tray from the oven, it’s hotter than hell. Make sure you have somewhere heat proof to place the tray. Fill each hole 3/4 way full and place them in the oven.
  5. Bake them in the oven until they have puffed up and are golden brown, roughly 10 minutes.

 

Carve or pull apart the brisket and serve with all the accompaniments.

 

 

 

Slow Cooked BBQ Ribs February 18, 2016

Filed under: BBQ,Meat — delishuss @ 10:14 am
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I think ribs need to be slow cooked, otherwise they can be tough and chewy. These are delishussly succulent. I saw this recipe posted on Facebook and thought that I so needed to try it. I made it for Valentine’s Day along with the Chocolate Olive Oil Cake. The way to a man’s heart, well let’s face it anyone’s heart. This is a set and forget recipe, so so easy.

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients

2 cups of BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s bourbon sauce)

1/4 cup of brown sugar

4 tablespoons of cider vinegar

3 teaspoon of oregano

1 teaspoon of Worchester sauce

1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon of chilli powder

Salt and pepper to season

2 rack of ribs

 

Method

  1. In a bowl mix all the sauce ingredients together.
  2. Season the ribs with salt and pepper.
  3. Place one rack of ribs in the slow cooker and pour over half the sauce. Get your hands in there and cover the ribs with the sauce.
  4. Place the second rack on top and do the same as point 3.
  5. Cook on high for 4 hours or 7-8 hours on slow/auto.

Serve with coleslaw and some corn on the cob.

Reference: http://www.buzzfeed.com: http://bzfd.it/1RPqsJo

 

Pork, Veal & Ricotta Meatballs with Cavolo Nero August 2, 2015

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Italian,Meat,Pasta,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 9:22 am
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This is another Weight Watchers recipe. If I were to make it again, I would make a few tweaks. It would probably increase the propoints value of the recipe but I would switch out the ricotta for feta cheese. I found the meatballs to be a little lacking in flavour. I used breadcrumbs instead of rolled oats just because I had some leftover bread. I couldn’t find Cavolo Nero in the supermarket so I use kale instead, probably a bad idea as it didn’t really wilt down very well and was a bit hard. Next time I would just add some spinach instead close to the end of the cook until wilted. I did taste pretty good in the end but it would be even better with the suggested tweaks.

12 propoints value

Serves: 4

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1/4 cup (20g) trraditional rolled oats

400g pork, veal mince

4 green shallots, thinly sliced

1 small zucchini, finely grated

1/3 cup (80g) reduced fat fresh ricotta cheese, crumbled

1 tsp olive oil

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbs baby salted capers, rinsed, finely chopped

2 cups (500ml) tomato pasta sauce (I used passata instead)

100g trimmed cavolo nero (Tuscan cabbage), coarsely chopped

250g spelt spaghetti

Salt and pepper to season

Method

1. Blitz the oats in a food processor until finely chopped. Combine oats, mince, shallots, zucchini and ricotta in a bowl. Season well with salt and pepper.

2. Roll the mince mixture into balls. To prevent the balls sticking to your hand, you can spray them with some olive oil spray.

3. I cooked these in two batches to prevent them becoming soggy. Heat a frying pan and add some olive oil. Fry half of the mince balls until brown, turning frequently to coat all sides. Transfer to a plate. Do the same with the remainder of the balls. Re-add all the meatballs to the pan and reduce the heat. Add a lid and let the meatballs cook for 10 minutes. This is to ensure that the meatballs are cooked through on the inside. Remove from the heat.

4. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.

5. While the pasta is cooking add the onion to the same pan as the meatballs and saute for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minutes. Add the capers and the pasta sauce and bring to the boil. Add the meatballs and the cavolo nero and cook for another 3 minutes until the cabbage is wilted.

6. Serve the meatballs with the pasta and enjoy.

 

Beef Keema

Filed under: Curries,Indian,Meat,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 7:16 am
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I think I may have made something like this before but I saw it in the Weight Watchers magazine and decided to give it a go. It was really yummy and pretty healthy too. You could probably go with chicken or pork mince to reduce the calorie content. I don’t think the taste would suffer as a result. I’ve been giving Weight Watchers a go again. Not with too much success, if I’m really honest. It’s not the program but just my level of discipline. What I like most about Weight Watchers is that you can eat what you like so long as you point it out but that tends to become a little cumbersome if you don’t have the little points calculator or the app. Let’s face it, it’s common sense though. Eat good, whole, fresh food and you’ll be fine. Easier said than done. Anyway enough about that. Here’s the recipe.

6 propoints per serve

Serves 4

Prep: 10 mins

Cooking: 20 mins

Ingredients

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 brown onion, finely chopped

400g extra lean beef mince

1 long red chilli, finely chopped

2 tbs mild korma curry paste

3/4 cup (210g) canned diced tomatoes

1/2 cup (120g) frozen peas

1 tbs lemon juice 1/2 cup (140g)

low-fat natural yoghurt

60g spinach leaves

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Saute the onion, stirring for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Add the mince and fry off until browned.

2. Add the chilli and the paste, stirring for 2 minutes until the spices start to release their aroma.

3. Stir in the tomatoes and 3/4 cup of water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for another 5 minutes.

4. Add the peas and simmer for a further 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

5. Add the lemon and half the yoghurt and simmer for a minute. Stir in the spinach and cook until it starts to wilt.

6. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with the remainder of the yoghurt and the chopped coriander. You can add some steamed brown (1/2 cup) rice for an extra 3 propoints or have with more veggies for 0 propoints.

 

Piri Piri Stir Fry Pork June 10, 2015

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Meat,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 11:38 am
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I got this recipe from the Weight Watchers Spicy and Speedy cookbook. The recipe uses beef but I had pork which I thought would be nice instead. It’s so easy, it’s hard to call it cooking. The recipes states that you should use 2 chillies, I chickened out and only added one, I should have added 2. As a result of not adding 2 chillies, I didn’t really get an intense flavour so I ended up adding some hot sauce just to give it a kick. Probably, if I was making it again I would do the same, i.e. one chilli and some hot sauce but that’s entirely up to you.

Serves 2

Takes 15 minutes

4 1/2 points (if using beef)

Ingredients

Low fat cooking spray

200g lean rump steak or pork

2 garlic cloves, sliced

2 large red chillies, deseeded and chopped finely

1 teaspoon paprika

1 x 300g pack fresh mixed stir fry vegetables

100g passata with onion and garlic

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 x teaspoon hot sauce (if you like it hot ;-))

Method

1. Heat a non stick wok until very hot and spray with low fat cooking spray.

2. Add the beef and stir fry for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the garlic and chillies and cook for a further minute, stirring.

3. Add the paprika and stir fry vegetables and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the hot sauce if you are using it at this point. Pour in the passata and 100 ml cold water. Bubble for 1-2 minutes until sauce has thickened.

4. Squeeze over the lemon juice and serve immediately.

 

Slow Cooked Beef with Barley May 19, 2015

Filed under: Meat — delishuss @ 12:05 pm
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I must have this recipe for about a year and never tried it. I got it out of an Aldi magazine. It’s amazing where you can little gems of recipes. I was looking for something hearty and comforting at the weekend and came across this. It really hit the spot. I did my version in the slow cooker but they did theirs in the oven; I’m sure either works. I’ve altered the recipe as is my style, I had some spare thyme, so I popped that in. I also added some tomato puree and an oxo cube for added flavour.

Serves 6

Ingredients

1.2kg beef chuck steak, cut into 5cm pieces

2 tsp olive oil

1 medium brown onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 cups liquid beef stock

2 cans crushed tomatoes

2 celery sticks, chopped

3 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped

3 sprigs thyme, finely chopped

2 tsp brown sugar

1 sachet of tomato puree

1 oxo cube

Method

1. Season the beef with salt and pepper and drizzle with the oil and massage into the beef.

2. Heat a large frying pan on high heat and brown beef until sealed. Transfer to the slow cooker.

3. In the same frying pan, cook the onion and celery until softened. Add the garlic and fry for 2 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker.

4. Stir the tomato puree into the beef and vegetables in the slow cooker. Add the herbs, the stock, the crumbled oxo cube, and the sugar. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Set the slow cooker to auto and leave for 4 hours or more if you wish, stirring occasionally. Add the barley to the slow cooker and cook for another 2 hours.

Hey presto, you’re done. Serve with some nice crunchy bread or pasta.

Note: If you don’t have a slow cooker, preheat the oven to 155 degrees Celsius. Fry off your meat and veg as above and transfer to a casserole dish. Cover and bake in the oven for 2 1/2 hours, or until the beef is tender.

 

Beef Ragu August 17, 2014

Filed under: Favourites,Italian,Meat,Pasta,Soups and Stews — delishuss @ 7:41 am
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I’ve been on a mini-holiday, just at home but it’s been a nice relaxing couple of days. I have been going a bit mad with the slow cooker. I made this Ragu and also pulled pork: https://delishuss.com/2014/08/16/pulled-pork-roll/. I’m really enjoying using the slow cooker at the moment. I’ve had the best results with fattier cuts of meat. I’ve tried a curry recipe with lean lamb steaks and it shriveled up to nothing. I didn’t have a recipe for this one, I just winged it. I have another recipe on the blog for ragu, I reckon this is the better of the two.

6 serves

Ingredients

1.2 kilos stewing beef, chopped into chunks

1 onion, chopped

2 medium size carrots, roughly diced

5 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 oxo cubes

250 ml beef stock

250 ml red wine

Boquet garni

1 tin chopped tomatoes

4 slices of parma ham, chopped

1 sachet of tomato paste (25g or so)

4 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt and pepper to season

 

Method

1. Heat a large frying pan and heat 2 tablespoon of the oil. Saute the onions and the carrots. Remove from the frying pan.

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2. Heat the remainder of the oil and add half of the beef. Brown and remove from the pan and repeat with the remainder of the beef. While the 2 batches is browning, add the garlic and pancetta and fry off for about 3 minutes. Add the meat and the veg to the slow cooker.

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3. Add the wine and the stock to the frying pan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and add the tomato paste. Simmer for 5 mins and add the sauce to the slow cooker.

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4. Sprinkle the two oxo cubes over the meat. Unwrap the bouquet garni. Remove some of the stalks of thyme and rosemary and take off their leaves and sprinkle over the meat. Tie the bouquet garni back up and add it to the slow cooker.

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5. Pour over the tin of tomatoes and stir through. Season with salt and pepper.

6. I cooked it in the slow cooker for about 6 hours on high. You could do it on low for 8 hours if you have the time.  Once it has finished cooking. Remove the bouquet garni and any large leaves of rosemary or thyme stalks.

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7. Serve with rigatoni pasta or any pasta of your choice. I threw the pasta into the ragu before serving to soak up some of the juices.

 

Note: Half way through the cooking, you can place a piece of kitchen paper on top of the liquid and soak up some of the fat on top. Some chefs recommend using slices of bread.

 

Pulled Pork Roll August 16, 2014

Filed under: Favourites,Meat — delishuss @ 12:55 pm
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I was a bit hesitant about trying this recipe as a friend makes a pulled pork recipe and it’s hard to beat, I wasn’t sure this would live up to it. I’m going to be a bit biased here and say it certainly does. It was a resounding success. I got the recipe off Pinterest and the website is: http://www.culinarycovers.com/2012/04/carolina-pulled-pork-sandwiches/#_a5y_p=1020314. It’s quite a simple recipe, it just takes some time to cook. Good things come to those who wait.

Serves 8

Ingredients

Pork

One 3 1/2lb (1.5kg) boneless shoulder roast pork

1 teaspoon seasoned salt (I used onion salt)

1 teaspoon paprika

2 tablespoons of canola oil

Sauce

1 tablespoon of canola oil

1 small onion, diced

1 cup vinegar

3/4 cup ketchup

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard

8 seedless sandwich buns

Coleslaw

3/4 cup of light mayonnaise (I used Hellman’s, it’s hard to beat in my opinion)

Salt and pepper

Slaw mix

 

Method

1. Heat a skillet pan. Slather the meat with the oil, seasoning and paprika. Brown the meat on all sides and remove from the heat.

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2. Add the oil to the pan, heat and fry off the onion for 5 minutes. Add the vinegar, ketchup, mustard and sugar. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

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3. Add the meat to the slow cooker, pour over the sauce and cover. I cooked on auto for 5 hours and then high for another 2 hours. Baste the meat every hour or so to keep it moist.

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4. Mix all the coleslaw ingredients together and refrigerate until required.

5. Once the meat has finished cooking, remove the majority of the sauce. With two forks shred the pork.

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6. Half one of the sandwich rolls and fill it with the pork and coleslaw mix. Serve with some corn on the cob

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 http://www.pinterest.com/grainiac/recipes/

 

Tagliatelle with Quick Sausage Meat Bolognese May 27, 2014

Filed under: Fast Food,Italian,Meat,Pasta,Uncategorized — delishuss @ 9:10 am
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IMG_20140526_221429[1]I was looking for a pasta recipe and came across this one from Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course. It’s a perfect weekday evening recipe because it’s so quick and easy. The success of this recipe is dependent on the choice of sausage. Buy good quality packed with flavour.

Ingredients

Olive oil, for frying

1 small onion, peeled and finely diced

1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped

3-4 best quality Italian flavoured sausages (I used beef with sundried tomatoes and herbs)

150g dried tagliatelle

200g cherry tomatoes, halved

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

 

Method

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  • Heat a large frying pan and add a little olive oil. Sweat off the onions for 3 minutes and add the garlic for another 2 minutes or until the onion is softened.

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  • Remove the skins from the sausages and add to the frying pan. Break up the sausage meat as you fry it so that it resembles mince meat.
  • Meanwhile start cooking the pasta as per the packet instructions.

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  • When the sausage meat is lightly coloured, add the halved tomatoes and a little seasoning to the pan and continue to cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until the tomatoes begin to break down. Add a tablespoon or two of pasta water to the pan as it cooks to create a sauce.

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  • Drain the pasta, reserving a further couple of tablespoons of the cooking water. Add the drained pasta directly to the pan with the sauce. Toss well, and loosen with a little more of the cooking water if necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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 http://www.pinterest.com/grainiac/recipes/