Category: Recipes

Categories
Mains Recipes

Chilli Mushroom with Lime & Sea Salt Buttered Veg

A roasted filled portobello mushroom makes a great vegetarian dinner. It holds its shape and texture when cooked and releases its juices when you cut into it with a knife. In this dish it is combined with summer veg served with melting slivers of butter infused with lime, sea salt and chilli flakes.

Servings

This will make one serving, so multiply up by however many mouths you are feeding (I’ll say more about this below!)

Timings

20 mins to make the vegetable chilli filling, then 20 mins in the oven to roast.

You Will Need

  • 1 stick celery
  • half an onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • half a red, green or yellow pepper
  • a little vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon of plain flour
  • half a 440g tin of kidney beans
  • 300g vegetable stock
  • 60g red lentils
  • 1 portobello mushroom
  • seasonal veg (e.g. green beans, carrots) for one, boiled or steamed
  • 40g butter, softened
  • zest and juice of half a lime
  • a few twists of sea salt
  • a few chilli flakes

Method

  1. Put the chilli powder and cumin seeds in some oil, until sizzling.
  2. Finely chop the onion, celery, carrot and pepper and shallow fry until softened.
  3. Take off the heat and sprinkle the flour over. Turn the veg over until it is coated in the flour.
  4. Add the stock and bring to the boil. When boiling, add the lentils and kidney beans. Put on the lid of the pan and simmer for 10 – 15 mins until the lentils have softened.
  5. Remove the lid and let the mix reduce through evaporation, until you have a soft, thick consistency.
  6. Remove the stalk from the centre of the mushroom, chop and set aside. Brush the mushroom all over with oil.
  7. Fill the mushroom with the chilli mix, topping it with pieces of the stalk, gently pressed down into the mix. Place on a metal tray and roast in the oven at 180C for 20 mins.
  8. While the mushroom is roasting, chop and boil or steam the seasonal veg.
  9. In a small bowl, mix the butter, lime zest and juice, sea salt and chilli flakes. Place in the fridge until serving.
  10. Serve up the roasted mushroom with the veg on the side. Slice off a few slivers of the butter and let melt over the veg.

Customise it!

Lots of scope for going off piste here, while sticking to the fundamentals of a roasted portobello mushroom, a chilli filling and seasoned butter for the veg. Swap in other types of lentil or pulse, and use some drops of tomato passata if you wish along with the stock. Choose whichever veg you prefer to serve on the side, and prepare it as you like it. Garlic goes well in both the chilli mix, and especially in the butter.

I’ve given the measurements to make one portion here. However, I would quite often make a larger pot of the vegetable chilli and serve some of it on other occasions, in a different way (e.g. with rice) or freeze some of it for a later date. Similarly, the seasoned butter is great with other foods, such as sweetcorn and fish, so I sometimes make a larger batch of that as well.

In other words, don’t be afraid to gross up the amounts. Stick to the instructions above and you’ll have a nice meal for one. Go larger and who knows – you may have enough to feed a Seven Nation Army. Cue the White Stripes!

Categories
Mains Recipes

Turkey, Feta and Courgette Burgers

I’m pleased to announce that we have another guest post on A Different Kitchen! It is by my sister Pamela, an experienced and talented cook whose meals I have enjoyed on numerous occasions. 

Hi. My featured meal is Turkey, Feta and Courgette Burgers. I have used this recipe many times. It’s healthy, tasty, easy and uses up some of the mint in our garden (you can see some of our mint bush in the photo). It is also useful if you have an abundant courgette (or zucchini) harvest, which some of you may be experiencing at this time of year.

Servings

Depending on your preferred size of burger, the recipe makes as many or as few burgers as you like!

Timings

10 mins prep, and 10 mins to grill.

You Will Need

  • 500g turkey breast mince
  • 1 large courgette, spiralised or cut into tiny cubes (I use a Kenwood mini chopper)
  • 100g feta crumbled
  • 2 crushed garlic cloves
  • half teaspoon chilli flakes
  • small bunch of mint, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon sumac powder
  • zest of an unwaxed lemon
  • 1 large egg beaten

Method

  1. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl with your hand and shape into burgers.
  2. Place these on a baking tray lined with tin foil and cover with cling film.
  3. Put these in the fridge to firm – the smell is amazing.
  4. At this stage you can also freeze the burgers – or some of them – for another day.
  5. Put the tray under a hot grill and cook the burgers for 8-10 minutes, gently turning, until golden brown. 
  6. Enjoy with a fresh salad. No burger baps required!

Well done Pam and thanks for sharing this delicious looking recipe.

The author of a guest post gets to choose a favourite track of theirs for adding to the ADK Playlist. Pam’s choice is Happy by Pharrell Williams. She saw him performing the song live and says it was brilliant!

Categories
Blog Desserts Snacks

Take Me to the Beach

We spent the long bank holiday weekend by the beach at Branksome. The weather is still great here, and it was easy to swim in the sea each day. On the final day the breaking surf was a little too choppy for my liking, so I settled for going in knee high, and a barefoot run along the shore, stepping and splashing through the lapping waves.

One of the many pleasures in a trip to the beach is an ice cream from the kiosk. On this occasion, I noticed that they were stocking the new Vegan Magnum, and decided to give it a try. It’s a dairy-free version of the legendary ice cream on a stick. I’m not vegan, but I am always open to trying new foods and have enjoyed a number of vegan desserts in the past.

I wasn’t sure what to expect – the Magnum I consider to be no less than a modern design classic, and I did wonder if messing around with its ingredients may turn out to be a disaster. I was thinking of what happened when Coca Cola decided to update a famous soft drink that everyone had grown up loving, only to have to yield to popular opinion and go back to making it by the original recipe.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, it is quite difficult to point out the differences in a blind taste. The Vegan version still has a delicate chocolate couverture, made from coconut oil and cocoa butter, that fragments indulgently as you bite into it. The underlying ice cream, made from pea protein with vanilla, is sweet and velvety, and not at all (as I had feared) unduly coconut tasting. The only real difference I could pinpoint is slightly less richness to the creamy taste, but not in any way that would put me off buying another.

Dairy-free alternatives to foods have been growing in popularity for some time. A relevant factor in this is concern about the contribution made by the livestock industry to climate warming, and consumption of water at a time of increasing drought. Many believe a vegan diet brings health benefits and is kinder to animals.

What is clear is that anyone who is vegan can now enjoy a Magnum when they visit the beach, a theme park or go on any other great day out: a wonderful contribution to the cause of equality of opportunity.

I’m hoping there will yet be a few more trips to the beach before the summer is through. That will probably mean a few more Vegan Magnums to come, as I make the most of our Pure Shores.

Take Me to the Beach!

Categories
Desserts Recipes

Plum and Almond Crumble Squares

Those following on Twitter (@differentkitch) may recognise the above photo from my tweet earlier in the week. It shows a batch of lovely Victoria Plums, which have recently come into season and are appearing on our market stalls. This post shows how I turned them into Plum and Almond Crumble Squares.

I researched some plum recipes, with the general idea that I felt they would be great in a traybake. I settled upon one in BBC Good Food and, as usual, modified it to my liking.

The Squares have several layers, beginning with a biscuity base. On top of this is an egg custardy/almond/ bakewell pudding type layer, and then the subtle taste of the chopped plums. The main area where I modified the recipe was on the topping, adding rolled oats, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds to flaked almonds. This makes a crumble finish which is totally loaded, adding a toasted crunch as it bakes.

Servings

This will make 16 square slices (4 had already been eaten when the above photo was taken!)

Timings

Total prep time about 25 mins, total cooking time about 1 hr – 1hr 10mins.

You Will Need

  • 250g baking spread
  • 225g caster sugar
  • 300g ground almonds
  • 140g plain flour, plus an additional 25g
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon mixed spice
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 7 plums, stones removed and cut into slices
  • 50g flaked almonds
  • 50g rolled oats
  • 25g pumpkin seeds
  • 25 g sunflower seeds

Method

  1. Grease and line a baking dish with baking paper. My baking dish was 20cm square. Cut one piece that extends across the base and two opposite sides, leaving a little overhanging on each side. Paste a strip on each of the two remaining sides.
  2. Put the baking spread, sugar and ground almonds in a food processor with blade fitted. Pulse until it is mixed.
  3. Remove the mix from the food processor and reserve half of it aside. Put the other half back in the processor with the 140g flour, and mix till it forms a dough.
  4. Remove the dough and flatten it out with a rolling pin on a floured surface. You will not be able to lift it up in one piece (like a pastry base) but, as it gets flatter, lift it in pieces and gradually place these in the base of the baking dish. Press it down with the back of a spoon and distribute it so that it covers all of the base and at least about half way up the sides. It will all meld together as it bakes.
  5. Fill the base with a piece of crumpled up baking paper and baking beans, and place in the oven to bake blind at 180C for 10 – 15 mins. The edges of the base should be beginning to brown.
  6. While the base is in the oven, make the filling. Into the food processor goes the reserved half of the spead/sugar/almond mix. Add the 2 eggs, the 25g flour, mixed spice and baking powder. Pulse it to form a creamy batter.
  7. Remove the base from the oven and add the batter on top. Then gently press the sliced plums into the top of the batter so that they remain visible. Make sure that they are evenly spread across the whole of the cake – when it is cut into squares you want each one to contain plums. Bake in the oven, still at 180C for 25 mins.
  8. In a bowl, mix the flaked almonds, oats, and the two types of seeds. Give them a good swirl so that they are well mixed up together.
  9. Remove the dish from the oven and sprinkle the topping over. As with the plums, ensure even coverage. Gently press the nuts, oats and seeds towards the batter mix, so that they will adhere to it, and not fall off when it is cut!
  10. Place back in the oven for another 25 mins. After about 20 mins, check it and insert a skewer in the centre. If it comes out clear, it is baked. If it has some uncooked batter on it, put back in for another 5 – 10 mins and keep an eye on it.
  11. When baked to your satisfaction, remove and leave aside to cool in the tin. When cool, the base will have set and you should be able to lift it out in one piece, by gripping the two overhanging sides of the baking paper liner.
  12. Put on a board and cut into 16 squares. I find a serrated (bread) knife is better for cutting through the sides of the crust, so that these doesn’t crumble. Any other sharp knife will cut through the bottom of the base.

Customise it!

You could add other types of nuts and seeds to the crumble topping – whatever you fancy really. Just make sure you press the pieces gently towards the batter so that they adhere to the cake. Some of the crumble topping will still fall off and flake into your hand as you bite into it, but that is all part of the fun and indulgence of eating it. It’s food to make you feel good!

Categories
Recipes Sides Starters

Chunky Guacamole

Here is another recipe that is ideal for outdoor summer eating. This avocado dish goes well as a starter with a barbecue, or side with a salad eaten al fresco, particularly if accompanied by an ice cold bottle of Mexican beer. It is based on a recipe for guacamole by those motorcycling masterchefs, those culinary cruisers, those grooming gastronomes (Ed: that’s enough alliteration, thank you) the Hairy Bikers.

Servings

This will make enough as a starter, or side, for 4.

Timings

10 mins to prepare, no cooking involved.

You Will Need

  • one mild chilli pepper, seeds removed
  • bunch of coriander leaves
  • two medium sized tomatoes
  • half a red onion
  • juice of half a lime, plus slice to garnish
  • 2 – 3 fresh avocados

Method

  1. Put the ingredients in a food processor with blade fitted, and blitz until well blended, but still with chunks of veg visible.
  2. Er, that’s it. Scrape into a bowl and serve.

Customise it!

Serve with tortilla chips or with veg crudites, like carrot and celery sticks. The idea of leaving it a little chunky is so that you can pick up some identifiable pieces of the veg, coated in the creamy green sauce. It’s important not to over pulse it in the food processor to the extent that you lose the chunks and it takes on the consistency of baby food!

Enjoy this while the sun is shining on us – it won’t last forever. ‘Avo’ nice day!

Categories
Mains Recipes

Thai Green Curry with Jasmine Rice

Today I’m pleased to announce we have our first guest post on A Different Kitchen! It is by my son Jonny, a talented, fast-up-and-coming young cook. If you’re finding that work makes you too busy to prepare tasty and healthy meals, try Jonny’s suggestion below.

Hi. My featured meal is a Thai Green Curry with Jasmine Rice. I like this meal because it is fun to make, healthy and tasty, with a spicy kick. It also reminds me of when I ate it in Bangkok on my 22nd birthday.

I cook for myself, alongside having a busy full-time job. Quite often this means I have to spend time researching and preparing reports and presentations at short notice, with tight deadlines. It would be easy for me to fall back on convenience meals from the freezer and microwave, but I try to avoid this. I don’t think they are as tasty or healthy as meals made from fresh meat and vegetables. I don’t mind using some ready-made ingredients, as this speeds me up (for example, the recipe below uses a jar of curry sauce that I like).

Cooking is also good fun and gives me a break from my work.

Servings

This will make enough for three main meals. I usually make enough in advance to give me a main meal each day for three days. This saves me preparation time on subsequent days.

Timings

20 mins to prepare.

You Will Need

  • 250g green beans
  • 1 red pepper
  • 100g garden peas
  • 1 chicken breast
  • 1 340g jar of Thai green curry sauce (I like Morrisons’ one, made with coconut, green chillies and lemongrass, but others are available)
  • Sprinkling of chilli flakes
  • 200g jasmine rice

Method

  1. Chop the chicken into chunks and fry in a wok, till they are turning nice and brown.
  2. Chuck in the green beans and the red pepper, chopped. Give it all a good stir.
  3. While it’s cooking, boil the kettle and add the water to the jasmine rice in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 – 12 mins.
  4. Add the jar of sauce to the wok and stir it in so it is all heated through. Sprinkle over the chilli flakes.
  5. Drain the rice and serve a third of it on a plate, along with a third of the curry.

Customise it!

You can add any other veg you like or have to hand. An onion would go well, or anything else green, like courgette or mange tout.

I serve this with a bottle of ice cold water! Earlier in the day I fill two thirds of a 2l plastic bottle with water and put it in the freezer till it’s frozen. Take it out of the freezer and it will slowly thaw, providing ice cold water all day. This helps me stay cool and hydrated in all the heat we’ve been having, and is a good accompaniment to the spicy curry.

Well done Jonny and thanks for sharing this delicious looking curry. Jon now has a repertoire of 10 recipes he’s mastered, each providing three days of main meals. All being well, he’ll share some more of these in future guest posts!

The author of a guest post gets to choose a favourite track of theirs for adding to the ADK Playlist. Jon’s choice is Electric Feel by MGMT. 

Categories
Mains Recipes

BBQ-Baked Fish

Our weather this weekend was just ridiculous – 30+ degrees C every day – so cooking out of doors was definitely on the agenda.

Fish baked on the barbecue is an idea I first came across in a recipe book by legendary outdoor chef, Keith Floyd. For me, this was a different way to cook fish and I have done this several times since.

Servings

This is a meal for two.

Timings

5 mins prep, 15 mins to cook.

You Will Need

  • Tin foil
  • 2 fillets of fish
  • handful of spring onions
  • juice of half a lemon
  • drizzle of olive oil
  • cherry tomatoes on the vine
  • sprinkling of herbes de provence

Method

  1. Start by tearing off a large sheet of foil, and brush it lightly with oil.
  2. Place a couple of fish fillets in the middle (I used cod loins, but other fish will do just as well)
  3. Give the fish a topping. This can change depending on what’s in season and what you have to hand. I had a good crop of spring onions from the garden, so chopped these over the fish, adding the juice of half a lemon, a drizzle of olive oil, and a few twists of black pepper.
  4. Then gather up the sides of the foil to form a parcel, crimping the edges together in a pasty-type shape.
  5. Place the parcel on the griddle plate of the barbecue and close the lid. Leave it for about 10 – 15 mins.
  6. We have a glut of cherry tomatoes in the garden at the moment, with all this hot weather, so I snipped off a vine and cooked this also on the griddle, alongside the fish parcel. I brushed the vine and tomatoes in olive oil and gave them a sprinkling of herbes de provence. They look great on the plate and provide a rich, squishy sauce to complement the fish.
  7. Take care when opening the fish parcel as there will be a sudden escape of heat. The flesh of the fish should be in flakes, and some parts of the underside will be lightly charred (see the photo above, taken as the parcel was opened). This is a really nice part of the dish, as it gives it a taste and texture you will not normally get when cooking fish in a more conventional way, like in an oven or a pan. Don’t overdo it though, or the fish will burn!

Customise it

There’s lots of scope for playing around with the topping – parsley goes well if you have it, and also a few capers.

My BBQ-baked fish and tomatoes was served with a few new potatoes and lightly steamed summer green veg, washed down with a glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc – dining al fresco, of course!

As for the musical accompaniment to this post, the last time I blogged about a barbecue meal I opted for The Doors’ Light My Fire. This great track by The Prodigy was in close contention, so here it is in its own right, now added to the ADK Playlist. It’s the song every barbecue chef should be humming as they warm up their grill, and guaranteed to get the party going:

I’m a Firestarter!

Hey, hey hey!


Categories
Desserts Recipes

Heatwave

There seems to be no sign of our UK summer heatwave relenting: new record temperatures, and forecast to stay very hot again this weekend. On top of that, we are now (in my region) officially in drought, so alongside all the good advice we’re getting to plan ahead, stay out of the sun, drink water etc, we are now instructed not to use hosepipes for watering gardens and washing cars, to protect our river levels. All very sensible, of course.

Now I have some good advice of my own to impart: make strawberry ice cream.

There you go – some practical, free public health guidance that I am pretty certain you will not be receiving from any official government agency. Don’t mention it – you’re welcome.

To enjoy the cooling effects, just follow the steps below.

Servings

This will make around 1kg, so usually enough for 9-10 servings.

Timings

15 mins prep and 35 mins churning.

You Will Need

  • an electric ice cream maker
  • 400g fresh strawberries
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 220g granulated sugar
  • 220ml full fat milk
  • 400ml double cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

  1. Ensure the drum of the ice cream maker is completely frozen. I leave mine in the freezer for 24 hours before making.
  2. Chop the strawberries and combine in a bowl with the lemon juice and 70g of the sugar. Cover and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
  3. Remove from the fridge and strain through a sieve, saving the pink liquid. Mash half the strawberries and mix with the liquid, keeping the other half aside.
  4. In a separate bowl, combine the milk and the rest of the sugar. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved, and then stir in the mashed strawberries and vanilla extract. Cover and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
  5. Remove from the fridge and pour into the drum of the ice cream maker. Proceed to churn for 35 mins. Add the remaining chopped strawbs during the last 5 mins of churning.
  6. Switch off, and scrape into a plastic container. Seal and place in the freezer to set for at least 2 hours.
  7. Place 2-3 scoops in a bowl, serve with a piece of shortbread if you like.

    Find a shady spot and enjoy – ideally with this seasonal track from The Jam on your headphones.
Categories
Blog Snacks

End of the Party

While sampling the foodie delights of the West Midlands, during my stay here for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, I’ve had the great fortune to come across the Merry Mouse. Who, you say?

The Merry Mouse is a Deli Van that visits the markets around the region. It’s particular speciality is local cheeses – often produced by small farms. You can’t fail to notice the distinctive livery.

Aided by helpful descriptions of the cheeses, and the knowledgable seller, I decided to put together my own Merry Mouse Cheeseboard.

First up was Cheddar Hop – a wedge of tasty, mature cheddar that had been rolled in toasted hops. This gives it a spiced and smoky flavour, with best bitter notes.

Accompanying this was a piece of Colston Bassett Stilton. The description given by the MM was that this was simply the best Stilton you can get. I’m not inclined to disagree with that assessment.

Finally, we had a slice of Cote Hill Blue, a soft and unpasteurised creamy blue brie-style cheese, made on a small farm in Osgodby, Lincolnshire.

Served up with some oatcakes and red grapes, and with the closing ceremony of the Games on TV, it made quite the occasion.

It’s been a thoroughly enjoyable 11 days at Birmingham 2022. The elite sports have been great to watch, and the Festival Sites, other cultural activities and local food and drinks, a joy to experience. All in all, it’s demonstrated the rich diversity of the West Midlands. The Games have shown once again the power of sport to bring people together and overcome barriers – something we were all in need of after the last couple of years of enforced separation and restrictions.

During the Ceremony, the Commonwealth Games baton was handed on to Regional Victoria, in Australia, who will host the next event in 2026. I will be visiting Victoria this winter and am looking forward to discovering more of the local food and culture there (including the local cheeses). However, more of this in a few months’ time

For now, it seems apt to close an amazing 11 days with this track from one of Birmingham’s own – The Beat.



Categories
Breakfast Recipes Snacks

Banana Oat Breakfast Bars

The recipe for these first appeared on page 66 of the February 2005 issue of Sainsbury’s Magazine. I know this because I ripped the page out and have kept it carefully ever since. I have lost count of the number of times I have made these – the recipe has proved reliable as a fresh, tasty and healthy snack for breakfast, lunchboxes, car journeys, filling the gap at half-time at a football match etc.

Servings

Depending on how you cut these, it will make 16 squares or around 20 rectangular bars.

Timings

15 – 20 mins preparation, plus baking time 25 mins.

You Will Need

  • 75g mixed nuts
  • 110g margarine
  • 75g demerara sugar
  • 3 tablespoons golden syrup
  • 200g rolled porridge oats
  • 75g self-raising flour
  • 40g dried cranberries
  • 2 medium ripe bananas
  • 1 egg

Method

  1. Spread the nuts across a baking tray and toast in the oven at 180C for 5 mins.
  2. While the nuts are toasting, combine margarine, syrup and sugar in a saucepan and heat gently until all have dissolved into a thick paste.
  3. Remove the nuts from the oven and chop in the food processor with blade fitted. Leave the oven on.
  4. Combine nuts, flour (sifted), oats and dried cranberries in a bowl.
  5. In a separate bowl, peel and mash the bananas, and mix in the egg.
  6. Combine the banana/egg with the oats/flour and give it a good stir. Finally , add in the syrup/sugar paste. Mix well so that there is no dry flour and all the oats are covered in the brown syrupy paste.
  7. Tip the combined mixture into a traybake tin. The one I use is 20cm square, but it also works with a rectangular tin measuring 25cm x 16cm ( I have made both with these ingredients).
  8. Bake in the oven, still at 180C, for 25 mins.
  9. Remove and leave to cool in the tin. Once cool, invert it on to a chopping board, then carefully invert it back again on to another board. You can then chop it into rectangular bars or squares, as you wish. These will keep in a tin for up to 3 – 4 days, though they are usually all gone well before that!