How to double pod broad beans

I love broad beans but some people don't, I think that is because most people don't double pod them! If you don't they just look grey and their grey skins are not very inviting. So give double podding a try, you can then use them in soups, pasta dishes and much more. My next blog post will be a  and broad bean bruschetta which is a great and healthy meal.

• First remove the beans from their pods.
• Put boiling water into a pan and boil the broad beans for 5 minutes, then drain.
• Place the beans into a bowl of cold water.
• Then you can just pop the beans out of their skins, out will come 2 halves of bright green broad beans.

Creamy bacon, mushroom and asparagus pasta

I made this recipes up last week after deciding I wanted a cream pasta for dinner but couldn't find any recipes which weren't too heavy. I love pasta, and this is such a quick and easy dish. You can swap the asparagus for peas or anything you like. Great served with some garlic bread.

Serves 2 (can easily be doubled up to serve 4 people)

Ingredients:

• Half a pack of smoked bacon chopped (you can use unsmoked if you prefer)
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 small glass of cider or white wine (if you prefer not to use wine or cider you can use a little chicken stock)
• Handful of chestnut mushrooms thinly sliced
• 125g asparagus sliced into inch long pieces
• 250g fresh pasta
• 142ml double cream
• Some fresh parmesan
• a small handful of parsley chopped

Recipe:

1. On a medium heat cook the bacon in a little oil until crisp and set aside.
2. Using the same oil you used to cook the bacon soften the onions for 10 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes until the garlic is just beginning to colour.
3. Add in the cider (of what ever you prefer) and allow for the alcohol to cook off (this should take 5-10 minutes).
4. Cook the asparagus for 3 minutes and set aside into a bowl of cold water.
5. To the sauce add the cream and mushrooms and allow to thicken for 5 minutes (do not cook for too long otherwise the sauce will split) then add in the asparagus so it can warm through. Season and add in the cooked bacon.
6. In the meantime cook the pasta as pre the packet instructions and drain.
7. Mix the pasta and sauce together and serve with parmesan and the parsley.

I hope you like this recipe as much as I did, please let me know your thoughts!

Vegetarian Cornish Pasties

Wikipedia states "Side-crimped pasties gave rise to the suggestion that the miner might have eaten the pasty holding the thick edge of pastry, which was later discarded, thereby ensuring that his dirty fingers (possibly including traces of arsenic) did not touch food or his mouth".


I made these for our Jubilee picnic and they were really tasty. They are great for picnic's, lunch or a quick snack. These pasties are filled with cheese, potato and Marmite which is a match made in heaven!


Ingredients:

• 500g potato, grated
• 200g mature grated cheddar
• 100g breadcrumbs
• 1 bunch of thinly sliced spring onions
• 2 eggs
• fresh chopped herbs
• 500g short crust pastry
• 2 tbsp Marmite

Recipe:

1. Mix the potato, cheese, breadcrumbs, spring onions and 1 egg in a bowl.Sprinkle over salt and pepper to taste and add in some fresh chopped herbs (use any you have, I used chives and parsley) and mix again.
2. roll out the pastry so it is just slightly thicker than a pound coin (3.5 mm). Cut the pastry into circles using a 16-17cm round plate as a template, you will probably have to re-roll the pastry a few times.
3. Warm the Marmite in a small pan with a splash of water so it is runny. Brush the pastry with the Marmite leaving a 2-3cm boarder.
4. Divide the fillings between the middles of each circles, then beat the left over egg and brush around the boarder of the pastry. Bring up the 2 sides and crimp - if you don't know how to just watch this video  http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/techniques/crimping_pasty .
5.  If you want to freeze the pastry to cook later just pop them on a tray in the freezer until hard, then put into a freezer bag until required.
6. Warm the over to 160°C and brush the pasties all over the beaten egg. Cook for 50 mins - 1 hour until golden brown.
7. Eat warm with brown sauce and lots of salad (or what ever you fancy!).

Coronation chicken sandwich

I love coronation chicken sandwiches so I had to make these for the Queens diamond jubilee picnic me and my family had! Perfect for lunch, in a picnic or no bread with lots of salad.

Ingredients:

• Poached chicken - 2 legs and 2 breasts (see my recipe for poaching) or any left over cooked chicken you have cut into chunks
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons Greek yoghurt
• 3 tablespoons mango chutney (to taste)
• 3 teaspoons mild curry powder
• Small bunch of coriander chopped
• Crusty bread

Serves 4 people

Recipe:

1.  Add the chicken, mayonnaise, yoghurt, and mango chutney to a mixing bowl and mix gently. Add the curry powder a little at a time to taste, then add the coriander. Give it one final mix and make into sandwiches.
2. There ready to eat! You can add in dried apricots and raisins if desired, I like my sandwiches with crisp lettice inside.

How to poach chicken

For my coronation chicken I wanted to poach the chicken, I found it quite difficult to find a recipe on the internet after trying it out I thought it would be a good idea to add it to my blog to anyone who also wanted to try it. 

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts and 2 legs
• 1 medium  onion, cut into quarters
• 4 small garlic cloves peeled
• 1 tbsp salt
• 6 whole black peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf (optional)

Recipe:

1. Add all of the ingredients to a heavy bottomed pan and bring to the boil.
2. Cook for 20 minutes then remove the chicken breasts and cook for a further 10  minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and slice the chicken ready for serving - or set aside for my coronation chicken recipe coming soon!

To make stock from the left over water and bones put the pan back on a low heat for 1-2 hours until it smells divine (I put mine in the slow cooker over night on a medium heat).

Apple, raspberry and blueberry crumble

Crumble is really quick and easy to make, perfect in winter or summer and a great end to any meal. You can use any fruit you fancy, this combination is really light and fresh.

 

Ingredients:

For the filling

• 4 large cooking apples, peeled and chopped
• 1 punnet of raspberries
• 1 punnet of blueberries
• ½ the juice of one lemon
• 50g sugar

For the topping

• 105g rolled oats
• 105g white flour
• 60g sugar
• 105g cubed butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Serves 8 people

1. Preheat the oven to 190oc. Mix all of the filling ingredients in a deep oven dish and then put to one side.
2. Add all of the topping ingredients to a mixing bowl and rub lightly with the tips of your fingers until it resembles bread crumbs. Then sprinkle over the topping.
3. Bake for 30-40 minutes until crisp and golden, serve with cream or ice cream.

Bacon and asparagus risotto

I love risotto, its so comforting and goods to eat. You can make it sticky and gooey for the winter or light and healthy for the spring/summer This recipe is prefect for the Spring also asparagus is in season right now!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 large knobs of butter and 2 tbsp olive oil for the risotto
• 1 pack of smoked bacon
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 cloves of crushed garlic
• 400g/14oz arborio (risotto) rice
• 1 glass white wine (optional)
• 2 pints of hot stock (chicken or vegetable)
• 1 bunch of asparagus chopped into large chunks
• parsley, chopped to finish

Recipe:

1. Chop the bacon and fry it in the pan on a medium with 1 tbsp of the oil, when it is golden and crispy remove it from the pan and set aside.
2. In the now empty pan add in the butter and the rest of the oil then onion and cook for 5-10 minutes until softened, add the garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes.
3. Add the rice to the pan and stir for about a minute until the grains are coated with the oil and butter. Pour in the wine and stir continuously until it has cooked into the rice. Add a good ladle of hot stock and and season well with salt and pepper. 
4. Turn the heat down so the stock is simmering gently. Keep adding ladles of stock as it cooks into the rice, stirring and moving the rice around in the pan. 
5. After about 15-20 minutes the rice should be soft but still have a bit of bite left in it. The texture of the risotto should be thick and creamy, but not too loose. Add extra stock if necessary.
6. Add in the asparagus and cook for a further 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat, pop and the lid and leave for 5 minutes to rest.
7. Sprinkle over the chopped parsley and its ready to serve!

Serve with cheese, garlic bread and a nice glass of wine (makes this recipe a bit less healthy!)