Quick Harissa Paste

My tried and tested Harissa recipe calls for roasted peppers, but not having the time to roast peppers (nor having a jar of roasted peppers) I experimented with making a smaller quantity with a small pointed red pepper.

Makes about 4 tbsp

1 red pepper or a whole roasted red pepper from a jar, roughly chopped and deseeded

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 small garlic clove, peeled & crushed

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

A pinch of salt

Add all the ingredients to a blender cup and blitz to as smooth paste as you can (a little hard with not much in the blender cup).

We mixed this into cooked couscous to serve with merguez.

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Green Cheesy Pasta (or Rice)

I have been making Green Cheesy Pasta/Rice ever since my now adult kids were little.  Like many kids, they were wary of vegetables but loved pesto.

One teatime I didn't have ingredients for my usual Watercress Pesto, so had to improvise with chard.  A suspiciously toddler poked the green pasta and asked what it was. I simply said it was green, cheesy, pasta.  She loved it, and the name stuck.  You can also make Green Cheesy Pasta with chard, spinach, kale, beetroot tops

Serves 2 as a main dish

200g dried (wholemeal) pasta
200g large leaf spinach, chard, kale, beetroot tops
50g mature cheddar or parmesan, grated
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
Extra virgin olive oil

Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil.  Add the pasta and about a teaspoon of olive oil.  Stir the pasta around, cover, and bring back to the boil.

Once the pasta is boiling again, poke in the greens.  You need large leaved greens so you can fish them out again!  Crack the lid of the pan open and boil for 5 minutes, then fish the greens out and leave to cool in a pasta bowl.  Continue cooking the pasta for the remaining cooking time.

When the pasta is cooked, reserve about half a mug of the cooking water, and drain.  Toss the hot pasta in 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. 

Place the cooled green is a blender cup, stripping out the tough stems if using kale.  Add the cheese, garlic, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt, and liquidise to the consistency of double cream, adding a little reserved pasta water if needed. 

Scrape all the sauce onto the pasta and mix thoroughly, again adding more water if you want a looser sauce.

This sauce works well with cooked rice, sticking the rice grains together, and making it easy for toddlers to eat.

The cheese can be replaced with 30g cashew nuts (soaked in hot water before liquidising) if preferred.

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Fasolakia, Greek Green Bean & Potato Stew

Fasolakia is such a simple, wholesome plant based dish, ideal to use up surplus green beans.  It can be made without potatoes if preferred - just double the beans. 

The traditional Greek recipes I looked at all cooked the potatoes and beans for 40 minutes, but my homegrown potatoes would have dissolved after much more than 10 minutes cooking, and a prefer a slight crunch to my beans.

Serves 2-3 as main dish

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled & crushed

1 tin chopped tomatoes

500g salad potatoes, halved lengthways

250g green beans, topped & tailed and cut in half

In a wide saucepan, fry the onions over a medium heat until they start go a slight golden colour. Stir in the garlic, then the chopped tomatoes, half a can of recently boiled water, and the potatoes. Scatter the beans over the top.  Bring to the boil, then cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender when poked with a fork.

Serve with crusty bread.  Fasolakia can be sprinkled with feta, or served as a side to sausages, or simply cooked meat, chicken, or fish.

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Vegetables & Rice in Miso Broth

My TikTok account is mostly saved recipes (plus veg growing and travel), and recently a series of miso rice dishes.

These recipes seem to cook the rice together with the vegetables, but a quicker option is to use leftover rice and vegetables.

Serves 1

150g High Fibre Brown Rice

Handful of cooked vegetables & pulses.  This bowl had leftover chickpeas, air fryer roasted butternut squash, air fryer roasted kale.  I have made other bowls with fried mushrooms and spinach/Swiss chard.

1 tbsp miso paste

500ml just boiled water

Seasoning/flavouring (optional) - soy sauce, sesame oil, chilli oil, chilli flakes, finely grated garlic, finely grated ginger, kimchi

In a small pan, pour the boiling water over the rice and vegetables.  Dissolve the miso paste into the hot water.  Bring to the boil.  Simmer for two minutes, then serve.

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Mushroom Chilli

I had a delicious Mushroom Chilli Tacos at Overdraft in Winchester recently, and thought I'd try to recreate it at home. 

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced

300g mushrooms, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp smoked paprika

1-2 tsp chipotle paste (optional)

500g passata 

1 can black or pinto beans

Season to taste 

Fry the onion in the olive oil over a medium high heat, stirring regularly, until they start to develop a golden colour.

Add the mushrooms and continue to stir and fry until they stop looking raw.  

Stir in the garlic and the spices.  Once you can smell them cooking add the passata and beans, including the liquid in the can.

Simmer for 20 minutes, reducing the sauce as much as desired.  A thicker sauce works best in tacos and burritos, and a looser sauce works better for a chilli over rice.

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Cauliflower Alfredo Pasta Sauce

Fettuccine Alfredo is a pasta dish (fettuccine) coated in a rich Parmesan sauce originating in Rome in 1907/8.  Many additions/adulterations have come about over the last century, notably in the US - cream, chicken, salmon, mushrooms.  And now cauliflower.

In our house the cauliflower florets usually get air fried or used in Piccalilli, with the stalk and leaves used in Cauliflower Cheese Soup or Cauliflower Masala Soup.  But the weather is warming up in the UK so I'd thought I'd use the leaves in a pasta sauce.

I added anchovies, reminded of a Bagna Cauda Dip/Sauce, but you can omit these adding more Parmesan, or nuts if preferred 

Serves 4

350g cauliflower stalk & leaves, roughly chopped

1 large garlic clove

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tin anchovies in olive oil, or 100g parmesan, or 40g walnuts or cashews

Parmesan/Grana Padano for serving (optional)

Chopped parsley for serving (optional)

Chilli oil or flakes for serving (optional)

Cover the cauliflower with water in a small pan.  Bring to the boil then cover and simmer for 10 minutes until really tender.  If using nuts, add these to the pan to soften with the cauliflower.

When tender, drain the cauliflower and nuts, keeping the cooking water.  Liquidise the cauliflower and nuts together with the rest of the ingredients in a heatproof container, adding enough cooking water to make a thick hummus consistency sauce.

Serve over pasta, with freshly grated parmesan, parsley, and chilli to taste.

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Chinese Sweetcorn Egg Drop Soup

Chinese Sweetcorn Egg Drop Soup is such a quick, simple, but tasty soup.  I made a storecupboard vegetarian version, but you can use fresh vegetables and/or chicken as your time and budget allow.

Serves 2, or a greedy one as a meal

1 mug of frozen sweetcorn, or 285g can of sweetcorn in water

100g grated potato or 100g cooked rice

Handful of finely shredded spinach, kale, or cabbage (optional)

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed (optional)

1cm cube of fresh ginger, grated or finely chopped

1 tbsp miso paste, or 1 stock cube

500ml hot water 

1 large free range egg

1 spring onion, finely sliced (optional)

Chilli oil or chilli flakes (optional)

Soy sauce to taste

Authentic (or possibly Chinese-American) Egg Drop Soup seems to use creamed sweetcorn.  I like to do this by cooking/warming the sweetcorn in the stock first, then liquidising with a stick blender, as I think it gives the soup a better consistency.  But, if you don't have a stick blender, or don't want to blend the sweetcorn, this is not essential.

If pureeing the sweetcorn, simmer the frozen sweetcorn for 5 minutes in the hot water in a soup pan, or heat tinned sweetcorn until the water is boiling.  When the sweetcorn is cooked/hot, liquidise with a stick blender in the pan.  

Add the potato or rice, crushed garlic, grated ginger, and miso paste or stock to the sweetcorn (or add all these to the pan with the water if not liquidising the sweetcorn).  Simmer for 10 minutes in a covered pan.

Beat the egg in your soup bowl.  Turn up the soup to a gentle boil and drizzle in the egg.  Leave for 30 seconds then swirl with a spoon.  You should have 'flowers' of cooked beaten egg.

Serve with chopped spring onion, soy sauce, and chilli oil to taste.

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Prawn & Pea Risotto

Prawn & Pea Risotto is a simple dish with big flavour for only a few ingredients.  Frozen prawns and peas make this an easy quick supper.

Serves 4

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, peeled & finely diced

1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

1 small glass of white wine (optional)

300g risotto rice

2 fish or chicken stock cubes

1 litre recently boiled water

250g frozen prawns

Large pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Chopped parsley (optional)

Freshly grated parmesan (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan over a medium heat.

Sweat the chopped onion for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft but not coloured.

Stir in the risotto rice and garlic into the onions.  Pour in the wine, and stir until evaporated away.

Add a ladleful of hot water and the crumbled stock cubes, stirring until evaporated and the stock cubes have completely dissolved.  Keep adding one ladle of hot water at a time, and stirring until evaporated.  Halfway through the hot water add the frozen prawns, and then continue adding the ladles of hot water.  After about 25-30 minutes the rice is tender but not mushy.

Stir in the frozen peas and chilli flakes, turn off the heat, cover with a lid and rest for 5 minutes.

Serve with a topping of chopping parsley and parmesan if wished.

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Egg Foo Yung/Chow Mein

Egg Fu Yung is a Chinese style omelette, popular in American and British Chinese restaurants, usually served with a soy based gravy. 

Chow mein is a Chinese dish of stir-fried noodles with leftover vegetables, meat or tofu, also popular in America and the UK.

I thought I'd combine both Egg Fu Yung and Chow Mein to use up some leftover cooked chicken, and some eggs that needed using.  This recipe would work well with leftover turkey after Christmas.

Serves 4

3 layers medium egg noodles

4 eggs

300g cooked chicken, turkey, pork, beef, or prawns

1 onion, peeled & thickly sliced

1 garlic clove, peeled & sliced

100g frozen peas

1 chicken stock cube

500ml recently boiled water

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp turmeric (optional)

1/2 tsp paprika (optional)

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp cornflour

Vegetable oil for frying 

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions.  Leave to cool in a pan of cold water.

Heat one tablespoon of oil in a wok over a medium high heat.  

Beat the eggs, and fry in the wok like a omelette for a few minutes so you have a side plate sized disk of cooked egg. Flip the egg over carefully to ensure the egg is cooked through.  Slide the egg onto a plate, chop into bite sized pieces, and wipe the wok out with a piece of kitchen paper.

Heat another tablespoon of oil in the wok over a medium high heat.

Stir fry the onion for 1-2 minutes until it starts to soften or go golden brown.  Add the peas and garlic.

Crumble in the stock cube and melt in the oil and heat.  Add 500ml of hot water, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, turmeric and paprika.  Stir well.

Mix the cornflour with two tablespoons of cold water.  When the 'gravy' is boiling, pour in the cornflour mixture whilst stirring to thicken it.

Drain the noodles and add to the gravy together with the meat or prawns, and chopped egg.  Mix well and serve.

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Air Fryer Brussel Sprouts, Chestnuts, & Squash

I bought a pack of reduced 'Red Darling' brussel sprouts in Aldi a few weeks ago to decorate our Christmas wreath, but had quite a lot left over.

I'd bought Aldi Whole Chestnuts around the same time, and had half a small pumpkin that needing using too. So I thought I'd toss them all in the air fryer.

If you like kale crisps, this is definitely one for you, as the outer leaves go lovely and crispy.

Serves 2

200g ready to eat chestnuts

200g trimmed brussel sprouts, halved

200g cubed squash (butternut squash, pumpkin)

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

A large pinch of salt.

Place all the ingredients into a air fryer liner, and toss well to coat in the oil.

Air fry at 180C for 8 minutes, stir everything around, then air fry for another 8 minutes.

I was going to make hummus to serve this on but ran out of time, so instead made a hot salad with some lettuce and thinly sliced onion.  I made a tahini dressing with 2 tbsp tahini, 4 tbsp kefir (or plain yoghurt), and crushed garlic.

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Sesame Prawn Toast

I resisted the urge to buy some half price raw prawns in Aldi last week, and then saw a recipe online for Sesame Prawn Toasts. So when Aldi had some more half price prawns yesterday (and three tuna steaks - straight in the freezer), I grabbed them for my protein obsessed 17 year old son.

Makes 12

3 slices of bread

175g raw prawns

1 medium free range egg

1cm root ginger, finely gated

1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 spring onion, chopped into 1cm rounds

Sesame seeds

Sesame oil

Light olive or vegetable oil for frying

Whizz the prawns, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and spring onion together in a mini food processor.

Drizzle sesame oil on each side of the slices of bread.

Divide the prawn paste between the slices of bread and spread smoothly right to the edges.  The two recipes I looked at said to cut the crusts off, and to use white bread, but I left the crusts off and used light wholemeal bread.  Sprinkle the prawn paste with sesame seeds.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat.  If you have a larger non-stick frying pan that will fit more than one slice of bread, add 1 tsp oil per slice.

Fry topping side up for 1.5-2 minutes until the bottom is golden brown.  Lift the slice of bread up with a fish slice and pour in another 1 tsp of oil, then carefully flip it prawn paste side down into the hot oil.  Cover the pan with a lid or plate and fry for 1-5-2 minutes until prawn paste is golden brown.

Cut each slice of bread into quarters.  If the prawn paste looks slightly undercooked (grey rather than pale pink) when you cut up the toast, just fry again for another minute or microwave all four quarters for 1 minute.

Sesame Prawn Toasts can be cooked in an air fryer.  Drizzle the bread with sesame oil as above then toast  in the air-fryer for 3 minutes at 200°C until one side is golden. Spread the prawn paste on the untoasted side of the bread followed by the sesame seeds.  Cut into quarters and arrange as many as you can in the air fryer basket. Cook for 12 minutes at 180°C until golden brown.

Serve warm with sweet chilli sauce and/or soy sauce for dipping.

Can be reheated in the air fryer - 5 minutes at 180C. And can be frozen and reheated in the air fryer from frozen - 10 minutes at 180C.

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Pigs in Blankets Swirls

I started off thinking I was going to make Pigs in Blankets Sausage Rolls.  There are so many recipes out there, with red onion chutney, with cranberry sauce, with Camembert or Brie, with Camembert & Brie and Red Onion Chutney or Cranberry Sauce. But I thought I'd keep mine traditional with just sausagemeat and bacon, and opted for a swirl as I thought it less fiddly.

As ready rolled puff pastry is often vegan, it should be possible to make a vegan/vegetarian version of these with vegetarian sausages and vegetarian bacon.

Makes 18

320g pack ready rolled puff pastry

300g pack streaky bacon

6 sausages

Remove the sausages from their casing by squeezing or cutting off and mash together.  I bought Co-op Irresistible Cumberland Sausages and found the casing incredibly soft so just squished them together with my fingers.

Roll the pastry out on it's greaseproof paper on a chopping board.

Spread the sausagemeat evenly all over the pastry, right up to the edges.

Cover the sausagemeat with strips of streaky bacon in the direction you are going to roll (this makes slicing easier), spacing them out evenly and again right up to what will be the ends of your roll.  I rolled the long side to make smaller swirls, so made sure I had a slice of bacon right up to the left and right hand side.

Carefully roll up the pastry like an Artic Roll.

Slice into 2cm rounds with a sharp knife.  If the greaseproof paper the pastry came on has not been too damaged/cut in the process, arrange the swirls on this on a large flat baking tray or on new piece if needed with a bit of space between them.

Bake at 180C for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.  Best eaten warm, but my son was very happy to eat cold swirls for breakfast on his way into college.

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Bean Quesadillas

Bean Quesadillas are a surprisingly simple but filling snack or lunch.

Serves 2 

2 wheat flour tortilla wraps

1 can black or pinto beans 

1 small onion, peeled and finely diced 

1 large clove garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tsp cumin

1tsp smoked paprika

2 tbsp olive oil

200g grated cheddar

Olive oil for frying

First make the refried beans. 

Heat 2 tbsp oil over a medium high heat in a frying pan.

Gently fry the onion until translucent (about 5 minutes).

Stir in the garlic and spices, then the beans and their liquid.

Bring the beans to the boil and simmer, stirring from time to time and mashing them with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon, until they are a double cream-like consistency.

Heat 1 tsp olive oil over a medium heat in a non stick frying pan large enough to fit one open tortilla.

Lay one tortilla into the frying pan and sprinkle 50g of cheddar on one half almost up to the edge.

Divide the beans into two portions in the pan and spoon one portion onto the cheddar cheese on the wrap in the frying pan. Sprinkle another 50g of cheddar on top of the beans, and fold the wrap in half covering the beans.  

Fry for 1-2 minutes until golden brown underneath, then carefully turn over and fry the other side for 1-2 minutes until golden brown.

Repeat with the other tortilla and remaining ingredients.

Serve with sour cream with a little chipotle sauce stirred through.

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Sweet & Sour Fried Rice

Knocked up a quick pescatarian (could be vegan if made with vegetarian oyster sauce) Sweet & Sour Fried Rice which I thought would make a great student meal.  Preparing the vegetables probably takes longer than the stir frying.

You will need a large wok to cook and stir this stir fry successfully.

Serves a greedy 4

500g cooked white or brown rice

400g block of firm tofu, grated 

2 medium carrots, grated 

Half a sweetheart cabbage, shredded

1 small onion, peeled and sliced into half-moons or a bunch of spring onions, chopped into 1cm pieces

4 rings tinned pineapple, chopped into 1cm pieces (optional)

2cm root ginger, finely chopped

2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

2 tbsp vegetable oil

6 tbsp tomato ketchup

4 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

4 tbsp (vegetarian) oyster sauce

4 tbsp light soy sauce

1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes

If you don't have any cooked rice, cook a large mug of basmati rice before you start.  It only takes 20 minutes, whilst you prepare the vegetables.

Grate/chop the tofu, vegetables, ginger & garlic, pineapple.  Put them on separate plates as they are stir fried at different times.

Heat the oil in a large wok over a high heat until smoking.  Add the tofu and stir fry until you can see it start to go golden brown in places.

Push the tofu to one side as best you can and tip in the vegetables, ginger & garlic, and chilli flakes.  Push the tofu on top the vegetables so the vegetables are in contact with the hot pan.  Leave for a minute or so and then start stir frying.  After a minute or so of stir frying add in about 50ml of water to the wok to help the vegetables steam and soften, whilst still stir frying.

When the vegetables are softened to your liking, turn down the heat to medium and stir in the rice and the sauce ingredients.  Add a little water if the rice and sauce starts sticking to the wok.

Serve when piping hot

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Beetroot Risotto

I peeled one more beetroot than I needed to make Borscht yesterday, so decided to make myself a Beetroot Risotto for dinner.

Most recipes call for roasted beetroot to be added once the risotto rice is cooked.  I neither had the time nor the inclination to roast one solitary beetroot so I added raw beetroot right at the start, hence the orangey rather than purpley red hue to the risotto. 

An additional benefit of cooking the beetroot with rice is that it mellows the earthy taste of beetroot which might make it more palatable to those less sure of beetroot.

Serves 2

180g risotto rice

1 small onion, peeled and diced

1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

500ml hot vegetable stock

50ml white wine (optional)

1 medium raw beetroot, peeled and grated

1 large handful of chopped rainbow chard, shredded or baby spinach (optional)

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

50g crumbled feta, grated parmesan, or extra mature cheddar (optional)

Soften the onion in the olive oil over a medium high heat. 

Once softened and translucent, stir in the rice and garlic and coat the rice grains in the oil.

Stir in the grated beetroot and any chopped chard stalks.

Pour in the wine if using, or roughly 100ml of the hot vegetable stock.  Bring the wine or stock to the boil and turn down to a rapid simmer.

Stir pretty much constantly with a wooden spoon.  Once you can see the bottom of the pan for a few seconds when the wooden spoon is dragged across the centre of the pan, add in another 100ml of stock.

Keep stirring the risotto, and adding more stock when needed, until all the stock has been added.  When you can see the bottom of the pan again, taste the rice to see if it is cooked.  If it is soft like al dente pasta it is cooked. If it is crunchy in the middle of the grain it needs more cooking.

If the rice needs more cooking, add another 100ml of just boiled water from the kettle and keep stirring as before.

If the rice is cooked, stir in shredded chard/spinach and cheese if using, cover, and turn off the heat and leave for 5 minutes to wilt the spinach and melt the cheese.

Serve immediately

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Air Fryer Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Oh my, why didn’t I try roasting pumpkin seeds in the air fryer sooner?

I didn’t have room in the oven last night for a tray of pumpkin seeds, so thought I’d try roasting them in the air fryer.  It works so well! 

Rinsed pumpkin seeds

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Paprika 

Salt

Rinse the pumpkin seeds to remove as much of the pumpkin flesh stuck to them as possible. I do this by covering them with water and swirling them around with my fingers. Most of the flesh will sink to the bottom of the bowl, leaving clean(ish) seeds floating on top. 

Drain the pumpkin seeds and roast them in the air fryer for 5 minutes at 180 C to dry them a little.

After drying, tip in a small bowl and stir in the olive oil, and paprika and salt to taste.

Return the seasoned seeds to the air fryer and cook for a further 10 minutes at 180C.

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Accidental Butter

I was making an ice cream order late one evening last week, and left the double cream whisking too long in my vintage Kenwood Chef. 

My ice cream order had to be put on hold until the next day, but I did have some lovely butter for my toast the following morning.

Makes about 150g butter

300ml double cream
Salt to taste

Whisk the double cream until it goes past the whipped cream stage, and begins to collapse down into what looks like cottage cheese.

Add a pinch or two of salt to taste. You could also experiment with other fillings at this stage such as chilli flakes, chopped herbs, crushed garlic. 

Give the butter one more quick whizz to mix in the salt/flavouring.

Get a small bowl of ice cold water ready next to the mixer. Quickly scoop and squish all the butter curds together with your hands and place them the cold water to stop it getting too soft to handle. 

Gently squeeze the butter into your desired shape whilst in the cold water.

Place in a seal container in the fridge. The butter will last as long as the best before date on the cream you used.

Looking at Sainsbury's website (October 2025), 300ml Sainsbury’s organic double cream currently costs £1.70, whereas 250g Sainsbury’s organic butter costs £3.15. 

NB the liquid left in the mixing bowl is buttermilk, which can be used in scones, soda bread, pancakes etc

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Kale Chimichurri

Oh my, Kale Chimichurri,  where have you been all my life?

Wikipedia describes Chimichurri as "an uncooked sauce used as an ingredient in cooking and as a table condiment for grilled meat. Found originally in Argentina and used in Argentinian, Uruguayan, Paraguayan and Brazilian cuisines, it has become widely adopted in most of Latin America. The sauce comes in green and red varieties."  

In addition to serving with meat this vibrant punchy sauce, not dissimilar to a Mexican salsa, it is a great vegan sauce for cooked beans or salad potatoes.

This Kale Chimichurri is based upon www.dishingupthedirt.com recipe for Pork & White Beans with Kale Chimichurri recipe. I have made my Feijoada (Brazilian Pork & Bean Stew) following a different recipe, but made Kale Chimichurri from this recipe (with cooked kale, and less olive oil).

200g cooked kale (keep some of the cooking water)

2 tbsp red wine vinegar
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove, peeled 
1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper 

Put everything into a mini food processor or liquidiser. 

Add a couple of tablespoons of cooled cooking water and liquidise to a pesto like consistency, adding a little more cooking water if required.

Serve with Feijoada, grilled meat, beans, or potatoes.

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Bacon & Cheddar Breakfast Muffins

Grab & go breakfast for students (and their parents on the train to London to watch the Women's Rugby World Cup Final).

The trick to muffins that rise well is not overmixing.  As ever I have attempted a few short cuts, like adding the bacon and cheese to the milk mixture, and weighing the self raising flour straight into to the wet mixture to avoid mixing several times (and reduce washing up).

Makes 12

250ml whole milk

80ml light olive oil

1 free range egg

200g cooked bacon bits

100g grated mature cheddar

1 small courgette, grated (he was not impressed by this ingredient)

300g self raising flour (I used half wholemeal self raising flour, half white self raising flour)

Brown the bacon in a non stick frying pan. Add the courgette if using to soften it and evaporate off some of the liquid.  Leave to cool a little whilst you mix the other ingredients together.

Beat the egg, oil, and milk together in a mixing bowl.  Mix the bacon and courgette into the wet mixture well.

Weigh the self raising flour into the wet mixture and fold in gently, just until you can no longer see dry flour.

Divide into 12 muffin cases, and bake at 200C/180C fan in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, until lightly golden brown on top.

Leave to cool for 15 minutes before eating.  Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze and defrost overnight before breakfast.

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Tofu in Black Bean Sauce

My partner bought a jar of Yeo's Black Bean Sauce last weekend to make Beef in Black Bean Sauce.  He used half the jar, so I used the rest to make Tofu in Black Bean Sauce.

Serves 4

400g firm tofu

300g colourful chopped veggies (carrot, red pepper, green beans)

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1cm grated ginger root

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 250ml jar black bean sauce

2 tbsp Shaoxing wine, or sherry

1 tbsp sesame oil

Take the tofu out of it's packet and place it in a colander with a plate and a few cans on top of that to squeeze as much liquid out.

Chop the veggies into bite sized pieces, and prepare the garlic and ginger.

Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat.  

Crumble in the tofu, but beware, if it is still quite damp it will spit a lot.

Stir fry the tofu for a few minutes then add the ginger, garlic, and vegetables.  Keep stir frying the vegetables for a few more minutes.

Turn the heat down and add the black bean sauce, Shaoxing wine, and sesame oil.  Mix the sauce in well and serve when the sauce is piping hot over cooked rice or noodles.

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