A stroll amongst the bluebells, lunch from samphire and a ‘frozen’ dinner……

Jon was ill today… a nasty headache…. so Abbie and I left him at home and off we went to Blicking woods to see the bluebells…

Abbie running to find more bluebells - where were they hiding?!

Found them!

 

On the way home we dropped in at Samphire’s pop-up shop, such a shame they don’t have a proper shop at Blickling any more – grrrrrrr! We bought pate, a slab of chocolate tiffin and one of their incredible rare breed pork pies to cheer up Jonty! Seriously, I challenge you to find a better pork pie – it’s in the pastry, there’s is a lightness to it that you don’t get in other pies…. no stodge here! Anyway, served it all up with toast, salad and some yummy asparagus chutney from Aylsham farmer’s market (another amazing find!).

Our bountiful table!

Abbie helped me in the garden this afternoon and boy did we get a lot done….. tomatoes moved into the grow-pots, chillis transplanted into larger pots, climbing french beans, sweetcorn, 2 types of pumpkins and patty pans all planted into pots ready for the greenhouse.  All this amongst bouncing on the trampoline and waiting for an ice-cream man that we could hear, but not see!  I found one of the cottage pies that Abbie and I had made together lurking at the back of the freezer and shoved it in the oven for 30 mins at 180C… a nice easy meal, one that we had made earlier…..  and that I knew that Abbie would wolf down. I was not surprised – the sweet potato/cheese topping is killer!

I froze it in individual portions when we made it...

easy peasy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kid’s Cottage Pie (although adults would love it too!) – makes 4 pots

450g sweet potatoes                    1 carrot, diced
25g butter                                     150g lean minced beef
3 tblspn milk                                150g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 tblsp veg oil                               150ml water
1 clove garlic                               150g cheddar cheese

1. Peel sw. potatoes, chop into small chunks and boil in a pan of water until tender. Drain and mash with butter and milk, season with salt and pepper, put to one side
2. Chop onion and fry in oil until soft. Finely chop garlic and add with the diced carrot and mince to the pan, cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
3. Add tomatores and water to pan, cover and cook on a low heat for about 10 mins
4. Divide the beef mixture between the pots and put the mash on top. Grate the cheese over the top, then grill for a few mins until the top is brown (or freeze when cool)

Korean Keema….. the perfect end to a perfect day cooked by my near-perfect husband!

I am currently getting our upstairs bedroom and bathroom ready for Abbie to move into on her 4th birthday – not long now! The job at hand at the moment is painting 2 of the bathroom walls ‘disco glitter pink’… and I can only get to it when Abbie is sleeping, so whilst I painted… my wonderful husband cooked Nigella’s ‘Korean Keema’ from her most recent book ‘Kitchen’.

It uses the Korean chilli paste known as Gochujang paste, which we managed to find on Norwich market, in an Asian foodstore.  We have used this before, when making Korean squid from the same book and now need to find more recipes which call for it as have a tub to use.  This is definitely one recipe which we will be making again… if you make it don’t be put off by the turkey mince smell (not pleasant), the spicy hot, smoky, sweet flavour of the paste masks any turkey mince nastiness!

The finished dish – next time we’ll use sushi rice, but two meals in one day didn’t seem like a good idea!

We should have served the keema over the top of sushi rice, but having had sushi for lunch… we dipped pittas in instead! I also put a dollop of sour cream with mine.

 

Korean Keema (Nigella Lawson) – served 2 generously

 

250g turkey mince

6 thin/ 3 fat spring onions, chopped

125g frozen petit pois

1 tsp veg oil

2 tablspn rice wine

1-2 tablspn chopped corriander

 

For the sauce:

2 tblsmn gochujang paste

1 tblspn honey

1 tblspn rice wine

2 tablspn soy sauce

 

• Whisk together sauce ingredients and stir in turkey mince – leave to steep for 5 mins
• Heat up wok (while heating up, pour boiling water from a kettle over the frozen peas in a sieve) and add oil to wok, add peas and spring onions – stir fry for 3-4 mins
• Add turkey and it sauce and stir fry for 4-5 mins until cooked
• Add 2 tblspn rice wine adn 4 tblspn water to remainder of sauce and empty into pan, stir fry for 30secs more or until piping hot
• Serve over rice with a generous sprinkling of chopped corriande

What a fantastic dish – a real winner for Friday night after work or when you need something quick to make that satisifes aching bones (something I am encountering more and more these days!)

A child-friendly chilli for a chilly day!

The sodden patio

What a horrible, rainy day!  The camelia may be blooming, but my family definitely isn’t. Abbie has a runny nose and a chesty cough, Jon is recovering from said-same cough (and now off to play rugby in the rain) and I have come back from work feeling depressed by the weather and with a cracking headache…..   so to enter the house and be presented with a warming, cardamon and chorizo-scented bowl of Nigella’s chilli on a jaket potato was heaven! Abbie and Jon had already eaten there’s – this one is great for children and adults as the hotness is reduced, but the flavour is still there….  if you are a chilli freak, like my husband, add some dried chilli flakes.

I’m afraid I gobbled it up instantly and forgot to take a photo, but here is Nigella making it in the states on Fox news! 

Nigella Lawson’s Quick Chilli – from Nigella Express

Nigella’s Quick Chilli – serves 4
150g chorizo sausage, chopped – again, the fresh chorizo sausage I have used before can be used here.
500g minced beef
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cardamom pods, bruised
1 x 500g jar chunky veg pasta sauce
1 x 390g can mixed spicy beans

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
A good pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Heat the sliced chorizo in heavy saucepan over a medium heat and cook until a little crispy. Add the mince and cook until browned.
Stir in the spices and cook for a further couple of minutes. Add the pasta sauce, chilli beans, chilli sauce and chilli flakes (there’s no such thing as too much chilli!).
Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for 20-30 mins.

We serve it with some chopped corriander on top, and a dollop of sour cream

A well deserved hearty dinner – rapid ragu.

Fuelled by my sunny lunch, I decided to embark on the mammoth task of cleaning the patio and front porch  – Abbie helped for about….. 5 minutes. I then continued to scrub and power wash for 4 hours, taking only a quick break for tea and malt loaf.

Jon offered to make one of our favourites – Nigella’s Rapid Ragu – which we ate with leaftover olive bread from lunchtime – PERFECTION!  It is hearty, warming and supremely yummy – just what you need when you can’t unbend your fingers after they have been squeezing a power hose!

The link to the recipe is:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/rapidragu_87337

See below for youtube Nigella clip….

Fabulous ‘fried’ rice with crispy pork – a success!

We had loads of leftover bits, a third of a packet of pork mince, couple of spring onions, a packet of sugar snap peas (bogof), eggs, half a head of brocolli, a carrot.
So….. a sort of fried rice or paella evolved with Abbie cutting veggies for the first time with a sharp knife! Previously we had used the ‘can’t cut yourself’ knife from Pampered chef – great knife practice….

Anyway the recipe:

1 tblspn stir fry oil
2 spring onions, chopped
1 carrot, diced
175g basmati rice
400ml stock (chicken or veggie)
Half head broccoli, small florets
Pack sugar snap peas

250g pork mince
1 tblspn honey

1 heat oil, fry onions and carrots for couple mins
2 add rice stir in oil for a min
3 add stock, simmer with lid on for 7 mins, stir occasionally and check level of liquid – add a little if looking dry
4 start dry frying pork mince on medium heat until crispy (10 mins) – then add honey and stir to coat – cook for another minute and put into a warm bowl
5 after the 7 mins of cooking, add broccoli to rice, stir and put lid on for 4 mins
6 add sugar snaps to rice, stir, replace lid for 2 mins
7 in hot pan used for pork, add a little stir fry oil and add eggs, scrambling until cooked – add to the rice at end of cooking, stirring to combine

To serve, place rice in a bowl and sprinkle crispy pork on top

Should serve 2 adults and 1-2 children depending on appetite!