All posts filed under: Recipes

Crayfish and Mushroom Risotto recipe

I bought a tub of Crayfish tails when I was trying to do my 6 weeks without sugar. I was going to use them for a salad but after giving up (let’s face it I only lasted 6 days!), salads weren’t high on the agenda anymore. So I decided to cook a Crayfish and Mushroom Risotto. I didn’t have any fish stock in the store cupboard so I used Vegetable Stock instead but it was still absolutely delicious. Risotto is so easy to make, although you do have to keep stirring the pan so that it doesn’t stick but it’s a delicious treat. Ingredients (Serves 4) 20g butter 1 red onion, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, crushed handful chestnut mushrooms, chopped in half 250g 100ml dry white wine 1 pint vegetable stock (I used Bouillon) 225g cooked crayfish tails 2 tbsp double cream 2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 tbsp flatleaf parsley, chopped Method 1. In a large frying pan, melt the butter and sauté the onion until translucent …

Banana and Cinnamon Loaf Recipe

Don’t worry, I’m not going to preach to you about how amazing Australia is for brunches and fresh cakes again, although the banana bread there was what lead me to make my mind up about the country being the best. I baked my first loaf of Banana Bread a couple of years ago and was absolutely bowled over at how amazingly easy it is to bake and how delicious it tastes toasted with a smothering of butter on top. It’s just too good. This recipe is for a simple Banana and Cinnamon loaf – just bung all of the ingredients in a bowl, mix, pop into a loaf tin and an hour and a half later, you can tuck into it warm! YUM! My loaf tin wasn’t as big as I needed so I used mini loaf tins for the left over batter. They are a great size for one serving and look pretty too. Ingredients 225g self-raising flour 100g unsalted butter, softened 2 eggs 150g golden caster sugar 3 very ripe bananas, peeled and …

Lime, Vanilla and Almond Madeleines

My first memory of Madeleines is on my family holiday in Ibiza. Bet you didn’t expect me to say that did you? Well, there was a little bakery next to the hotel that we stayed in every year and most days I would take a wander down with my brother, buy a sweet treat for the family and take it back to the swimming pool. They sold the most delicious Cream Cakes and Madeleines. I also had fun making my way through large packs that you could buy in the supermarket. I found them delicious – rich and sweet with a fantastic vanilla taste. So I am surprised that I only baked them for the first time last week. I guess I had never got around to buying the special tin – until Lakeland had an offer on just before Christmas time. I spotted it and thought I’d give them a go. I also received a great present through the post last week, which spurred me on even more. When I was on holiday in …

Split Red Dal, Chicken with Fenugreek leaves, Chapati and Paneer in Tomato Sauce Recipes

Curry curry curry. If you would have asked me a year ago what my favourite food was, I would have said pizza. I know what you’re thinking – everyone else used to think it to. And although I still love the humble crispy tomato and cheesy feast, curry has since fast taken over the top spot. I live in a predominantly Indian area of London and because of this, the high street is rich with Indian supermarkets, fashion stores and cutlery shops. Rather than take our usual Sunday trip to Waitrose last weekend, we decided to head to Ealing Road and indluge in some Indian cooking. I bought the India Cook Book when it came out and it has been sitting on the shelf for quite a while so I decided it was time to put it to use. There are 1000 recipes in the book but we whittled it down to 4. We chose Tamatar Chaaman (Paneer in Thick Tomato Sauce), Methi Murg (Chicken with Fenugreek Leaves), Masoor Dal (Split Red Dal) and Chapaati. …

Beer battered Squid and Baby Octopus

When we were wandering around Leederville in Perth, we stumbled upon a fantastic fishmonger called Kailis Bros. We stepped inside and saw a wide variety of fish on sale that had been caught that day. We bought a few Red Snapper to BBQ but the Squid and Baby Octopus caught my eye. We got enough for a starter for everyone and it was very cheap. When we got back to the flat, we set to deep frying it. Serve with Mayonaise and a wedge of Lemon and you have a easy and tasty starter. Ingredients 75g self-raising flour 100ml beer (we used Little Creatures Pale Ale) Squid and Octopus to serve 5 people for starter Salt and pepper Sunflower oil (for deep frying) Method 1. Heat the sunflower oil in a large pan 2. Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl and whisk in the lager to make the batter. The consistency should be like very thick double cream 3. Season with salt and thickly coat Squid and Octopus with …