Recipe: Seville Orange Marmalade

My first marmalade! It is absolutely delicious, Wow!!!! A little more messy to make than the other jams, jellies and chutneys that I have made, but I pretty much got it down to a tee here. Only mistake I made on the first batch- the strips of orange were too long. Like I sliced them thinly enough but the strands were too long so it was vaguely difficult to eat. Apart from that, perfect! Its is a really beautiful dark colour and has got such a lovely tangy flavour. If you want to make your own seville orange marmalade this year, I would get your skates on, because they have a very short season and are only available in this country in February!

Seville Orange Marmalade (makes about 1.5kg)

1kg Seville oranges
2 lemons
2250ml water
1350g sugar

1. Boil the Oranges and lemons whole in the water, covered, for 1 hour 30 minutes. Remove fruit from the water and allow to cool (Also, remember to keep the water!).
2. Remove the pulp from the inside of the fruits, and set aside. Keep the pulped orange skins, but throw away the pulped lemon skins. Slice the orange skins finely and add back to the pan with the water.
3. Press the pulp into a sieve and move about with a spoon, so as to get some of the liquid out of it but none of the stringy bits/ seeds. Add this liquid to the pan with the oranges and water.
4. Add sugar, and bring mixture the mixture to the boil, stirring occasionally. Once mixture is boiling, reduce heat to medium and cook for 40 minutes, stirring frequently.
5. Allow mixture to cool for 20 minutes, then stir up. This is to avoid all the orange peel floating to the top when you jar it up. Add the marmalade to preserving jars, and seal.

Recipe: Beef and Shallot Hotpot

Nom nom nom. I can make perfect Hotpots now that I have my lovely little Le Creuset casserole. This serves 3 nicely, but whenever i make it for me and my boyfriend we end up eating it all and practically lick the pan clean, lol. Last time I made this, I came home from the pub- to be honest- a little drunky, and ended up eating this with a serving spoon out of the pan, haha!! So nice though, seriously, you gotta try this.

Beef and shallot hotpot (serves 3)

3 tbsp olive oil
500g stewing/braising beef
60g butter
8 shallots, peeled and halved
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp sugar
100ml red wine
300ml beef stock
2 tsp corn flour, mixed with a little water
½ tsp dried thyme
450g peeled and thinly sliced potatoes

1. Turn Oven to 180C. Season the beef with a little salt and pepper. In a casserole, brown the seasoned beef in the olive oil (in 2 batches) and set aside.
2. Add the shallots, garlic and sugar to the pan along with ½ of the butter. Fry for about 5 minutes until a little caramelised.
3. Add red wine, stock, thyme, and stir well (making sure to scrape all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan). Add the reserved beef and corn flour mixture, and cook on a medium heat for 15 minutes, or until the stew has thickened up nicely.
4. Layer the sliced potatoes on top of the stew. Dot the rest of the butter evenly across the top, put the lid on the casserole and put in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes.
5. Remove the lid and place under a hot grill for about 5 minutes, or until the potatoes on top have become golden and crispy. Serve!

Recipe: Quick Chicken and Vegetable Stew

This is a lovely, quick, mid-week meal. Very nutritious and easy to make, a dish that can be thrown together in less than half an hour, if you'be come home from work/uni a little late. You don't have to serve it with brown rice, but it makes the dish even healthier, and the nutty flavour goes really well with the stew.

Quick Chicken and Vegetable Stew (serves 2)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
50ml white wine
60g green beans, diced
60g peeled and finely diced carrot
½ tsp dried dill
½ tin chopped tomatoes
250ml chicken stock
2 cooked chicken breasts, cubed
½ tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Sautee the red onion and garlic in the olive oil, on a medium heat, covered, for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the white wine, green beans, carrot and dill and cook uncovered for a further 2 minutes.
2. Add chopped tomatoes, chicken, stock and sugar, and cook covered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid, increase the heat and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until nice and thick. Season to taste and serve.

Recipe: Sweet Chicken and Red Pepper Curry

First time I made this I literally licked the bowl clean- it is Soooo nice. I really like creamy mild curries- i don't think i will ever get to the heavily chilli-tolerant feats of my dad and my boyfriend. I do wonder sometimes whether the whole 'liking spicy foods' thing is some sort of judge of masculinity? That maybe if men don't order the spiciest thing on the menu, it's considered by other men as being wimpy or 'girly'. Ah well, maybe one day my tastes will change and i will get the same thrill that they get from those vindaloos and fahls- this sort of chilli induced euphoria. Until then I will eat and thoroughly enjoy my kormas and passandas, and experiment with other lovely mild curries.

Sweet chicken and red pepper curry (serves 2)

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
2 breasts of chicken cubed
1 red pepper, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
½ tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin coconut milk
2 tbsp Pataks Mild curry paste
1 squeeze fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar

1. Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add chicken, red pepper and curry paste and cook for a further 5 minutes.
2. Add all other ingredients and cook on a medium heat for 30 minutes, until nice thick and creamy. Season to taste and serve.

Recipe: Butternut Squash and Paneer Pakoras

God, what a week! I'm so nackered, seriously. Got a hell of a lot of literature coursework to get through (still over 2000 words to write), got to cut down and 'tart up' my English Language coursework, and I still have a 2000 word screenplay to write for Film Studies. And all of this has to happen in the next couple of months. The literature one is the scariest though, I don't think I have ever written a 3000 word essay, that seems such a daunting amount. Still, has to be done. These appetisers/ canapes are absolutely divine! It takes a while to grate the squash and paneer for the mixture and roll all the balls up, but it's completely worth it. The dip I have presented them with, that you can see in the photo, is just some natural yoghurt mixed with some dukka, honey, a squeeze of lemon and a bit of black pepper.

Butternut squash and Paneer Pakoras (makes 24/25)

300g (peeled) grated butternut squash or pumpkin
300g finely grated paneer
50g very finely chopped red onion
½ tsp crushed ginger
1 green chilli, very finely diced
25g coriander, finely chopped
¼ tsp white pepper
40g white fresh breadcrumbs
½ tsp allspice
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 cardamom pods ground in a mortar and pestle
Little bit of cracked black pepper

1. Mix all the ingredients together well. Form the mixture in your palms into circles. You should weigh them and they should be between 25-30g. This helps them all cook in the same amount of time.
2. Heat a large saucepan full of vegetable/sunflower oil to a medium high heat. In batches, cook the pakoras for 2 minutes, until they turn a dark brown. Serve with a yoghurt dip of some sort.

Recipe: Leek and Bacon Risotto

Once again combining the perfectly paired flavours of leek and bacon, this time in risotto form. This is a sneaky supper for myself. It is perhaps rather a big portion for one but I am a greedy girl, and when it's so cold outside for me life is all about comfort eating! If i was serving this for a dinner party, i would also top the risotto with a bit of crumbled really crispy bacon- so you get a mix of textures.

Leek and Bacon Risotto (serves 1, or 2 as a dinner party starter)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 rasher smoky bacon, diced finely
1 leek, sliced finely
100ml white wine
80g Arborio rice
350ml chicken or vegetable stock
10g parmesan, finely grated
1 tbsp finely chopped chives
Salt and pepper to taste
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

1. Cook the bacon on a high heat for about three minutes, until beginning to brown. Add the leeks, stir quickly to mix, and add the white wine, for 2 minutes, until most of the wine has evaporated.
2. Add the rice, stir in, and cook for one minute. Begin to gradually add the stock, for 15 minutes, or until the rice is “al-dente”.
3. Stir in the parmesan and season to taste. Garnish with the chopped chives and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Recipe: Tabouleh

If you have't tried this dish before you are really missing out, trust me. Tabouleh (Prounced Tah-Boo-Lay) is a Lebanese herb and bulghur wheat salad. It is so delicious, fresh and healthy- and goes fantastic as a side dish for Arabic/Middle Eastern Lamb dishes. And for the veggies it's very nice topped with a few hot slices of griddled haloumi. I have seen many people fail to make this dish properly, because they don't realise that the main emphasis of flavour should definitely come from the herbs. It shouldnt be a couple of lonely sprigs of parsley amongst a heap of bulghar.

Tabouleh (serves 3 as a side dish)

100g bulghar wheat
500ml water
20g fresh mint leaves (no stems), chopped finely
40g fresh parsley leaves (no stems) chopped roughly
250g ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
½ red onion, diced finely
Juice of ½ a lemon
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp salt
Black pepper to taste

1. Boil the bulghar wheat in the water for about 10 minutes, or until the grains are soft and all the liquid has been absorbed. Drain under cool water and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, put all the other ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Add the reserved cooled bulghar wheat, stir until well mixed, season to taste and serve!