Plaice Papillote with herb crust and tomato salsa

This is my entry for the Clover #NothingArtificial Challenge

I grow a lot of my own vegetables. Everything is organically frown with nopesticide and insecticide. Thses are some of my home grown organic vegetables tha I used in my Clover #NothingArtificial Challenge

 Poatoes

                                                                  Spinach

Tomatoes

                                       My Fresh  Herbs are growing really well this year

I always like to cook natural food. This is my Nothing Artificial  recipe

Plaice Papillote with Herb crust and home made tomato Salsa. I serve my fish with boiled new potatoes with the skin on and  spinach

4 fillet of plaice
1 clove of garlic ( chopped)
2 tablespoon breadcrumbs
1/2 beaten egg
Juice of 1 lemon
75g of Clover
Salt & pepper
4 tomatoes
2 teaspoon chopped herbs
400g new potatoes
200g fresh spinach

(Serves 4 people)

Method:
1 Cut 8 pieces of foil 30cmx30cm. Brush the foil with melted Clover. Put the plaice fillet in the centre of the foil. sprinkle with chopped garlic, lemon juice,chopped herbs, salt and pepper. Top with a knob of clover. Place another piece of foil over the top , seal the edges to make an envelope to enclose the fish. Repeat with the other 3 fillets. Place the fish envelope on a baking tray and bake in the centre of the oven 180C/ Gas 6 for 10 minutes.
2.  Make the herb crust with bread crumbs, mixed herbs, egg, lemon juice and a teaspoon of clover. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix well. Remove the top foil from the fish. Put a spoonful of the herb mix on the fish. Put the fish back in the oven without the top foil. Bake for another 5 minutes till the the crust is golden brown an crusty.
3. Chopped the tomatoes finely for the salsa. Heat a knob of clove in a pan. Add in chopped tomatoes, garlic and chopped herbs. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Season to taste.

 3. Wash the new potato and place in the pan and boil for 15 minutes. Drain and sliced. Cook spinach in water for 1 minutes till soft and tender. Drain.
4. To serve: put the fish with the foil on a warm plate. Add salsa, potatoes and spinach. Dot with Clover. Allow the clover to melt onto the fish and the vegetables. Garnish with a sprig of dill and basil

This is my entry for the Clover #NothingArtificial Challenge

Devil's Spicy Pulled Turkey Pirate Boat

#TurkeyTractorChallenge

Devil's Spicy Pulled Turkey 

This dish oringinated from Malacca, a city on the South West of Malaysia. The Turkey is cooked slowly in Nyonya's ( Malacca native women) spices and coconut cream. The turkey meat is shredded and serve in the rich  spicy cooking sauce and garnished with chillies, crispy fried onions, cashewnuts and coriander. The slow cooking and the hot and spicy flavour will sure to suit the pirates' palates. The Pirates can obtain plenty of fresh coconuts from the beaches of Malacca to make this dish


This year British Turkey teamed up with Red Tractor for a #TurkeyTractorChallenge competition. The theme is "Pirate". I got very excited so I  jumped on board and came up with this delicious slow cooked Devil's Spicy Pulled Turkey recipe. This is a traditional Malaccan Dish.  It is inspired by the pirates on the Strait of Malacca. Strait of Malacca is a stretch of sea sandwich between the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Sumatra. For centuries Piracy in Strait of Malacca has always been a threat to the Mariners. The calm and sheltered sea of the Strait made an ideal hiding place for pirates.

Devil's Spicy Pulled Turkey Boat

I used British Turkey thigh for this recipe because it give a better flavour. The long and slow cooking in spice and coconut milk makes the turkey very tender, succulent and delicious. I used Red Tractor chilli, tomatoes, carrots and potatoes in the slow cooking to add extra sweetness to the recipe. I also garnished my dish with Red Tractor red and green chillies and coriander leaves.

Devil's Spicy Pulled Turkey Boat

Ingredients:

1 British Turkey thigh ( 800g) Red Tractor

1 cup coconut cream

3 tomatoes ( chopped) Red Tractor

1  carrot ( chopped) Red Tractor

1 teaspoon brown sugar

2 tablespoon tamarind juice

2 stalks lemon grass

200g potatoes ( peeled and shaped into nuggets) Red Tractor

Spice Paste:

2 red chillies( chopped) Red Tractor

2 onions

4 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon chopped ginger

1 tblespoon chopped galangal

1 teaspoon  ground turmeric

1 teaspoon paprika

3 tablespoon rapeseed oil  RedTractor

1 teaspoon salt

Garnished:

Toasted cashewnuts

Sliced red and green chillies Red Tractor

Coriander leaves Red Tractor

1. Place all the ingredients for the spice paste in a blender and puree until smooth. Set aside.

2. Heat up a heavy based frying pan. Put all the spice paste  in the pan and fry for 5 minutes until aromatic.

3. Place the Turkey thigh in a casserole or a slow cooker. Add in coconut cream, lemon grass, tamarind juice, brown sugar, salt and  spice paste. Stir well. Place the casserole in low  oven Gas mark 1 or 120C for 4 hours. If a slow cooker is used, turn on the lowest setting and cook the turkey thigh for 4 hours till the meat falls a part. Add the potatoes in the sauce cook till tender (towards the last half an hour before finish cooking).

4. Remove the turkey from the pot. Leave to cool slightly. Pull the spicy turkey into shreds using  forks. Put the pulled turkey back in the aromatic spicy sauce and mix it well. 

5. Serve with Pirate's gold Nugget Sambal potatoes and pirate's jewels coconut rice. Garnish well.

Pirate's Gold Nugget Sambal Potatoes:

• 1 chopped onion
• 2 fresh chilies
• 2cloves sliced garlic
• 28g  tamarind paste
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon Malay shrimp paste ( optional)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon rapeseed oil Red Tractor

Place all the ingredients except the oil in blender. Blend to a paste. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add in the sambal and fry for 3-4 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the casserole and add to the sambal sauce. Mix well and serve

Coconut Jewel Rice:

1 cup of cooked rice

150 ml. coconut cream

2 tablespoon peas

2 tablespoon Fresh sweetcorns Red Tractor

1 tablespoon chopped tomatoes Red Tractor

8 tomatoes shells Red Tractor

Place the rice and the coconut cream in a pan. Add in all the vegetables , Slowly bring to the boil. Stir constantly till the rice is soft and creamy. Spoon the rice into the tomatoes shells and serve.

Devil's Spicy Pulled Turkey Pirate Boat: garnished with chopped and whole toasted cashewnuts, fried crispy onions, red and green chillies and coriander leaves.

I like to cook the Pulled turkey in double the quantity so that I can use some for sandwiches the next day. This is my Spicy Pulled Turkey Pirate Sandwich.

 Pirate's Spicy Pulled Turkey Sandwich

Alternatively for a pirate party, I baked a Pirate ship pastry and filled it with Spicy Pulled Turkey. Absolutely delicious.

Waste Less Journey

I don't like wasting food. I like to plan my menu in advance so that I don't have to throw food away.

When I roast a chicken on Sunday for my family I always use up all the leftover for meals or snack for the following week. Below is how I used up the leftover food from Sunday

Roast Chicken on Sunday with roast potatoes and all the trimmings.

Any left over chicken I use it to make Toasted Curry Chicken Sandwiches for lunch on the next day

Recipe:

100g leftover Chicken

2 slices of  leftover bread ( I keep bread in the freezer)

2 tablespoon Tikka Masala curry paste

2 tablespoon leftover vegetables ( carrots, peas, potatoes or sweetcorns)

Butter 

Method:

1. Cut chicken and vegetable into small pieces and mix in curry paste.

2. Butter the bread on one side. Place the filling in between the bread to make a round of sandwich with the buttered sides on the outside.

3. Heat up an electric toasted sandwich maker. Place the curry sandwich inside. Toast the sandwich till golden brown and piping hot on the inside.

What a hot and spicy quick lunch.

Sometime I also use leftover chicken and vegetables for Chicken fried Fried Like the dish I made below or Chicken and vegetable chow mein

Leftover Chicken fried Rice

Chicken and vegetable Chow Mein

 Leftover Chicken bone

 With the chicken bones, I boil it up with a few carrots , onions and bay leaves to make some lovely chicken stock.

With chicken stock, I add some leftover sweetcorn, chicken meat, beaten egg and spring onions. This made a delicious chicken sweet corn soup.

Leftover Bread

I definitely don't throw away leftover bread. I keep it in the freezer. I use it for toasted sandwiches, bread and butter pudding. Sometimes I make it into breadcrumbs for coating meat like schnitzel.

Bread and butter pudding: made with leftover bread, beaten eggs, milk, spices and raisins

Hunter's Veal Schnitzel  

made with veal and coated with leftover breadcrumbs and fried till golden brown, serve with a delicious mushrooms and sweet pepper sauce.

The Waste-less Journey has been created by AO.com

Canadian National Park

I have been to Canada once many years ago. I always dreamt to go back again. The Canadian National Parks are absolutely beautiful with spectacular  high mountain scenery and stunning lakes views. I  love to follow the mountain trails and explore the alpine and woodland area. In the evening I will retired back into my hotel and enjoy an relaxing spar treatments and a hearty meal. 



Boating on the crystal clear blue lakes would be wonderful.

I am Dreaming of a holiday in Nice

I have always dream about a nice long holiday in  Nice in he South of France.  I love the sunny warm weather, the clean beach, and the luxurious life style in the South of France.

The food was fantastic. People are friendly. Plenty of shops and museums to visit. If I can go any where in the world, Nice has to be at the top of my priority.

 It is just wonderful to walk by the sea to admire some of the luxurious yachts and the life style of others.

The Panoramic view of the French Riviera

The delicious French Cuisine. 

The beautiful Regency style buildings

The beautiful, clean and warm sunny promenade 

This post is an entry for the #Flying100 Family Holiday Challenge, celebrating how flying allows us to make memories and ‘be there’, in association with #Flying100. Find out more at http://bit.ly/flying100

Chocolate Afternoon Tea Extravaganza

Afternoon tea does not have to be narrow down to just sandwiches and scones. I made this selection of chocolate treat because, like everybody else I love chocolate. I used this recipe for afternoon tea, after dinner coffee or for party display. It is very simple to make but it always look impressive. It consists of a selection of homemade chocolate truffles, white chocolate ganache, butter shortbread and sticks of chocolate lollies.

This is my blog post entry to the Denby cake off competition  http://www.denby.co.uk/page/the-great-denby-cake-off

Chocolate sponge cake for the chocolate truffles

( make the sponge cake 2-3 days before needed)

100g caster sugar

100g soften butter

2 large eggs

75g SR flour

25g cocoa powder

1. Heat oven 200C/Gas Mark 6. Grease and line 2 sandwich tins.

2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add in egg one at a time.

3. Sieve flour with cocoa power. Mix the flour into the egg mixture with a metal spoon.

4. Divide the mixture between the 2 sandwich tins. Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 20 minutes until the cake spring back when press. Leave to cool. Store in an air tight tin.

chocolate Rum truffles

·         125g plain chocolate

·          50g unsalted butter

·          125g chocolate sponge cakes, crumbled

·           50g icing sugar

·           25ml dark rum,

·           50g cocoa powder, icing sugar or desiccated coconut

1. Melt the chocolate with the butter. Stir in the cake crumbs, icing sugar and rum.

Cover and leave in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until the mixture is firm.

2. Dust your hand with icing sugar and roll the truffle mixture into 8 small balls. Roll 4 all in the dark chocolate and the other in the desiccated coconut.

For the truffle lolly:

Divide the rest of the truffle mixture into 4 portions. Roll each portion on a lolly stick. Leave to set in the fridge for 30 minutes. Melt some milk chocolate in a bowl. Dip the truffle lolly into the chocolate, leave to set in the fridge.

For the nutty choc Stick:

Dip some lolly sticks in melted milk chocolate. Leave to cool slightly and dip again. Roll in toasted chopped almonds. Leave to set.

For the dark choc crisp stick:Dip lolly stick in melted dark chocolate. Roll in the chopped chocolate crisps. 

Butter short bread:

120g plain flour

60g cornflour

125g soften butter

55g caster sugar

Cream butter and sugar together till light and fluffy. Add in flour to form a dough. Roll our half of the mixture and cut into round biscuits and the other half into small square block. Bake in a preheated oven Gas Mark 5/190C for 15 minutes. Leave to cool.

For the chocolate shortbread, use 60g of cocoa powder instead of cornflour. Roll out and cut them into any shape you like.

To decorate the short bread, dip biscuits into melted chocolate and leave to set. Drizzle with caramel.

White Chocolate Ganache

200ml double cream
420g white chocolate, finely chopped.

1.       Melt the chopped white chocolate over a bowl of warm water Set aside.

2.        Heat the cream in a small saucepan until just boiling.

3.       Pour the cream over the chocolate and leave to stand for two minutes.

4.       Stir the ganache until smooth.

5.      Leave the white chocolate ganache to cool to a thick cream.   

To assemble:

Fill a piping bag with white chocolate ganache. Pipe 4 beads of ganache to form a rectangle  on a large plate or a piece of slate.

Fill the centre of the rectangle with chocolate sand.

(For the chocolate sand, place some chocolate cake and dark brown sugar in a food processor.  Blitz for a few seconds till the mixture resemble find sand.)

Arrange the shortbread biscuits and the truffles on the chocolate sand pit. Garnish with some Kalanchoe leaves or mint. Decorate the white chocolate ganache with blue berries.

My Perfect Halloween Dinner Party

I love Halloween  fancy dress dinner party. It so much fun and very scary. The food is so exotic.

http://www.atlanticshopping.co.uk/
I have just entered the Atlantic Shopping Halloween Dinner Party competition to win the jackpot prize of £500

Guest List For My  Halloween dinner Party:

Dracula Christopher Lee
Vampire Tom Cruise
Psycho Anthony Perkins
Sweeney Todd Johnny Depp
Hannibal Lecter Anthony Hopkins

My dinner menu:

 Starter:
Vampire Blood Red Pumpkin Tomato Soup
Serve with:
Scary face garlic bread
Follow by:
Monster eye balls in Slimy Sauce
Blood Red Beef pot
Vampire Bat Wings Tomato Spicy Rice
Sweeney Todd's Meat Pies
Finish:
Sticky Chocolate Coffin Cake

Sweeney Todd's Meat Pies

My Halloween Dinner is on the table waiting for my Guests to arrived

Vampire Blood Red Pumpkin Tomato Soup with Scary  face garlic bread

Green Eyes Monster Balls in Slimy Sauce                                  

 

Blood Red Beef pot

Vampire Bat Wings Spicy Rice

Sticky Chocolate Coffin Cake