Author: Jennie

Gigot à la Cuillère

If you have ever been a bit disappointed by a leg of lamb….be it too fatty or too tough. This is the one for you, succulent and soft as butter…. I promise you will never cook lamb the way you used to ever again!!

Don’t be put off by the seven hours cooking it is dead easy!!

Gigot a la Cuillère….

Ingredients:

Servings:
6-8
1 (3 kg) leg of lamb
4 onions, peeled and sliced
8 -12 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
4 large carrots, peeled and quartered lengthways
300 ml white wine
300 ml stock
2 tablespoons armagnac or 2 tablespoons madeira wine
salt and pepper
3 sprigs fresh thyme

Preheat the oven to 120 degrees C or 248 F, gas mark 1/2. Season the leg of lamb with salt and pepper to taste.

Put the casserole or roasting tin on the hob and brown the lamb thoroughly on all sides (it is important to do this now as the meat will not brown in the oven). If the lamb sticks add a little oil to the casserole. Drain away any fat that has gathered in the bottom of the pan.

Add the vegetables to the casserole along with the white wine and stock. Season and bring to the boil.

Put on the lid or cover tightly with tin foil and place in the pre heated oven. Bake for 7 hours, turning twice during this time. The meat will be cooked after 5 hours and offer no resistance to the knife.

The meat requires no resting time when cooked in this way. Transfer the meat and vegetables to a serving platter. Strain the meat juices into a jug and pour or blot away the fat with kitchen paper. Pour the juices into a pan and boil vigorously until reduced by a quarter.

Adjust the seasoning and add the Armagnac or Madeira. Garnish the lamb with the sprigs of thyme and serve with the sauce. Use a spoon to carve and serve the lamb – a la Cuillère as the French call it. It is deeeelish!!

Fennel,Parmesan salad

Yuk! It’s Monday, you are full of good intentions for a super healthy week……but you are too tired to bother…….

This wee crunchy fennel salad is so easy it makes cooking a tin of soup look difficult! Quick, zesty and tasty it compliments fish, meat and chicken.

I actually feel a touch sorry for fennel, it is a much forgotten wee veggie that is truly delish! However, it is one of those ones…..you either love it or hate it!

Crunchy Fennel Salad

3 Fennel Bulbs
Juice of 2-2 1/2 Lemons
80ml Olive Oil
2 tsp Malden Sea Salt
Fresh Black Pepper
80-100g Parmesan

Trim the fennel – cut away the outer leaves and the hard inner core.

Cut the fennel into really thin slices using a really sharp knife. You could also use a mandolin for this job!

Place in a serving bowl.

In another bowl, add the oil, lemon juice, Malden sea salt and black pepper. Using a small whisk, whisk it up until nice and smooth.

Pour over the fennel and toss it about until well coated.

Using a potato peeler add Parmesan shavings to the top of the salad.

Delicious and healthy and frighteningly easy!! Goes beautifully with grilled chicken or steak.

Uber Quick Broccoli and Stilton Soup

2 Large Bunches Broccoli broken into florets and the stem chopped up too
1 Large Onion Chopped Small
750ml Chicken or Vegetable Stock
Stilton to taste
Olive oil
Malden Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Add some oil to a pot and when not chuck in the onion and cook gently for 5-7 mins to soften
Add in the stock and bring to the boil.

Throw in the broccoli. Bring back to the boil, then turn down and simmer for around 4-5 mins until the broccoli is just soft and still vibrant green.

Crumble in some Stilton as much or as little as you like!

Season with salt and pepper.

With a hand held blender whizz until nice and smooth.

I like it nice and thick, you can add more stock if necessary.

Simple deliciousness 😉

Perfect Guacamole

This is a must for clean eating….with the added bonus of having a heavenly taste. Full of good fats and contain nearly 20 vitamins and minerals, let’s face it, what’s there not to love ❤️?

3 Ripe Avocados halved and stone removed
4 Spring onions trimmed chopped
2 Tomatoes Chopped
2 Red Chilli’s chopped (1 if you want it less spicy!)
A Large Bunch of Coriander, roughly 100g
Juice of 1 1/2 limes
Malden Sea Salt to taste

Add the chilli’s, tomatoes, spring onions to a food processor and whizz up.

Add the avocado and whizz again.

Add the lime juice and salt and whizz to mix.

Dare you not to eat it all!!!!

Super Healthy Chicken Curry

Chicken with Spinach

500g Spinach Leaves, washed
6 tbsp Vegetable Oil
3 Black Cardamon Pods
2 Bay Leaves
5cm/2in piece Cinnamon Stick
3-4 Green Chillies, pricked with a knife
1 Large Onion chopped
2cm Ginger, peeled and chopped
11 Garlic Cloves!!! peeled, left whole
3 Big Tomatoes cut into quarters
800g Chicken cut into pieces
2 tsp Ground Coriander
1½ tsp Garam Masala
salt, to taste
4 tbsp Plain Yoghurt
Malden Sea Salt and Black Pepper

In a food processor, blend the spinach to a purée using one or two tablespoons of water to loosen the mixture. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the cardamom pods, bay leaves and cinnamon and fry for 20-30 seconds.

Add the green chillies and onion and continue to fry for 4-5 minutes, or until caramelised.

Meanwhile, blend the ginger, garlic and tomatoes to a smooth paste in the food processor.

When the onions have caramelised, add the paste, chicken pieces and remaining spices to the pan and stir well to combine.

Season, to taste, with salt and simmer for 12-15 minutes, stirring regularly.

Add the yoghurt, stir well and continue to simmer the mixture until the sauce has thickened.

Stir in the spinach purée and continue to simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until the chicken has cooked through.

Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then serve with rice.

One for my clean eating friends! Preparation is the key to clean eating……this way you won’t fall prey to last minute shortcuts….like a takeaway or sandwich!!
You can see in my picture here, I actually whipped this one up in the morning and re-heated it for dinner. My kids loved it too!!

Asian Chicken and Broccoli

Serves 1

1 Chicken Breast
6-7 Broccoli Florets
1 Pack of Fine Asparagus
1 Finely Chopped Garlic Clove
1 Thumb Size Piece Ginger Chopped Finely
1 Red Chilli cut into very fine rings (you can remove the seeds if you want!)
Dash of Sesame Oil
1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
Tsp Sesame Seeds
A Few Mushrooms sliced
Coconut oil

Add the oil to a frying pan or wok and add the chicken, cook until just turning brown.

Throw in the veggies, garlic, chilli and ginger and sesame seeds.

Continue cooking for a few mins. I sometimes add a dash of water whilst frying.

Take off the heat and add the soy sauce and sesame oil.

Serve with some brown rice if you want a wee carb element.

These wee babies went down a storm with the entire family, not a word of complaint! RESULT!!

Luscious Turkey Meatballs in a Simple Sauce

Serves 6-8

Meatballs:
700g Turkey Mince
1 Egg
3 x tbsp Breadcrumbs
3 x tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 x tbsp Finely Chopped Onion and Celery
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Malden Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Sauce:
1 Onion peeled
1 Stick Celery
Olive Oil
1 Clove Garlic minced
1 tsp Dried Thyme
2 x 400g Tins Plum Tomatoes
700ml water
1 tsp Sugar
Malden Salt and Black pepper

Put the celery and onion into a food processor and whizz until really fine. Keep two tbsp of this aside for the meatball mixture.

Heat some oil in a pan and add the onion and celery. Add the thyme and cook gently for around 10 mins.

Add the tins of tomatoes and the water.

Add the sugar and salt and pepper seasoning.

Bring to the boil and reduce heat to simmer.

Whilst the sauce is simmering prepare meatballs.

Simply add all of the meatball ingredients to a large bowl and thoroughly mix with your hands until everything is well combined.

Shape into small balls and place each one on a baking tray.

When you are done drop them into the sauce, spread them out nice and evenly.

Cook for about 30-40 mins.

Serve with rice or pasta. For a bit of extra health as these babies are very low fat, you could serve with brown rice.

Quick and super healthy!

I have been back at the gym after a long time away looking after my babies. I continue cooking my restaurant food for my family, however I have gone a wee bit clean eating!

Much as I adhere to clean eating….it can’t be boring or I would give up!

Tonight I rustled up something that anyone could eat it was simple and super tasty.

Salmon Fillet with Salmon Fillet and Avocado Salad.

Salmon Fillet
Avocado
Cherry Tomatoes
Asparagus
Mixed leaves

for the dressing…..

Extra virgin olive oil
fresh lemon
dijon
Maldon sea salt
black pepper

I optes to roast my salmon as it is totally hassle free. I did it en papillote, basically nicely enveloped in tin foil. You could use grease proof paper. Stick it in the oven around 180 for 15 mins.

Asparsgus needs to be boiled for 3 mins then run it under cold water for a few secs.

Arrange salad leaves, tomatoes, asparagus and avocado around the plate nicely.

Throw all the ingredients for the dressing together. Add roughly about 3/4 cup of the oil. I like to use a tiny whisk to bring all the ingredients together nicely. Add as necessary it is very much a personal taste thing. Some might like more lemon or salt and pepper etc….

Also feel free to throw in whatever you fancy, eggs , halloumi, seeds, nuts etc

Enjoy and feel very self righteous about your healthy dinner with bags of taste! X

Meatballs!

Seriously….how can you not like meatballs??

I like to make my own with mince, a bit of rice, onion and a nice bit of seasoning.

You could add anything you fancied…..oregano, basil, pine nuts etc

Add the mince and all of the other ingredients to a big bowl and squidge (is there such a word!?) with your hands until it is well combined.

Then shape into wee balls whatever size you and your crew fancy!

Brown them a wee bit, if you want but they can be just popped into the sauce.

Remove meatballs and make the sauce…..

The sauce is equally simple:

Saute onions and a clove of garlic. Chuck in a couple of cans of chopped tomatoes and a squeeze of tomato purée. Sprinkle in some oregano. If you need to adjust the sauce with a wee bit of water if it gets too thick.

Now plop your meatballs in, turn down and simmer gentle for about 50 mins.

It is amazaballs!!

p.s. Special secret that is very child friendly and is totally against my no tin anything policy. You could add a can of tomato soup….kids love it!

Cooked in a flash!

So this morning I found a tiny window between baby sleeps and two school pick ups to embark upon a cookathon!

It consisted of tonight’s dinner of Chilli Chicken, Brocolli and Stilton soup and I roasted a wee chicken for my lunch to have with some avocado salad and then turned her into a chicken stock for my freezer!!

Broccoli Soup:

So easy you could make it while chatting on the phone!!

This recipe will give you enough for around six people.

Broccoli roughly two large or three small
One large onion
A chunk of Stilton cheese
a spot of oil
Enough chicken stock to just cover
Season with salt and pepper

Chop the onion quite finely and fry gently in some oil until soft.

Add the broccoli then the stock. When the stock is at boiling point, turn down slightly and simmer for roughly five minutes. Really until the broccoli is just soft but retaining its gorgeous green colour.

When done, add the Stilton to taste, then whizz with a hand-held blender.

You could experiment with other cheeses if you fancy!

The Chilli Chicken is a great tasty wee number for mid-week that is also super quick!

6 chicken fillet cut into small cubes (you know how small you like your chicken!!)
2 onions chopped finely
2 cloves garlic
2 peppers whatever colour you fancy! chop quite small
a touch of flour to thicken
250ml chicken stock
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 x 400g tins of kidney beans
1 heaped tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp chilli powder
cayenne pepper
a squidge of tomato purée

Soften the onions for five mins then add in the garlic. Gently fry for another three mins.

Throw in the chicken and lightly colour it.

Add the peppers for a couple of mins.

Add all the spices. Play around with these according to your taste. I did not add too much chilli as I was feeding it to my toddler, but I love spicy to I added loads of cayenne to mine once his was out!

Add a bit of flour roughly one tablespoon to thicken, you be the judge.

Add your chicken stock stirring as it thickens then add the chopped tomatoes. You may need a touch more chicken stock.

Bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer gently for 20 mins.

Add the kidney beans and cook for a further 10 mins.

Time for a cuppa……….

A Restaurant in my Kitchen

Create restaurant food easily at home!