Tag: foodie hub

Chicken & Chorizo Orzo

Chicken & Chorizo Orzo

1 Comment

Chorizo often creeps its way into my comfort food and go to recipe for a couple of reason one is its long shelf life I always have a couple stashed in the fridge and the other is because I simply adore its flavour and the flavour it imparts on any dish it is cooked with. For example, the flavour it can bring to a simple pan-fried chicken breast is phenomenal. Simply chop the chorizo warm it through in a dry pan until it releases those flavoursome orange tinted oils, remove from the pan then fry a butterflied chicken breast seasoned simply with salt & pepper in the oil until cooked through. Top with cheddar cheese and pop under a hot grill to melt the cheese. Yum!  

This brings me to my chicken & chorizo orzo which is the type of bolstering comfort food I love. The orzo gets all sticky and gives the whole dish a velvety texture, the chorizo gives bright bold flavour and the chicken cooks in the steam released from the whole dish and the skin in the final 15 minutes in the oven with the lid off makes the skin really crisp up and bronze. Truely comfort food at its best. It also helps that it is very easy on the washing up. Check out the recipe below. 

[cooked-sharing]

Ruby & Gold Rocky Road

Ruby & Gold Rocky Road

Leave a comment

My ruby & gold rocky road consists of chocolate, and lots of it. Studded, and made rocky with crunchy rich tea biscuits, mini marshmallows, and then my ruby and gold element in the form of milk chocolate coated honeycomb bars and glace cherries. What make this a great treat to have on hand is that you can stash it in a tin or in the fridge for times when something sweet is needed, plus it make a great edible gift. I always make a few batches post Christmas as well to use up any left over chocolates. Although, made with chocolates that nobody claims to like but when chopped up and put into a rocky road everyone devours them.

It’s a very straight forward recipe no more difficult that melting chocolate, butter and golden syrup together then stirring through the rest of the ingredients and tipping it into a tin to set for a couple of hours before cutting into delicious crunchy chocolate bars.

[cooked-sharing]

Christmas recipes

Christmas: The Countdown

It has been a long and dark year. One which most of us will be glad to see over and look forward to a brighter 2021. I feel it is the lack of celebrations through 2020 that are making me feel so strongly that this years Christmas celebrations will be more important than ever. Christmas has always been an important event, at least to me, anyways. It breaks up and brings brightness to the bleak mid winter, something which I feel we all need amped up this year. There is a Danish and Norwegian word that sums up the feeling of the seasonal period perfectly and that hygge. It is a word used to express feelings of comfort, coziness and contentness. These are all the feelings that these cold dark nights bestow upon me. I love the coziness of a cold dark night, the house illuminated with fairy lights and the flicker of tea light candles as wind, rain, snow or sometimes even a combination of all three pelt the windows and of course a bowl of something soul soothing and comforting to eat from a bowl on the couch.

This year from today the 11/12/2020 the recipe of the day will be a festive recipe on the countdown to Christmas. These recipes will look at side dishes to accompany the main feast, cozy recipes on the lead up to the big day, sweet treats and snacks and of course all those other eating opportunities in between.

Below are just a few of the recipes available in the Christmas recipes section.

Mulled Cider
Mincemeat Pinwheels
Maple Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta & Chestnuts
Espresso Caramel Ice Cream
oxtail stew recipe

Slow Cook Oxtail stew

Leave a comment

If like me you are craving hearty comfort food then have I ever got a recipe for you this slow cook sensation creates a large vat of stew that can make several dinners and only gets better the longer it sits. It also can be frozen making it extremely useful for weeknights. Simply thaw and reheat.

Oxtail is a cheap old fashioned cut, like most cheaper cuts it benefits from a long slow cook to make it tender. My recipe takes 5 hours in the oven so that the meat becomes so tender that it comes away from the bone with the slightest nudge with a wooden spoon. If it makes things easier you can pop it into a slow cooker rather than the oven, especially handy when your working.

I recommend eating with a large bowl of buttery mash or champ potatoes. To change things up for the next meal cook some pappardelle pasta, reheat and stir through the meat sauce, and sprinkle with a generous amount of parmesan for a rich and delicious ragu, or top with puff pastry for a delicious and simple pie to take care of the leftovers.

[cooked-sharing]

August Recipes

August Recipe additions

Summer may be coming to a rapid end. The weather has changed, the evening began to draw in. Whilst I do welcome the thought of cosy and comforting meals that will ensue, I am not quite ready to give up on the brightness and freshness that summer eats provide. Below are a few of the latest recipe editions to the site during August. You may notice that some of that cold grey skied weather has prompted a few dishes that help bolster and warm the soul. I do hope they can bring a little summery brightness to your eating.

strawberry tart
Super Simple Strawberry Tart
Bolognaise meat sauce
Bolognese Meat Sauce
Sausage Ragù Recipe
Sausage Ragú
rapid reto cheesecake
Rapid Retro Cheesecake

Granola muffins

1 Comment

Making muffins for breakfast might seem like a lot of work, but it’s really not. These muffins simply require mixing a few wet ingredients into dry and giving them a lazy stir together. As a lumpy mixed muffin batter gives the lightest muffins. They are great as a grab and go breakfast. I most often make them at the weekends when I can have a relaxed breakfast and have several mugs of tea while they are in the oven. This allows me to ease into breakfast awake properly and actually enjoy breakfast rather than just fuelling myself for the day.  

Granola Breakfast Muffins

The muffins are packed with seeds and nuts both within and on top and I do this lazily and easily by using granola. Of course, you need to use a nut and seed granola and you can use one that also contains dried fruits as well if you desire it. Spelt or wholemeal flour gives the muffins body and heft whilst also being incredibly light and moist. Maple syrup imparts a subtle smoky sweetness and I’ve probably said it several times before but maple syrup and nuts are a legendary combo.  

They are best eaten warm from the oven. I can never decide what is my favourite way of eating them. With jam, butter or honey. So naturally of course, since the recipe makes 6 muffins and there are only two of us eating, we get three muffins each so I have one with jam one with butter and one drizzled with honey.  

Below is my recipe check it out and give it a go.  

Easter Chocolate Cheesecake RecipesCupcakes

Happy Easter

1 Comment

It feels no time since I posted about St.Patrick’s day and the lack of celebrations this year and in the blink of an eye it’s Easter. Again, we will not be celebrating Easter with the usual traditions or customs. This doesn’t mean we have to let the occasion pass without marking it. I will still be indulging in my favourite recipes. I always have lamb at Easter it’s a tradition much like turkey at Christmas. This year though as I will be cooking for a lot less just the two of us it is for this reason I am sharing these two recipes that may be a little more suitable for those unable to celebrate with family this year.

Lamb Ribs

[cooked-sharing]

As you may have seen on my Instagram I have been making Easter chocolate cheesecake cupcakes all week and I plan to make a batch for pudding after my ribs. Check out the recipe below

[cooked-sharing]

Easy Home made Pasta

Essential Lockdown staple recipes

1 Comment

Below are a couple of recipes I have put together that may help those in lockdown. Even though these recipes use basic ingredients you would never know that from the from the final products. I think we can eat well if we have some of the essential staples and certainly in my house these recipes are essential. I mean, fresh bread and pasta can open up a world of eating opportunities. Both of these recipes rely on plain flour, instead of using the usual specific flours required for these recipes, which most of us will have in the house already. So I do hope that these recipes will mean that you may be able to make less trips to the shop. Please stay safe and avoid going out as much as possible.  

Emergency No-Knead White Bread  

 This bread has a soft aerated interior and a ciabatta/sourdough like crust. Most no-knead breads need to sit and rest for at least 12 hours to get a full rise, this bread, however doesn’t require as long it can be baked after two hours. The reason I decided to invest time in a bread recipe that was a no-knead bread and pretty quick to make is so that it was more accessible to everyone such as the elderly, who may not be capable of kneading bread or for parents who may not have the time to knead bread. Using hot water in the bread makes then yeast get straight to work and work overtime. The bread rises in a parchment paper lined mixing bowl for two reasons. Number one is that it is a wet sticky dough and it prevents it sticking to the bowl and secondly it means it can be transferred to the cooking vessel without losing all the air bubbles within. The bread is cooked in a very hot oven in a casserole pot or as other may know it a dutch oven with a lid on for the first thirty minutes this lets the bread steam giving you that lovely soft interior. For the remaining fifteen minutes in the oven it gets cooked without the lid allowing the bread to develop that crusty exterior and go golden brown.  

[cooked-sharing]

 

Pasta 

My simple pasta again just like my bread utelizes plain flour as most of us will have this in our homes already.  The dough is a soft easy to knead dough. You do not require any fancy equipment to make this, a rolling pin is used to roll out the dough. If you are unable to knead and have a mixer with a dough hook this could be used instead.  

[cooked-sharing]