Leek, Mushroom and Cheddar Quiche

In an attempt to get recipes on here before the holiday that they might be appropriate for passes, I decided to give this Easter-y quiche a try for a girls' night in recently. My lovely friend Anna was back from Washington D.C. for a quick visit so Laure and I wanted to have her over for some tasty food and chatting. This quiche was perfect because it wasn't too heavy and went nicely with a leafy salad on the side.

Pastry ready for it's first spin in the oven

Foil protection ready for baking beans

Leeks and mushrooms

Cheese, glorious cheese!

Obviously there are lots of quiche recipes out there and they range from super complicated to super easy. This one is definitely in the latter category, especially if you use store bought pastry. Yes, I know, "real" cooks make their own pastry but frankly I don't have the time usually and store bought varieties are excellent. So, no homemade pastry for me! I will definitely try making some at a later date but things are just too chaotic right now to bother. Anyway, a lot of recipes call for double cream so if you feel more comfortable using that, go for it! I wanted to try and cut a few calories where I could so single cream worked out fine. Also, feel free to use whatever cheese you have on hand. Gruyere, swiss or even blue cheese would all be tasty. Finally, if you don't have baking beans, don't worry! I didn't either so I just bought some dried red kidney beans and popped those in instead.

Finished! With a slightly burnt crust... oops.

Girls' night in!

Tasty food, terrible picture... 

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 45 min

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

1 package of ready made shortcrust pastry
1-2 tbsp butter
4 leeks, white parts sliced
1 package of chestnut mushrooms, sliced
2 large eggs
300ml single cream
Salt
Pepper
200g mature cheddar, grated

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C / 392 F.

Roll out the pastry and place in your baking dish, removing the extras from around the sides. Press the pastry lightly into the nooks of the dish and then place in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. While the pastry chills, melt the butter in a large saucepan and sautee the leeks until the start to soften, about five minutes over medium-low heat. Add the mushroom slices and continue to cook until they have also softened and the liquid in the pan has mostly evaporated. Once the leeks and mushrooms are ready, take off the heat and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

At this point, remove the pastry from the fridge and prick with a fork all over the base. Line with foil and add baking beans. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. To prepare the rest of the filling, slowly whisk the two eggs into the cream and add in most of the cheese. Next, slowly add the cooled leeks and mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Pour into the pre-baked pastry and top with the remaining grated cheese. Return the baking dish to the oven for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden and the filling is no longer liquid. Enjoy!

Overnight Oats: Chocolate Raspberry

This dish is literally a revelation. I'm not known as much of a breakfast person and therefore, as you may have noticed, the majority of the recipes on this blog fall into the lunch or dinner categories. I'm just not very hungry first thing in the morning so the thought of putting in the effort to make something just isn't very appealing. However, there are some days when external forces conspire to create a busy day where there just isn't time for a snack until well into the afternoon and therefore a good breakfast is essential. Enter overnight oats. The combinations for this dish are endless and I'll definitely be posting more options as I go along. It takes about five minutes to mix the ingredients together and pop them in the container the night before and then when you wake up... they're ready! While this is a chilled breakfast and therefore ideal for summer, I thought they were equally good now when the weather is freezing since they're nice and filling. Served along side a cup of coffee or tea, you really don't even notice that it's a chilled dish.

Ingredients

Raspberry puree 

I first tried this recipe with just yogurt since I didn't have any almond milk on hand. You can of course substitute regular milk or soy milk if you prefer but I didn't have any of those on hand either. The result was a little too stodgy for my liking so I definitely recommend using both milk and yogurt. Also, I pureed the frozen raspberries but you could also toss them in whole if you wanted (probably best to defrost them first thought). I went ahead and pureed the whole package (350g) because I didn't want to have to do it every day for each serving. I just popped it in a spare jar and then left it in the fridge. I didn't bother sieving the seeds out but if you think they will annoy you then definitely go for it since they are noticeable in the final dish. FInally, I served this in a glass mason jar because I found that it was the most reliable when it came to avoiding leakage when I throw it in my bag for breakfast on the go but I'm sure a small tupperware would be fine as well.

Finished product

Cook Time: N/A
Prep Time: 5 min
Serves: 1

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of rolled oats or porridge oats
1/3 cup almond milk (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/3 cup fat free plain yogurt
1 tbsp raspberry puree
1 tbsp honey
Handful fresh raspberries
4 squares dark chocolate, chopped

Mix the oats, almond milk and yogurt in a small bowl until completely combined. Next stir in the raspberry puree, honey and the dark chocolate. Carefully spoon mixture in the serving jar or tupperware and top with fresh raspberries. Place in the fridge for a minimum of three hours or overnight. Enjoy! 

Valentine's Main: Rib Eye Steak with Marsala Cream Sauce

While wandering around my local Morrisons I noticed that their beef steaks were on offer because of Valentine's day. So, I took advantage and picked up some great rib eyes. Delicious! But what to serve with them? Last time I visited my parents in Rome, I had an amazing green peppercorn sauce and really wanted to try making that at home. However, after tasting my peppercorns, I found them to be really strong and was a bit worried that they would completely overpower the sauce. So, I decided to throw in a few other ingredients to temper the peppercorns. I think next time I try this I'll probably use my pestle and mortar to break up the peppercorns a bit before adding them to the sauce. Essentially this was a marsala cream sauce with a few peppercorns so if you don't have peppercorns, don't worry!

Ingredients

Onion, garlic and peppercorn mixture after the Marsala wine had cooked off.

Simmering sauce

Although you see mustard in the ingredients picture, I ultimately didn't use it because the sauce had lots of flavor on it's own. I also didn't use salt because the bouillon cube is already quite salty. Overall, this was a great main course for our special dinner and I'll post the recipes for the two sides (roasted cherry tomatoes and white beans with prosciutto and herbs) in a separate post. Be sure to take the steaks out of the fridge 20 minutes before you want to cook them so they can cook evenly. I brought them out when the starter was ready so that they could come to room temperature while we ate. Perfect! I had already made the sauce so that way we only had a few minutes between each course. 

Steak!

Finished dish ready for the sauce

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, finely minced
20 green peppercorns in brine, drained and rinsed
100-150ml whipping cream
1 tsp mixed herbs
1 tsp thyme
1/4 - 1/2 cup Marsala wine
1/2 a beef bouillion
2 rib eye steaks

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the onion. Saute for a minute before adding the garlic and stir to combine. When the garlic is fragrant and the onion has softened, add the peppercorns and continue to cook over a low heat. After a few minutes, add the marsala wine and the herbs and increase the heat to medium. When the wine has simmered for a few minutes, it should start to be absorbed into the onion mixture and the pan will have noticeably less liquid in it. Reduce the heat and add the cream and beef bouillion. Allow to simmer and thicken to the consistency you prefer.

For the steaks, place a grill pan over medium high heat and brush with olive oil. Season the steaks with salt and pepper generously and lay in the pan. Allow to cook for 3 minutes before flipping and then allow 3 further minutes on that side. Cooking time will depend on how well done you prefer your steak and also their size. 

Valentine's Starter: Pappardelle in Saffron Cream

Appologies for the delay in posting this recipe (and the others from Valentine's Day for that matter), I still need to figure out a better way of making recipes before the day in question so that you can all have the recipes in advance... rather than afterwards! I think what I'll do is start tagging recipes that might be good for certain holidays or occasions (such as Easter). Anyway, we had a lovely evening of tasty food and it was all much more relaxed than going out to a restaurant. I was a bit nervous about making a three course meal since I thought it would mean I would be stressed and racing around the kitchen as pots boiled over and steaks burnt to a crisp. Fortunately, these recipes were all really simple. I made the sauces before Sam arrived so that all we needed to do was boil the pasta for the first course and then cook the steaks for the second. Perfect! I also made the side dishes in advance but I'll get to those in a different post. 

Ingredients including that questionable vanilla... 

Onion sauteing 

This recipe was inspired by one on the Food Network website. Their recipe called for vanilla extract to be added to the cream sauce but, having used it, I found it gave the dish a strange dessert like quality that wasn't entirely appropriate. So I've adjusted the recipe below to avoid that happening to others! I've also added parmesan cheese into the sauce rather than just on top because... well, why not? All in all, this was super easy and was a great way to make something that seems just that little bit more special for a day like Valentine's day. Hope you all had a lovely day and enjoyed something delicious either at a restaurant or at home!

Boiling the pasta

Finished product! 

Prep Time: 3 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Serves: 2

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
Pinch of saffron threads
250ml or 2/3 cup of cream
salt
pepper
1/2 tsp lemon juice
zest of half a lemon
50g parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
2 tbsp chives, chopped
Pappardelle pasta

Method: 

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. While waiting for the water to be ready, add the butter and onion to a sauce pan over medium heat. When the onion starts to soften, add the saffron threads. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened. Slowly add the cream and season with salt and pepper. Simmer over medium high heat until the cream has thickened and then stir in the lemon juice and parmesan cheese. Lower the heat and keep warm while boiling the pappardelle according to the instructions on the pack. When ready, drain the pasta and add to the sauce pan. Toss to coat and add the chives and lemon zest. Plate with a few more chives and the remaining parmesan cheese. 

Chicken and Chorizo Empanadas

Empanadas always seemed like the slightly mysterious cousin of British pasties. Delicous but far too difficult to bother making at home. However, by using store bought puff pastry, you get a tasty (if not all that original) version that makes great party food or a side dish for a tex-mex night. The filling is easily customizable to whatever you happen to have on hand or your favorite flavors. I managed to get 16 empanadas out of 2 packages of ready rolled puff pastry but you could easily get more by making smaller cut outs. These were perhaps slightly too big for a party (3-4 bites) so in the future I'll use a glass to cut out the circles and aim to make them more of a 2 bite option.

Browning chicken

Garlic and Onion

Filling simmering

Ready for the oven!

Fresh from the oven

Finished product!

This recipe was based on a Smitten Kitchen version but with a few changes that go along with my preferences. For exmaple, I used chicken breast where she used chicken legs because I prefer them. Because of this, I used a bit more wine and let it simmer longer so that the chicken wouldn't get dry etc. I also used black olives because they were what I had.

Recipe inspired by www.smittenkitchen.com

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 25 min

Serves: 16

Ingredients: 

2-3 chicken breasts
Salt
Pepper
90g chorizo, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 cup olives, sliced
2 packages of ready-rolled puff pastry
1 egg

Method: 

Preheat oven to 400F / 205C.

In a saucepan over medium heat, brown the chicken breast with salt and pepper until they are cooked through. Remove from the pan and slice into three pieces. In the same pan, saute the onion, garlic and bay leaves until the onion is translucent and the garlic is aromatic. Add the chorizo and Spanish paprika and saute for a few minutes before adding the olives, wine and chicken stock. Place the chicken pieces back into the sauce pan and let simmer until sauce has reduced. When sauce is ready, remove the chicken and chop before mixing back into the pan with the other ingredients. Remove filling from the heat and let cool.

Meanwhile, roll out the puff pastry and cut out circles. The finished product will be semi-circles so size your original circles accordingly. Fill each circle with a tablespoon or more of the filling. Use an egg wash to seal the edges and crimp before placing on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush the empanadas with the egg wash and bake for 25 minutes. Start with trays on the top third and bottom third of your oven and switch them halfway through cooking. Serve with salsa and other condiments. Enjoy! 

Lamb and Feta Burgers

I was really excited to try this recipe. I mean, who doesn't like a good burger? I hadn't really played around with different meat options before, which is ridiculous since there are so many interesting recipes out there! Staying loyal to beef has been so limiting. So, in that vein, I started looking over lamb burger recipes. Some had lemon, some had feta, and some had garlic. I thought, why not all of them? I have a similar recipe for lamb meatballs that include lots of garlic and lemon zest so it seemed natural to add them all together. And the results were delicious! Super easy, fairly healthy (especially if you omit the pitta bread bun) and delicious. This recipe came together so quickly that I'll definitely repeat often! I was a bit too greedy and didn't want to waste time adding salad into my burger (I was hungry!) so that might be a nice addition next time. I also used the sun dried tomato and basil mayonnaise from the last recipe because I still had some on hand. Delicious!

Ingredients

Feta

Ready to mix

On the grill pan

Finished product!

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

500g lamb mince
90g feta, chopped/crumbled
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Zest of one lemon
1/4 cup of sliced olives
4 pieces of pitta bread

Method: 

Mix the ingredients together and form into four patties. Grill on a lightly oiled grill pan until cooked through. Toast the pitta bread, slice in half and then place half of each burger into each half of the pitta. Add mayonnaise, onion and other favorites. Enjoy! 

Chorizo and Pepper Pittas

Finished sandwich!

Last friday, I was looking for a tasty lunch and remembered a sandwich I had in Borough Market over a year ago. There's a stand where you can get a chorizo sausage and roasted red pepper in a tasty bun. Simple and delicious. My only slight critique I had at the time was that it seemed a bit dry with just the sausage and pepper. So, I wanted to try and jazz it up a bit. This mayonnaise based addition is really flavorful and so easy to make it almost seems silly not to. Add in some sauteed peppers, onions and a little salad and you're ready to go!

Sun dried tomatoes in the mini  chopper

Sun dried tomatoes and basil, chopped

Finished condiment

Peppers and Onions

Prep Time: 15 min 

Cook Time: N/A

Serves: 6

Ingredients: 

3 slices of chorizo per pitta sandwich
1 bell pepper, sliced
1/2 a red onion, sliced
1 handful of salad leaves per pitta sandwich
Pitta breads
10 sun dried tomatoes, either packed in oil or rehydrated
small handful of basil leaves
2-4 tbsp light mayonnaise

Method: 

Toast the pitta breads while mixing the mayonnaise condiment. In a small food processor, blend the sun dried tomatoes, basil and mayonnaise until smooth. Add 2-4 tablespoons of mayonnaise depending on your personal preference. In a small saucepan, saute the chopped peppers and onions until soft. When this is ready, smooth over one side of the pitta and top with three slices of chorizo, some of the peppers and onions and a few salad leaves.