Food Devil

Roast Pepper, Tomato & Chilli Soup

2012-01-01T17:35:00.000+01:00

This soup really is an old favourite of mine, so much so I was really surprised that I had not posted it already. The Soup has 3 simple ingredients (peppers, tomatoes & chilli) that all work together in the cooking process to give an amazing flavour.

I have tweaked the original recipe over the years to have twice as many peppers as when I first made it as I really love the sweetness that you get when you roast a pepper.

The only thing you really need for this soup is time, as you will find the process of just getting the ingredients ready can take almost an hour. The soup itself is ready quite quickly after that. As always when you use chilli’s the amount you use is really all about personal taste. Personally I hardly ever cook the soup with the seeds from the chilli included or if I do I only add a few as if you use too much chilli the heat/spiciness can overpower the other subtle flavours that are going on.

Makes Soup for 6+

Ingredients

15-18 Tomatoes
6 Red Peppers
2 Red Chillis (remove all seeds)
4-6 cloves of Garlic
3 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1 Lt Stock (vegetarian or chicken)
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil

Cooking Utensils
Large Thick Bottomed Saucepan
Chopping Board
Sharp Knife
Oven Dish
Cling Film
Measuring jug
Large Bowl

Preparation

1. Peppers

In an oven dish mix together olive oil, salt & pepper and toss all your peppers completely in the oil

Place peppers under a very hot grill until all are completely black. When black remove and place cling film over the dish until peppers are cool

When cool, remove blackened skin and deseed and chop all peppers into medium sized chunks.

2. Tomatoes

Remove the tops of all your tomatoes.

In a pan of boiling water (also place a clove of garlic in the water) place your tomatoes for aprox 25-30 seconds (you want to remove the skin so you will start to see the skin break, when this happens remove from water). Place 3 tomatoes at a time. When completed place in a large bowl to cool.

Remove all the skin from the tomatoes and deseed all and chop into medium sized chunks.

3. With the water from the tomatoes use this to make your stock.
4. Finely chop your chilli
5. Coarsely chop your garlic

Cooking

- Place your saucepan on at a medium to high heat. Pour in a small amount of olive oil and then your chopped peppers.

- After cooking for about 2 minutes you now want to add your chilli. Let the peppers & chilli introduce themselves to each other and stir the mixture for another 2-3 minutes.
- Now add your garlic and again let the flavours infuse for 2-3 minutes.

- Now add all your tomatoes and cook together for again 2-3 minutes.
- Turn heat down from medium-high to medium heat.

- The mixture is now ready for the red wine vinegar. Pour the vinegar in and let this work with the peppers & tomatoes for about 7 minutes. You will start to see the ingredients becoming like pulp. This is what you are looking for.

- After 7 minutes add your stock and cook at a light simmer for another 15 minutes.
- Taste the soup and season to your own taste

ENJOY!!!

Traditional Roast Chicken with Roast Spuds

2011-12-18T19:27:00.000+01:00

The Sunday Roast is a huge tradition back home, I think it stems from getting up early to go to Mass and then having the day in front of you. In recent times we normally set aside Sundays for dialing in a food delivery and I haven't been to mass either in an age come to speak of it, so I aint cooked a roast in a while. I normally reserve it for special occasions as it always goes down an absolute treat.

But this Sunday I had a request to make some breadcrumbs again so I decided to make a Roast Chicken with extra and I mean extra breadcrumbs so we could have chicken and stuffing sandwiches for Mondays lunch which are hands down my favourite sandwich.

A few things I have picked up over the many times I have cooked this meal:

Oven Temperature: Keep your oven at 190C and for the most of the duration keep the chicken on the bottom third of the oven. Move it up to the top third of the oven for the last 20 minutes when you remove the tin foil that is protecting the chicken breast.

Keep meat juicy: Wrap your cooked chicken completely in tin foil for 10-15 minutes when you remove it from the oven – this will allow all the juices to settle while keeping the chicken warm.

Parboil your potatoes before roasting – this will ensure the centre of the potato is cooked to perfection.

Double it: Whatever you think you will need potato-wise just double it as if you cook the roast potatoes properly they are a meal in themselves.

Keep things simple: Use a very simple herb breadcrumb of fresh basil & dried oregano.

Keep all the juices from the chicken to use when cooking up your gravy.

I will break down the recipe into 3 parts:
1. Breadcrumbs
2. The Potatoes
3. The Bird

Complete Ingredients (Shopping List)
1 whole Chicken
Half a lemon
150g butter
Large handful of fresh Basil
Dried Oregano - 1 table spoon
Onion salt (optional in the breadcrumbs)
2 garlic cloves
6-8 slices of bread (not fresh bread)
Large onion
400g potatoes
Salt & Pepper
Olive oil

Cooking Utensils
Food Processor
Wok for breadcrumbs
Saucepan for potatoes
Large Oven dish
Chopping Board
Sharp Knife
Small bowl for Herb butter
Potato peeler

1. Breadcrumbs
- Finely chop your onion & garlic

- Blitz your bread in a food processor to make your breadcrumbs
- Chop your fresh basil

- Place a Wok on a medium heat and saute your onions & garlic in 50g of butter until the onions become completely translucent
- Before adding your breadcrumbs, remove from heat and add the final bit of butter (25-50g) & let melt (the butter will coat all the breadcrumbs so it is important you have extra otherwise the breadcrumbs are too dry)

- Add your breadcrumbs and stir until completely covered in the buttery onion mixture.
- Now add your fresh basil, dried oregano, onion salt, salt & pepper. Taste the breadcrumbs, they already taste good enough to eat
- Your breadcrumbs are now done

2. The Potatoes

- Peel all potatoes and cut into even sizes (this will ensure everything cooks at the same level)

- Place in a pot of salted boiling and par boil for 7-10 minutes

- When finished remove from water and place a tea-towel over the saucepan. The steam from the potatoes will ensure they go flourery - this will ensure your crust goes golden brown and crispy
- What I like to do now is mix up some seasoning with some olive oil and coat all the potatoes in this olive oil before adding with the chicken.

3. The Bird

- Preheat your oven to 190C

- This part aint for the squeamish so prepare yourself for sticking your hand where the sun don't shine!

- Wash out the complete inside of the chicken and leave stand so it can dry completely

- Chop your half a lemon into 1/4s and rub the complete insides with your lemon and also all around the chicken

- Make a basil & garlic butter (50g). Place this herb butter under the skin that is over the breast of the chicken.....this will ensure your breast has a beautiful flavour

- Stuff the chicken cavity with your breadcrumbs - push right down so you can get in as much as you can. Your chicken is now ready to go into the oven
- For the first 15 minutes the chicken should go in breast down to let the back cook first. Keep the chicken in the bottom third of the oven.

- After these 15 minutes turn onto its back and cook breast side up for a further 45-50 minutes in total. Now add your parboiled cooked potatoes.
- Place tin foil over the breast and breadcrumbs for the first 30 minutes. This will ensure your breast stays moist and juicy. Toss your potatoes whenever you check the chicken

- For the final 15 minutes remove the tin foil and place in the top third of your oven to ensure the breast goes golden brown

- When golden brown remove from heat and wrap completely in tin foil for 10-15 minutes. Turn oven down to 150C and toss your potatoes until ready to serve.

- The beauty here is that these 15 minutes allow you to cook the other vegetables and gravy that will go with your meal.

- Remove Chicken from the foil and cut Chicken to desired size and cut type and serve on a warm plate with your roast potatoes, breadcrumbs, gravy and choice of vegetables

ENJOY!!!

Sangria

2011-12-17T16:04:00.000+01:00

I got this recipe from a Spanish friend of mine many years ago when we had a Tapas workshop together. Last weekend I had sangria again when watching the El Clásico in a Spanish Tapas bar so it gave me the idea to make it today for a Christmas party with friends.

Mix up your wine, lemon, cinnamon & alcohol the night before to let the flavours fuse with each other. Add your fruit the next day a few hours before serving to stop the fruit turning to mush.

I have doubled the originial recipe so the below recipe will make about 4 litres of sangria so if this is too much for you just half all the ingredients.

Makes 4 litres of Sangria aprox

Ingredients

3 bottles of Spanish wine (Tempranillo/Rioja)
1.5 Lt lemon (sparkling)
6-8 Cinnamon sticks
3 Kinds of strong alcohol – Vodka/Rum/Triple Sec (150 - 200ml of each)
Selection of fruit pieces (Lemon/Orange/Strawberry/Kiwi/Apple)

Utensils
Large Mixing pot
Sharp knife
Chopping Board

Preparation

Night before:

- Mix together your wine, lemon, cinnamon & alcohol and leave to chill in a fridge overnight

Day:
- Remove Cinnamon pieces

- Chop all your fruit into even sized pieces (squeeze the juice from the lemons & oranges into the sangria mixture)
- Replace in fridge until ready to serve.

- Just before serving add ice cubes

ENJOY!!!

Chicken Soup

2011-12-14T19:56:00.000+01:00

My thoughts on food have always been that it should be practical and suit the need & purpose for what you want. This soup fits that bill perfectly. This recipe is more or less 100% 'a hangover cure'. Although it is mighty tasty I only seem to cook it to cure a bad hangover….hence the reason why I use the soup mixes. The soup is very easy to get together and when it is ready it will really come to your aid and make your recovery day that little bit more bearable.

On the Soup mixture discussion I like to make a 1.5 litre soup with half of the stock coming from the soup mixture. So use enough soup mixture to make 0.75lt of soup. If you can try combining cream of vegetable & chicken soup for best results

Makes 1.5 Litres of Soup

Ingredients

2 Chicken Thighs
4 Potatoes
2 Carrots
1 Leek
Selection of onions (red/shallots/white)
4 gloves of garlic
2 chicken stock cubes
Soup mix (cream of vegetable & chicken)
50g Butter
Salt & Pepper

Celery (personally I hate celery so did not use it but if you like it can also be added)

Cooking utensils

Chopping board
Sharp knife
Vegetable peeler
Large Saucepan
Wooden spoon
Measuring Jug
Coffee Mug

Preparation

- Peel potatoes & carrots, wash & chop coarsely
- Peel your leek, wash and chop coarsely
- Peel & chop your onions & garlic coarsely

- Cut excess fat off your chicken thighs
- Place your 2 chicken stock cubes in your measuring jug with 500ml of boiling water
- Take enough soup mixture to make 750ml of soup and place in Mug with a small amount of cold water

Cooking

- Heat your saucepan to a medium heat & melt your butter
- Add your onions, potatoes, carrots, garlic & leeks and cook lightly for 2-3 minutes

- Add your chicken stock, soup mix & another litre of water
- Add your chicken pieces and cook until the mixture starts to boil

- When the mixture boils turn down to a low-medium heat and place the lid of the saucepan on.
- Cook the soup for 30-40 minutes remembering to stir & check every once in a while.

- Some light foam will appear on the top of the soup so remove with a spoon during the cooking process
- Season soup with salt & pepper to taste

- Serve with some buttered fresh bread

ENJOY!!!

Goats Cheese, Red Onion & Tomato Tart

2011-12-05T17:18:00.003+01:00

I stumbled onto this recipe last night when I had all of the above ingredients as leftovers and I wanted to have a light snack. The tart was all super easy to put together and the end result was absolutely delicious.

Note: when using the pastry be sure to use the Puff Pastry or when in NL it is the Roomboter type

Makes 2 Tarts

Ingredients

2 sheets of Puff pastry
100g goats cheese
6 cherry tomatoes
1 red onion
2 cloves garlic
Honey
Handful pinenuts
Splash Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Knob Butter
Salt & Pepper

Cooking Utensils
Chopping board
Sharp Knife
Oven dish
Frying pan
Wooden Spoon

Preparation

- Preheat oven to 190C
- Ensure pastry is defrosted
- Finely chop red onion & garlic
- Very thinly slice cherry tomatoes & goats cheese
- Grease your oven dish with your butter

Method/Cooking

- Fry your red onions/garlic on a medium heat for 7-10 minutes. In the last minute add in your drizzle of balsamic vinegar

- Place your Pastry on our own dish and lightly score with a knife 1cm from the edge
- Now get together your tart:

Goats Cheese
Balsamic Red Onion
Honey
Pinenuts

Cherry Tomatoes

Salt & Pepper

- Place in your preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Tip: after 15 minutes remove from oven to make sure the pastry is not sticking to the oven dish

ENJOY!!!

Irish Soda Bread

2011-11-26T11:53:00.000+01:00

Soda Bread is one of those things I really do miss from back home. The recipe itself is super easy with the key ingredient being that of Bi-cardonate of Soda. In the past I have been unable to find it here in Amsterdam but a trip to an ex-pat shop was a success so happily I am able to make it again.

The recipe that I used is the one that my father used when I was a kid and I followed it to the letter. Modern versions of the recipe use butter milk and also add some porridge oats to the bread but to be perfectly honest the traditional way is easily the best. Also the whole process of getting the bread together takes about 5 minutes, so you really have no excuse not to try this.

Ingredients

230g (1 cup) white flour
230g (1 cup) wholemeal flour
235ml (1 cup) milk
2 tsp bi-carbonate of soda
Pinch of salt

Cooking Utensils
Large mixing bowl
Wooden spoon
Sieve
Baking tray
Weighing scales

Pre-heat oven to 200C

Preparation

- Sieve white flour, bi-cardonate of soda & salt into your mixing bowl

Method

- Add whole meal flour & mix mixture completely with your hands.

- Form a well in the middle of the flour and add half of your milk and stir with the spoon
- Add remaining milk and mix until all flour mixture is combined

- Transfer to a floured tabled and kneed the mixture for approx 1 minute

- Form a circle with your bread mixture and make a ‘cross’ with a knife on top & transfer to your floured baking tray
- Bake in a pre-heated oven (200C) for 30 minutes
Tap the base of the bread when it sounds hollow like a drum it is ready

- Wrap the bread in a tea towel until it cools (this will keep the crust fresh & crispy)

- Serve as desired, my personal favourite is Irish Smoked Salmon with spring onion

ENJOY!!!

Roast Turkey

2011-11-17T19:32:00.001+01:00

With Christmas around the Corner I thought it best to upload the recipe from how I Roast a Turkey and also how I Honey-roast my Ham at Christmas. Whenever people go on to me about Christmas dinner they always say how stressful it is and also how dry the Turkey was etc.

Christmas Dinner is all about planning, it is about making a plan and sticking to it…also when you prepare the Turkey the way I do it, it is never dry. I always remove from the Oven and wrap in tin foil for an hour or more. In this time all the juices will settle and you can go about baking your Ham and also preparing the rest of the dinner so really it is not stressful at all.

Easier said than done I know

First up, Roast Turkey

How big should it be? Take a rough estimate of 500g per person, as you will always want more for leftovers. Best sandwich in the world is Roast Turkey with Basil Stuffing so don’t worry about having too much

For my basil stuffing see here:

Ingredients

5KG Turkey
100g Butter
Large handful of Basil leaves
8 strips of back bacon
Aluminum Foil
Basil Stuffing

Cooking utensils
Oven Dish

Preparation
- Prepare basil stuffing – with stuffing always make more than you think you need as you will always use it

- Chop Basil finely and mix completely with your Butter
- Clean out the insides of the Turkey and dry completely
- Stuff the Turkey with your stuffing

Preheat oven to 220 degrees
Cooking time is 35mins a KG

Cooking

- Baste your Turkey completely in the basil butter
- Place Turkey on its breast for the first 20 minutes (can also start on its side if the oven has the room)

- After 20 minutes, place Turkey on its back. Place your strips of Bacon along the Breast and cook for another 20 minutes
- After 20 minutes turn oven down to 180 degrees

- Keep an eye on the Turkey - basting and draining the fat as you go (keep fat for gravy later) after Bacon cooks you can either protect the breast with foil or leave free
- Keep turning the Turkey and repositioning it (any time you open the oven make sure to close it immediately)

- When Turkey is cooked take out of oven and wrap completely in Tin Foil (lets all the juices settle)

- After 60 mins - carve and serve
- Serve with your choice of vegetables, mashed potato, roast potatoes & gravy and of course your honey roasted Ham

ENJOY!!!

Honey Roasted Ham

2011-11-17T19:25:00.000+01:00

A real favourite of mine at Christmas but in all honesty it can be eaten all year round if you can get your hands on some good Ham. The Ham comes in 2 stages. Firstly you need to boil it – you can do this the day before.

Secondly you roast it – it only takes 60 minutes, so do this while the Turkey is resting in the Aluminum Foil

You will need aprox 250g per person – again cook more as it is really delicious as leftovers

Ingredients

1 bay leaf
3 medium onions
Tbsp Pepper corns
3KG Ham
200g honey
200g dark brown sugar
70ml cider vinegar
2tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2tsp whole cloves

Cooking utensils
Saucepan
Oven Dish
Mixing Bowl

Preparation
- Discard all fat from Ham and soak for at least 24 hours in cold water

Boiling (DAY BEFORE)

- Place your soaked ham in a large saucepan with your bay leaf, onions & peppercorns & cover with water.

- Bring to the boil and skim away any impurities
- Turn down to a light simmer and cook for 25minutes per 500g.
- When cooked drain and allow to completely cool

Roasting

Preheat oven to 190C

- Combine honey, brown sugar, cider vinegar, nutmeg & cinnamon into a paste
- Score the Ham into diamond shapes and score each intersection with your cloves

- Baste Ham completely with your paste and cook for 60 minutes rebasting the ham every 10 minutes

ENJOY!!!

Mushroom and Mozzarella Burgers

2011-10-25T21:03:00.000+02:00

I made these burgers many moons ago for a friend who is a veggie, they went down so well back then that they continually come up in conversation whenever we get talking about food together. The reason as to why I cooked them this time is that my girlfriend just loves Mushrooms & Mozzarella and also Sara has been asking for the recipe.

When serving I serve in a lightly toasted bun with some caramelized onions, I always serve whatever burger it is I make with Corn on the Cob and today I also made a Tomato stuffed with leftover red onion & mozzarella.

Makes 2 burgers

Ingredients

5 medium sized mushrooms
1 small red onion
1 clove of garlic
50g buffalo mozzeralla
50g white flour

Sprinkle mixed herbs
2 slices of white bread
Knob of butter & drizzle of vegetable oil

Cooking utensils
Food Processor
Large mixing bowl
Chopping Board
Sharp Knife
Non Stick Frying pan
Oven dish

PREHEAT OVEN TO 180C

Preparation

- Blitz your white bread in your food processor until very fine

- Chop your mushroom, garlic & onion roughly and then blitz in food processor until a even consistency
- Chop your mozzeralla into small even sized pieces

Method/Cooking

- In a large mixing bowl combine the mushrooms/onion/garlic/mozzeralla mixture
- I like to add the bread gradually and feel the texture of the burger…the bread is added to remove the moisture
- Finally add your flour again in stages and check for the moisture

- Separate the mixture into 2 even balls and make 2 burgers.
- Preheat your frying pan to medium high and add your butter/oil

- Cook the burgers for 3 minutes each side so that you seal them

- Transfer to a oven dish and cook in your pre-heated oven for 5-7 minutes

- When cooked transfer to a toasted burger bun and serve as you desire

ENJOY!!!

Seafood Quiche

2011-10-04T21:05:00.000+02:00

To Quiche or not to Quiche that is the question. I got to say that Quiches have become a real addiction of mine recently so much so that I even created a Quiche label here at Food Devil.

Next up for myself was to try a Seafood Quiche. The below recipe can handle prawns, lobster or crab meat. Myself I used crab meat this time and it really worked a treat.

Makes 6 small Quiches

Ingredients

2 shallots
50g butter
Can of Crab
Pinch of salt & pepper
50ml white wine
4 eggs
250 whipping cream
1 Tbl tomato puree
Filo pastry
150g butter
Emmental cheese

Cooking Utensils
Chopping Board
Sharp Knife
Frying Pan
Large Muffin Tray
Aluminum Foil
Pastry brush
Small bowl
Mixing jug
Cheese Grate

Preparation

- Finely chop your shallots

- Combine your eggs, cream & tomato paste and whisk
- Grate your cheese

- Prepare your filo pastry in your muffin tray. I like to use 4 strips of filo per each case. Each case should be buttered each side before you place in tray

Preheat oven to 190C

Cooking

- Melt butter on a preheated frying pan at a moderate heat and cook your shallots for 2 minutes

- Add crab meat and stir gently for a further 2 minutes. Season with salt & pepper

- Add wine and raise heat so mixture starts to boil for a moment. Take off heat & allow to cool

- Gradually blend your cooked crab to your egg mixture & add salt/pepper to taste

- Pour Mixture evenly into each Filo Pastry casing & sprinkle an even amount of cheese over each

- Bake in the upper third of your preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until quiche has piffed & browned

Tip: to ensure that the fragile filo pastry will not burn cover the quiche with aluminum foil for the first 15 minutes

ENJOY!!!

Smoked Turkey Filo Quiche with onion, potato, pinenuts, gruyere & sage

2011-09-06T21:53:00.003+02:00

Some months ago I saw a friend make quiches with filo pastry and thought it was a much better alternative to the sometimes heavier pastry option. Last night therefore I decided to make a new quiche that I have never thought of before and I had 3 ingredients that I wanted to base this around.

Filo Pastry – Smoked Turkey – Gruyere Cheese

What I wanted to do with this quiche was to find complimenting flavours to go with the above so I went for the following:

Filo pastry – Smoked Turkey – Caramelized Onions – Cooked potato – Roasted Pinenuts – Grated Gruyere Cheese – egg/crème fraiche/garlic/sage – Grated Parmesan

The result was stunning I got to say and it was a real melt in your mouth dinner…

Enough for 4 mini quiches

Ingredients

8 sheets of Filo pastry
75g butter
125g smoked turkey
2 medium sized onions
Tbls Brown Sugar
Drizzle of Brown Sugar
2 cooked medium potatoes (cold)
Small handful of pinenuts
50g Gruyere Cheese
3 eggs
75g Crème Fraiche
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp dried sage
25g Parmesan

Cooking utensils

Large Muffin Tray
Frying pan
Pastry brush
Small bowl
Chopping Board
Sharp knife
Mixing jug
Garlic Crusher
Fork
Wooden Spoon
Aluminum Foil

Preparation
- Pre-heat oven to 180C

- Finely chop your onions
- Chop your cooked potato into even sized pieces
- Grate your Gruyere & Parmesan finely
- In your mixing jug combine your eggs, crème fraiche, crushed garlic & sage and whisk thoroughly
- Melt your butter
- If your Filo is frozen remove from freezer and place in a tea towel and allow to de-frost (keeping in the tea towel will ensure the pastry remains soft)

Cooking

- Lightly toast your pinenuts on a medium to high pan & leave to one side to cool

- When pinenuts are completed return pan to heat and on a low to medium heat cook your onions , about 10 minutes (cooking your onions on a low heat will enable them to release their natural sweetness)
- When onions are almost done you can turn heat up to medium and add your brown sugar a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and stir completely. Leave onions to cool

- To make the quiche base you will have to cut the filo pastry into the right size to fit in tray and also butter the pastry on both sides. I like to use 4 half pieces per cup with a focus on each quarter of the cup when I put the pastry in to ensure the pastry completely covers the tray

- Now with this done it is time to combine your Quiche mixture.

- I used the following order (remember to use only a small sample of each)

Smoked Turkey – Caramelised Onion – Potato – Roasted Pineneuts – Gruyere Cheese

- Now you want to add your egg mixture – start off with slow amounts in each cup and move along to the next one…let the egg mixture find its place in the cup
- When all topped up you can now sprinkle your remaining Parmesan cheese on top

- Place in your preheated oven for 20 minutes

- Tip: to ensure that the fragile filo pastry will not burn cover the quiche with aluminum foil for the first 10 minutes

- Serve with a light salad

ENJOY!!!

Damn you Amsterdam 'Summer'

2011-09-02T10:51:00.001+02:00

It is with much regret that I have some sad news on the Rooftop garden front

This Summer has been the wettest on record and my tomatoes just could not survive in these sorrowful conditions...if any on us could come ot think of it

I learnt alot this summer in respect to gardening & it is definitely something I will continue next year. I feel if i had of got off to a good start back in April things might of been different....but next year it is my intention to have a full crop of tomatoes by the middle of July so the lessons have been learnt.

But until then you can check out my sorrowful toms. As you can see the trees were full of little cherry tomatoes but the weather just worked against us

Fish au Gratin

2011-08-30T21:46:00.004+02:00

I really love this recipe, so many things going all which all result in some amazing flavours.

You will start off my poaching your fish in milk. Once the fish is cooked you will drain the liquid and make a roux of butter & flour and slowly mix back in your warm milk mixture. This will thicken everything up into a sauce and by adding back the cooked fish, cream, wine, gruyere cheese & mustard you will give that sauce a real kick of flavour. Finish off under a hot grill with breadcrumbs & gruyere on top.

Pure Genius!

Serves 2

Ingredients

300g Cod (other white fish work)
1 onion
2 slices of lemon rind
Bay Leaf
300ml milk
2 Tbsp white wine
3 Tbsp double cream
½ Tsp seeded mustard
2 slices of white bread
75g Gruyere cheese
40g butter
25g white flour
Salt & Pepper

Cooking utensils

Food Processor
Sieve
Sharp Knife
Chopping Board
Cheese Grate
Deep Frying Pan
Oven dish
Wooden Spoon
Mixing Jug

Preparation

- Wash your fish in cold water
- Chop onion into large pieces
- In a food processor blitz your bread into breadcrumbs
- Grate your Gruyere cheese finely

- Combine your breadcrumbs & 15g of your cheese

Cooking

- Place your fish, milk, onions, lemon rind & bay leaf in a deep frying pan over a medium heat and bring liquid to a slow simmer
- Cook for 5-6 minutes or until the fish starts to break apart
- Leave stand with heat off for 5 minutes

- Sieve your fish mixture over a jug.

- In a clean frying pan melt butter slowly on a medium heat (be careful not to burn)
- Now add your flour slowly and stir with a wooden spoon until a roux is formed
- Remove from heat and slowly add the milk mixture while continuing to stir

- When all milk is combined, return to heat you can now add your wine, cream, mustard & remaining Gruyere cheese

- Finally break in your pieces of cooked fish and simmer for a minute

- Place all in a oven dish and top with your breadcrumb mixture
- Place under a hot grill until the breadcrumbs turn golden brown
- Serve with a light green salad

ENJOY!!!
Suggestion: Cook potato & mash up super creamy & subsitute for the breadcrumbs for a Fish Pie

The moment of truth has arrived.......

2011-08-20T12:48:00.000+02:00

The time has come to pull the first of my carrots...at the start of the Summer I really had no clue what I was doing. I have definitely enjoyed the whole experience of getting to understand how this whole gardening lark works.

Anyhow lets see how they turned out

So all in all they are a success...I can remember planting 2 seeds per hole so this is why there is 2 sprouts in one.

Taste: I had them almost immediately after pulling them and I got to say they tasted great - very crisp, sweet & fresh.

Conclusion: The time spent versus the reward however is too great in my opinion.

I have already decided that next summer I will only plant tomatoes/peppers & strawberries...

Tomato update:

Its really make or break for the tomatoes I think, all this rain is starting to take its toll and now I just need 3 weeks of sun.....

But don't we all

Baked Tilapia

2011-08-10T19:19:00.000+02:00

This recipe is incredibly simple. I was originally looking for a white fish recipe for on the BBQ but the weather did not oblige so I baked in the oven instead

Melted butter with lemon is brushed over your fish and finely chopped herbs are added…I used coriander from the garden. The cooked in a pre-heated 180C oven for aprox 10 minutes. Tonight I served with my cous cous salad but it will go with almost anything.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 tilapia fillets
50g Butter
1 lemon
Handful Coriander
Salt & Pepper

Cooking Utensils
Oven dish
Chopping Board
Sharp Knife
Small bowl
Pastry brush

Preparation
- Wash your fish in cold water

- Place your lemon in a bowl of warm water (this will release the juice easier)
- Melt butter and squeeze juice of 3/4 lemon into bowl
- Finely chop coriander

PREHEAT OVEN to 180C

Cooking

- Brush your own dish with the butter
- Place your fish into your oven dish and brush completely in the lemon butter
- Sprinkle your coriander over your fish

- Place in pre-heated oven for 10 minutes or until the fish is cooked

ENJOY!!!

Fish in TinFoil

2011-08-07T18:58:00.001+02:00

Similar to the Red Snapper that I did on the BBQ, another great way to cook fish is to steam it in tin foil. I do it very differently when I use an oven in that I let the fish sit in some stock/white wine so that it will poach as well as steam when cooking.

The beauty of making this dish is that each individual serving of Fish can really be personalized. Personally I like to add a full chilli & ginger to mine but my girlfriend is not a fan so I remove them & add some brown sugar instead as this is how she likes it. Just play around with different ingredients & you will find what you like.

The most important part is the combination of vegetable stock & white wine…..the rest of the ingredients are really up to you.

I like to serve this with my egg fried rice recipe

Serves 2 people

Ingredients

2 Pieces of White Fish (cod, tilapia or any other white fish)
200ml Vegetable Stock
100ml White Wine
3 cloves of garlic
2 devil eye chillis
1 Lime
2cm fresh ginger
Handful fresh coriander
2 Spring onions (shallots or red onions also work here)
2 sheets of tin foil (each aprox 60cm long)

Optional
2 tsp brown sugar (if you like things sweeter)

Cooking Utensils
Chopping Board
Sharp Knife
Oven Dish

Preparation
- Wash & dry your fish

- Finely chop your garlic, coriander, ginger & chilli
- Roughly chop your spring onions

The Tinfoil Parcel

- Fold your tinfoil in half

- Now you want to tightly fold over the edges a minimum of 4 times to ensure that all the liquid is sealed. In the end you have an open envelope of foil

Preheat oven to 200C

Cooking

- Place your fish in the bottom of your tin foil & place on oven dish
- Now add half your vegetable stock & half your wine (the more you cook this you can add or decrease this amount to your own tastes)

- Now add half of all your other ingredients (garlic, ginger, coriander, chilli, spring onion) to each tinfoil package
- Finally add the juice of half a lime to each package

- Fold over the top of the tinfoil 3 times (so that is is completely sealed) so that you have a large tinfoil type envelope, make sure there is a lot of air in the package.

Now push down on the package to compact the air. The fish will now steam & poach together.

- Cook at 200C for 15 minutes

Serve with my egg fried rice recipe

ENJOY!!!

Rooftop Gardening: 8 weeks on

2011-08-05T15:48:00.002+02:00

This Amsterdam Summer is one of the worst for a very long time but my garden continues to really love it.

Last night

8 weeks ago

As you can see from my picture of last night the Tomatoes, carrots & onions are really thriving.

to be continued.......

Parmesan Encrusted Fish

2011-07-26T21:05:00.001+02:00

I have not done this recipe in ages and I just remembered it as I wanted to have a salad tonight but wanted some fish to go with it. It is like a common theme here at Food Devil but this is remarkably easy. Your fish is first coated in white flour and then egg white 7 finally grated parmesan cheese. Then it is shallow fried in hot oil for about 2/3 minutes each side. This recipe also works great with chicken breast/slices courgette/eggplant

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 pieces of Tilapia fish

1 egg

40g fresh Parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp white flour

Salt/pepper

Sprinkle of paprika

Sunflower oil

Cooking utensils

Frying pan

2 shallow plates

Kitchen paper

Preparation

- Wash fish and pad dry with kitchen paper

- Grate your cheese onto one of your plates

- Separate your egg so that only egg white remains on the plate

- Mix the salt/pepper & paprika with your flour

- Pour aprox a finger tip of oil into your frying pan and turn heat onto medium/high

- First coat your fish in the white flour, then the egg white & finally the parmesan cheese

Cooking

- To test if the oil is hot enough throw in a piece of white bread. If it sizzles & turns crispy the oil is hot enough

- Carefully place your prepared fish into the oil and turn after 30 seconds to ensure that the cheese will hold to the fish. Repeat on the other side and cook finally for 1 minute each side.

- Remove and place on Kitchen paper to remove excess oil

- Serve immediately, tonight I had it with a nice green salad

ENJOY!!!

Vegetarian Omelette

2011-07-21T21:44:00.000+02:00

Check out this funky way of making a very simple omelette taste delicious. For this omelette you will separate your egg & then whisk your egg whites until you have soft peaks. In a separate bowl you will beat the remaining egg yokes & milk and then fold in the egg white very carefully.

The omelette is then cooked on a medium-high heat and the vegetables (which have been cooked earlier) are added when the omelette is cooked with some grated cheese (cheddar in my case)

(for one person)

Ingredients

2 eggs
2 Tbsp Milk
Salt & Pepper

Olive oil
1 medium onion
¼ Pepper
¼ Courgette
1 clove of garlic
¼ red chilli
Grated cheese (cheddar, gruyere)

Cooking utensils

Chopping board
Sharp knife
Whisk
Non-stick frying pan
2 mixing bowls
Egg Flipper

Preparation
- Finely chop onion, courgette, pepper, chilli & garlic

- Separate your egg into the 2 bowls

- Whisk the egg white until you get soft peaks
- In a separate bowl whisk together the egg yokes & milk with salt/pepper

- Fold in gently your egg whites with your egg yoke mixture

Cooking

- Heat your frying pan to a medium to high heat and with a little olive oil cook all your vegetables in the order: (after one minute add a new ingredient, cook for a final 3 minutes when all ingredients together)

'onions then peppers then courgette then garlic/chilli'

- Remove vegetables and clean the pan and lightly oil & return to a medium high heat.

- Pour in your egg mixture and cook for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown underneath
- Flip quickly and repeat on the other side (be quick with this as the lightness of the omelette makes this part tricky)
- Spoon your cooked vegetables on one half of the omelette along with your grated cheese and turn omelette in half

- Serve on a warmed plate

Tip: if you have the time roast your vegetables

ENJOY!!!

Broccoli Feta & Cherry Tomato Salad

2011-07-19T21:16:00.000+02:00

I tasted this salad the last time I was back in Ireland and I simply had to get the recipe and give it a go as it was delicious. Cooked Broccoli is not an absolute but a crunchy broccoli salad with feta, cherry tomatoes & roasted hazelnuts with a French dressing is really good.

Below makes salad enough for 8 people, photos are from a double recipe where I had 20 people over for a BBQ

Ingredients

110g Hazelnuts
400g Broccoli (one large head)
110g Feta cheese (good quality)
Punnet (250g) cherry tomatoes
1 large sweet apple (Gala)

French Dressing

60ml (¼ cup) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
60ml (¼ cup) Sunflower Oil
Tbsp Grained mustard
2 Tbsp White wine vinegar
Salt & pepper

Cooking Utensils
Sharp Knife
Chopping board
Large salad bowl
Small empty jar
Frying pan
Large Saucepan

Preparation

- Chop the broccoli into small even sized florets
- Rinse in cold water & chop all your cherry tomatoes in half
- Chop all your feta into even sized pieces
- Peel and chop your apple into even pieces
(if you are preparing your salad in advance leave the feta/apple prep until the very last moment)

Method

- Pre-heat your frying pan to medium high and lightly toast your hazelnuts, making sure not to burn them.

- Place Broccoli in a pot of boiling for 2-3 minutes – afterwards shock in a bowl of ice-cold water to stop the cooking process. Strain when completed
- Mix all of the French dressing ingredients together in your small jar and shake until all mixed together

- Combine all your ingredients in your salad bowl and just before you serve coat completely in your french dressing.

ENJOY!!!

Avocado with cottage cheese & black pepper

2011-07-16T19:13:00.000+02:00

Its not often that you can post something that takes longer to write up than prepare & eat.

This is definitely one of those things and for people out there that say you cannot cook well start off with this as your starter and you will not go far wrong.

Ingredients

1 avocado

200g cottage cheese

Black pepper

Cooking utensils
Sharp knife
Dinner knife
Spoon

Preparation

- Cut the avocado in half & remove the seed
- With your dinner knife go around the edges & cut up the avocado

Method

- Simply spoon your cottage cheese evenly over each avocado half & sprinkle with grated black peppercorns
- Eat immediatley with a teaspoon

ENJOY!!!

Cous Cous Salad (Tabouli)

2011-07-14T20:42:00.000+02:00

This salad is something I created many years ago and is always a big favourite whenever I have a BBQ at my place. At the time when I created it I did not even know what Tabouli was so you can see my ingredients and style of preparing it are very different to the traditional method as I really just tweaked the salad to my own personal taste & flavours.

With Cous Cous they advise that you use 1.5 cup liquid to every 1 cup cous cous but I like to keep it to 1:1 and then I add in the juice of a couple of oranges/lemon later to bring up this ratio. Also I used warm stock when adding to the cous cous and I noticed in many tabouli recipes they advise using cold water.

Anyway check out my recipe below

Ingredients

250ml (1 mug) cous cous
250 ml vegetable stock
Red & yellow pepper (olive oil for coating)
3 red onions
2 Spring onions
Clove of garlic
2 oranges (or orange juice)
Juice from one lemon
Fresh herbs (Coriander/mint/basil)

Cooking utensils

Chopping board
Shapr Knife
Large Saucepan
Oven dish
Large Salad bowl

Preparation

- Cut the peppers into 4 pieces and brush with olive oil
- Chop the red onion into long thin stripes

- Finely chop your garlic and also your spring onions & fresh herbs
- Make your vegetable stock with boiling water

- Place lemon in a bowl of warm water (this will free up the juice)

Cooking

- Mix together the cous cous with your stock in your saucepan and cover with the saucepan lid – leave stand for minimum 15 minutes

- Under a high grill place your peppers in the oven dish and cook until black on the outside (aprox 10 minutes)

- Remove peppers from the grill and place into a sealed bag – let cool – this will ensure the skin just slides off

- In a medium heated cook your red onions. After 3 minutes add your garlic & cook for a further 3 minutes.
- Now add your orange/lemon juice and let mixture come to a light simmer

- Remove skin from your peppers and chop roasted peppers into similar sized pieces to your onion

- Add your onion mixture & peppers to your cous cous and mix completely
- Finally add your chopped herbs/spring onions and transfer to a large salad bowl
- Let cool completely and serve

ENJOY!!!

Rooftop gardening: in 5 short weeks

2011-07-14T09:32:00.000+02:00

I have been really amazed at how fast everything is going in the garden in recent weeks. The warm weather coupled with the Amsterdam rain in the Summer is making at least someone happy.

Check out the contrasting photos from 5 weeks ago & today! Hopefully I will be making homemade tomato chutney in no time.

Tomato plants 5 weeks ago

Tomato plants today

To be continued......

Italian Breadcrumbs

2011-07-05T10:50:00.002+02:00

Every now and again you stumble onto a recipe that you know will be with you for a very long time…..an absolute piece of pure genius that every time you eat it, you enjoy every single bite and cannot wait to make it again

Well this recipe for Italian Breadcrumbs is one such recipe…..

I love this recipe for many reasons:

- its sheer brilliance and simplicitity
- the diversity of food it goes with – chicken, white fish, salmon steak, courgette, aubergine, halloumi
- the fact that the breadcrumbs keep for up to 1 month in your fridge, means you can have them whenever you want them
- speed of breading and cooking your desired food is really quick & easy
- taste and flavour of the breadcrumbs – they will be the centre point of any meal or great in sandwiches for a snack

With these reasons explained I will now break down to you what the principle is here with these Italian Breadcrumbs

Drying out the bread: You make your breadcrumbs as normal but this time you want to put them into a warm oven (200C) until all the bread becomes toasted….this process will dry out the bread enabling you to use it for up to 1 month if you store it in your fridge

Season the breadcrumbs: After you dry out your breadcrumbs you then blitz them again in your food processor to get the consistency extra fine. It is now you will add your spices, herbs & seasoning to this breadcrumb base. I like to use garlic powder, onion power, dried oregano, cayenne pepper, paprika
sea salt & black pepper.

Add fresh ingredients: You now have a very tasty breadcrumb base, before you would use them, you could now add a small amount of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or fresh chopped herbs to give that extra flavour kick. (Do not store the breadcrumbs with these fresh ingredients as their shelf life is short)

Breadcrumbs keep for up to 1 month in your fridge in a sealed Zip-lock bag. Let go completly cool before placing in bag to avoid the breadcrumbs going moldy.
WARNING: Every time you open your fridge you will hear the breadcrumbs saying....make me again!!!

You can have these breadcrumbs with many different ingredients. Such as:
- Chicken Breast (see method below)
- Salmon Steak
- Cod or any white fish (see bottom)
- Courgette (see bottom)
- Aubergine
- Halloumi
- Tiger Prawns
- Pork Steak

This will make enough breadcrumbs for 14-16 servings that will keep in your fridge for up to a month to use at your own leisure.

Ingredients

Loaf of 1 day old bread (use a seeded deluxe type for extra flavour)

3 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tsp sea salt & black pepper

Cooking utensils
Food Processor
Large oven dish
Greaseproof paper

Preparation

- Make breadcrumbs from all your bread (crusts and all)

- Preheat your oven to 200C and place your breadcrumbs in an oven dish on top of greaseproof paper

- Let cook until the bread is completely dried out or toasted – for this amount of bread it will take up to 20 minutes. Check every 5 minutes and re-arrange as they can burn quite quickly if unwatched.

- When breadcrumbs are finished let cook and then transfer back to food processor and blitz again to make super fine.

- Now add all your spices & seasoning and stir – you can now taste the breadcrumbs and season more if you so wish

I will now walk thru how to bread and fry some chicken breast - the same method can be taken on the other ingredients I mentioned above

Ingredients

Chicken Breast
2 Tbsp White flour
Black Pepper
1 egg
Small amount of your Italian breadcrumb mixture
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1-2 tbspn)
Fresh coriander – finely chopped
Sunflower oil

Cooking utensils
Frying pan
Sharp Knife
3 shallow plates to bread the chicken

Preparation

- Cut the chicken – cut evenly in half (all the chicken should be the same thickness so it cooks at the same timing)

- You now need 3 shallow plates to bread up your chicken

Flour with black pepper

1 beaten egg

1 amount of Italian Breadcrumbs with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano & chopped Coriander

- To bread your chicken follow these steps:
Coat the chicken completely in flour and then transfer to the egg – make sure the chicken is completely coated in egg before the final step of coating it in breadcrumbs – turn the chicken twice in the breadcrumbs to ensure it is sufficiently coated.

- Double-Dip? After breading your chicken put it back in the egg again and then back into the breadcrumbs if you like that extra breaded texture

- Place 1 inch of sunflower oil into a frying pan and turn on heat to medium high – when oil is hot enough place your chicken into it

Tip: to find out if oil is hot enough take a piece of bread and drop it into the oil - it is sizzles and floats it is hot enough

- Turn Chicken every minute until cooked – it should take you 4-5 minutes to cook the chicken

- When cooked dry on some kitchen paper. Tonight we ate the chicken with some new potatoes and a light salad

ENJOY!!!

Breaded Tilapia & Courgette

I made this last night again but this time I used a white fish, this time Tilapia & Courgette.

Delicious!!!

Better late than Never

2011-07-01T08:51:00.002+02:00

Pepper plant moved to get full sun, Carrots & tomatoes going great

Finally I am happy to announce that I think I have cracked this gardening lark. After a slow start after my first seeds did not sprout I can happily say that my second batch are coming along nicely.

My tomato plants are really taking off and all going well I should see some fruit from them at the end of the summer. The Pepper plant I moved last week to the front as the Rosemary was blocking it from the sun. In the front bin only my carrots appear to have taken as the onions & lettuce got attacked by birds!

To be continued......

Smoked Salmon & Prawn Pies

2011-06-27T19:14:00.000+02:00

I came up with this recipe after a couple of times making my Salmon in Cream & White Wine. I have said already many times that the Pies that are on Food Devil are very tasty. Especially the Lamb Potato & Caramelized Onion Pies with chilli, coriander & ginger if you have not tried these you really have too.

But onto this post. I wanted to make a Fish pie and I also wanted to make it in Cream & White wine so I came up with the below recipe. In the pie you have poached Tiger Prawns and when the pie in placed into the oven the cream/wine & leek sauce is poured over smoked salmon so that will also poach during the cooking process. By using frozen pastry it all makes it super easy and quick and the end results are super tasty.

To make 4 pies

Ingredients

100g Smoked Salmon
8 raw tiger prawns
1 Leek
50g Butter
250 ml Cream
Glass of wine wine
2 cloves of Garlic
Pinch of dill (dried or fresh)
4 sheets of frozen shortcrust pastry

Cooking Utensils
1 Large Muffin tray (or other suitable Pie dish)
Pastry brush
Chopping board
Sharp Knife
Colander
Frying pan

Preparation

- Clean out your prawns
- Finely chop your garlic
- Discard the top and bottom of your leek and chop finely, rinse in colander

Cooking
- Remove your pastry from the oven and defrost
- Heat your frying pan to a medium to high heat and slowly melt your butter

- Add your leek and sweat it down for 3-5 minutes

- Now add your garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes

- Add your glass of wine and let wine come to a bubble and cook for 1 minute

- Add your cream and your prawns cook in a simmering bubble for 5 minutes (it should look like the above)
- In your pastry dish line first with butter and place your square of pastry evenly in the middle

- Divide your smoked salmon in 4 even pieces and place in the centre of the pie casing

- Add your leek, prawn & wine/cream sauce on top

- Fold over the pastry until all is sealed and brush some melted butter on top.
- Prick the sealed pastries with a fork and place in a preheated oven @ 200C for 25 minutes until golden brown

ENJOY!!!

Poached Salmon in Cream & White Wine

2011-06-14T21:12:00.002+02:00

This Pasta is a very welcome addition to my weekly menu as yet again it all can be gotton together in about 15 minutes. As the pasta takes about 10 minutes I generally start to cook the pasta after I have sautéed the onions and just before I add the brown sugar.

A good tip at the end it to add your cream to your cooked pasta first and add your onions & Salmon pieces when you serve the dish.
Serves 2

Ingredients

300g Salmon Steak
200ml Cream
Small glass of white wine
2 medium White Onions
1 garlic clove
Large Pinch of Dill (fresh or dried)
Tbsp Brown Sugar
200g Farfalle Pasta
Grated Parmesan
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Cooking utensils
Chopping Board
Sharp Knife
Frying Pan
Wooden Spoon
Medium Sized Saucepan

Preparation
- Finely chop your onion & also your garlic
- Wash your salmon and chop into even sized pieces

Cooking
- Cook pasta in boiling salted water as per cooking instructions
- Pre-heat your frying pan on a medium to high heat and add your olive oil

- Sauté your onions for 2-3 minutes and now add your garlic
- After another 3-4 minutes turn heat up to high and add your brown sugar & caramelize your onions for aprox a minute

- Turn heat back down to medium and add your white wine, cook in caramelized onions for a minute

- Now add your cream and also your Salmon pieces
- You now want the cream/wine sauce to come to a simmering boil and cook your Salmon for 6-7 minutes (to test if cooked simply remove from sauce and cut through)
- When salmon is poached you can now add your pinch of dill to the sauce

- To serve first add the cream to the cooked pasta and mix thru

- Serve your pasta on warmed plated and add your salmon on top with a healthy serving of parmesan cheese

ENJOY!!!

Rooftop Gardening: Take II

2011-05-19T13:50:00.004+02:00

I learnt from the mistakes of my first attempt at planting my seeds by doing the following:

- I planted all my seeds indoors where the temperature is more warmer which will help the seeds to germinate. I bought a special seeding pot for my main vegetables on this.

- I kept the soil moist for the first 2 weeks of the germination process

- When planting the seeds I only planted at the tip of the soil (originally I planted a lot deeper)

Tomatoes & Peppers

Lettuce seeds sprout after just 5 days

As you can see the results are a lot better. The next step will be to move the seedlings out to the garden.

Coriander & Spring Onion Marinade

2011-05-09T20:33:00.006+02:00

I have been working on this marinade for the first few BBQs of this summer. I always keep my marinades with a consistency of 2:1 in terms of oil & vinegar. By keeping to this ratio the marinade will penetrate the chicken and you will be truly amazed with the flavour. The rule of thumb for marinades and Chicken is that you want to marinade for a minimum of 3 hours.

What I like to do with my marinade is to use half Balsamic & half Applecider vinegar for the contrasting sharpness and also the darker colour of your marinade

Ingredients

4 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tsp Vinegar (balsamic/apple cider/redwine)
Tsp Sesame Oil
Juice from ½ lemon
Tbsp sweet chilli sauce
Tbsp Honey
Tbsp Brown Sugar
Tsp paprika powder
2 cloves of garlic
1cm ginger
1 red chilli
2 spring onions
Bunch of fresh coriander
Salt & Pepper

2 Breasts of Chicken

Cooking Utensils
Pestle & Mortar
Sharp Knife
Chopping Board
Zip lock bag
Metal Skewers

Preparation
- Finely chop garlic, ginger & chilli
- Coarsely chop spring onion & coriander
- Chop your chicken into long strips

Method

- In your pestle & mortar crush together your garlic/ginger & chilli

- Now add together the olive oil/vinegar/lemon juice/sesame oil & whisk together

- Add sweet chilli sauce/honey/paprika and brown sugar & continue to whisk

- Finally add your spring onion & coriander

- Add the marinade with your chicken and marinade for a minimum of 3 hours

- When ready to BBQ place your marinaded chicken each side of your metal skewer and cook on BBQ that is at a medium heat.
- Serve when cooked

ENJOY!!!

Rooftop Gardening: Back to Square One

2011-04-21T23:47:00.001+02:00

OK as much as I regret to say I think I got to start over again.....these fingers of mine are not so green after all it seems.

It’s been 3 weeks now since I started the garden and still there is nothing happening. I had a little sprout last week but nothing more than that. The mistake I made was not fully understanding exactly it is I was trying to do. I was way too busy with the mountain of information I was trying to digest on the gardening process that I forgot to understand the principle of a seed sprouting. Also I think starting the seeds outside was a little early too, as it is only in the past week that the good weather has really arrived.

What I needed to do was to do was to keep my seeds in moist soil and in a warm environment. What I did was the complete opposite in that I only watered my soil every 2-3 days (I read the instructions to when the seed had sprouted not to when it needs to germinate) & I kept the seeds outside like I said in a milder climate than what was needed.
Now I am going to replant my tomato & pepper seeds indoors ASAP but in far less soil and keep everything warm & very moist. Apparently the seed should sprout within a week so all in all it is not the worst thing in the world. The carrots, onions & lettuce I will start over again. It is Easter weekend the up and coming weekend so if I can get to a garden centre that is open I will start things this weekend, if not it will wait a week. Hopefully in that time my Tomatoes & Peppers will have already sprouted.
So my first little adventure into gardening was not a success but all in all it is very easy to start over. The lesson I learnt here was to not look at the end product to focus on the smaller processes….

To be continued…

Rooftop Gardening: What did I plant?

2011-04-17T14:29:00.001+02:00

What did I grow?

I thought it would be a useful idea to run thru everything that I planted in my garden on an individual basis and outline the special areas to consider in terms of when to plant, where to plant, how to water?, How long to harvest etc.

Also for myself it is a good way for me to understand what exactly I need to do over the coming days, weeks & months per each vegetable. Already I realised that the carrot should be planted in a moist soil up until they are almost mature. I had read the instructions wrong and thought they needed to be watered twice a week which I had in fact done as 3 times a week as the weather has been very dry recently. I am glad I caught this mistake early, we will see I guess if it had a drastic effect on the success of the crop.

Straight away I can see the benefit of the square foot gardening method as in the case of the carrots, their watering pattern differs from the others so it is easy to just water their square and not the others. Also with the excellent drainage in each pot any excess water will be drained away

Front Pot: Carrots, Spring & Red Onion, Rocket, Coriander & Mustard Red Giant Lettuce
Back Pot: 2 Tomato plants, Sweet Red Pepper plant, Marigolds & a Sunflower

(An inch is 2.5 cm)

Carrots: (Amsterdam Forcing 3)

Spacing: 16 plants per square foot or one plant every 3 inches
Seed to Harvest: 10 weeks
Seeds Store: 3-4 years

Starting Location: Full Sun, but can stand partial shade
Seeds Indoors: No
Seeds Outdoors: Sprout in 2-3 weeks outdoors. Plant 1-2 seeds per space and cover with compost.

Watering: Keep ground moist at all times even if this means daily spraying in hot weather. Carrots must have constant moisture until almost mature to grow quickly and continuously, without any stops. Then slow down on the water so the carrots don’t crack from over-rapid growth.
Fertilizing: Light feeder, may benefit from occasional applications of fertilizer
Maintenance: Weed weekly, otherwise work free

Onions (Red Onion: Allium Cepa, Spring Onion: White Lisbon)

Spacing: 16 plants per square foot or one plant every 3 inches
Seed to Harvest: 20 weeks
Seeds Store: 1-2 years

Starting Location: Onions like a sunny spot but will tolerate some shade
Seeds Indoors: Sprout in 5 days in 70F
Seeds Outdoors: Because the season is quite long you can start indoors first & transplant. I decided against that just see how things would go. One onion crop is twice as long as the carrot so we will see how the Summer goes with it.

Watering: Weekly watering.
Fertilizing: Light feeder, benefit in the early stages. Don’t fertilize after early June
Maintenance: Weed weekly. When bulbs start to expand use your finger to remove some of the soil around each bulb and partially uncover it. This makes it easier for the bulb to expand. It will not hurt if you can actually see the top of every bulb.

Lettuce (Rocket & Mustard Red Giant)

Spacing: 4 per square or every 6 inches
Seed to Harvest: 7 weeks
Seeds Store: 5-6 years

Starting Location: Full Sun to partial shade, shade is welcomes in the hot summer
Seeds Indoors: Yes, sprout in 2-3 days at 70F
Seeds Outdoors: Sprout in 5-10 days

Watering: Water daily until they sprout, then weekly water, do not water the leaves as you may spread fungus disease
Fertilizing: Heavy Feeder. Benefits from monthly applications of high nitrogen fertilizer such as fish emulsion
Maintenance: Weed Weekly, don’t let the weeds grow. Lettuce has such a shallow root system it can’t compete with weeds.

Coriander (Cilantro)

Spacing: Space every 8 inches apart
Seed to Harvest: 12 weeks
Seeds Store: 3-4 years

Starting Location: Full Sun
Seeds Indoors: No
Seeds Outdoors: after last frost

Watering: Water weekly
Maintenance: Shelter plant from wind, apart from that does not need alot

Tomatoes ( Tumbling Tom Red & Sweet Million)

Spacing: 1 per square or 12 inches
Seed to Harvest: 17 weeks
Seeds Store: 4-5 years

Starting Location: Full Sun
Seeds Indoors: Sprout in 1 week at 70C
Seeds Outdoors: Season to short to start outdoors

Watering: 1 – 2 gallons weekly (a gallon is 3.5 litres aprox). Keep water off the leaves where possible
Fertilizing: Heavy Feeder is appreciated monthly.
Maintenance: Weekly, prune off side branches (suckers). As tomatoes are a vine plant you will want to attach them to a growing mesh. (more to follow there when it happens)

Peppers (Sweet Patio Red)

Spacing: 1 per square of every 12 inches
Seed to Harvest: 19 weeks
Seeds Store: 4-5 years

Starting Location: Full Sun
Seeds Indoors: Sprout in 10 to 15 days in 70F.
Seeds Outdoors: Peppers need warm soil, so don’t transplant until 2 weeks after the last frost

Watering: Weekly, 1 cup with young & 2 cups or more when plants are larger
Fertilizing: Responds well to a weak fertilizer like a compost tea
Maintenance: Weed Weekly. Support stalks when reaching maturity (more to follow when it happens)

Marigolds (Calendula officinalis) & Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus)

Spacing: 4 per square
Seed to Harvest: 10 weeks
Seeds Store: 2-3 years

Starting Location: Grow in Sunny location
Seeds Indoors: Seeds will germinate in 7-14 days
Seeds Outdoors: Yes

Watering: 1 cup when young with 2 or more per week when older. Do not let plants dry out

Rooftop Gardening: The Start

2011-04-12T19:01:00.007+02:00

(Before we start let me say that a foot is 30cm. An inch is 2.5 cm)

Concept
The concept of squarefoot gardening is very simple. You will condense down your garden into a series of square feet . In my case what I have chosen to do is make a rooftop/patio garden which will be 3 feet long and 1 foot wide. In my larger pot I will again have it 3 feet long but 1.5 feet wide.

The above size is just what suited me you can make it as big as you want with the standard squarefoot garden being 4ft by 4ft

The Soil:
The soil mix that I used for my 2 vegetable boxes was a soil to composted soil ratio of 3:2.

At the bottom of the box I placed some corrals. The aim of these corrals is that they will retain the water inside the soil. I also used some organic fertlizer also that that mixed throughout the soil.

What I planted:

What I wanted to plant was very simple. In the smaller box in my 3 squares I wanted to plant: Carrots……Spring Onions/Red Onions……Lettuce & Coriander

In the larger box I transplanted some rosemary & basil as I could not find the seeds. I also planted some marigolds and sunflowers as they help with the pest control. Inside for now I planted 2 types of tomato plants and also a red pepper plant which I will transplant in early May once the warm weather arrives (hopefully)

OK here is what I did….

Filled the bottom of each box with corrals

Filled both boxes with my soil mix. Half way thru I mixed in some organic fertilizer

Now I created my 30cm squares (in my case the boxes allowed me 27cm squares)

Now your ready to plant the seeds.

Carrots & Onions – 1 for every 3” (7.5cm)
Lettuce – 4 per square foot
Peppers & Tomatoes – 1 per square foot

When planting the seeds you want to make a small hole in the soil. Then you will drop in some organic fertilizer into the hole, followed by a couple of seeds and then some composted soil.

As Tomatoes & Peppers need to sprout in warmer climate i have decided to start their growing indoors. I simply followed all the above steps in a must smaller thinner plastic flower pot. I will water it twice a week and replant it outside in 4-5 weeks once the warmer weather arrives

Now I guess we just sit back and see what happens next……….

Rooftop Gardening: An Introduction

2011-03-30T22:20:00.002+02:00

The traditional view or thought of gardening is something I have never been overly interested in. I think it all stems from my teenage years having to mow our massive garden at home. But when I read an article about a unique gardening concept called Square Foot Gardening I was very keen to give it a go as this Spring/Summer is my first one being able to enjoy my new Roof Terrace.

As a starting point check out this introduction video to Square Foot Gardening

What I have decided to do in my situation is to focus on a patio style garden where I will have 2 smaller thinner (1,5ftx3ft & 1ftx3ft) versions of the standard 4ftx4ft concept. My main reason for this is that I want to be able to move the garden around the terrace as the terrace gets so much sun I what to be able to move to shady areas if/when it is needed.

As I said already I am pretty clueless when it comes to gardening so the coming months should make for interesting reading so make sure to come back to the blog as I will post regularly on how everything is going.

Aidan Kelly aka Food Devil

Grilled Squid with a Tomato & Onion salsa

2011-03-13T12:01:00.002+01:00

This salad is beautifully fresh and with the kick of chili & lemon it is a perfect start to any meal or even to have for a light lunch. Squid is remarkably good value if you are willing to clean it yourself. Cleaning is not for the squeamish so ask your fish monger to clean it for you if you do not want to do the dirty work.

Squid takes only 1 minute per side on a hot griddle pan so make your Tomato & Onion Salsa first.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1kg Squid
6 medium sized tomatoes
1 medium red onion
2 avocados
Handful Fresh Coriander
1 red chilli
1 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil

Sea Salt

Cooking Untensils
Chopping board
1 sharp knife
Large mixing bowl
Griddle Pan
Sieve

Preparation

How to clean squid

- Hold the squid in one hand and with the other gently pull out the head

- Remove the skin my peeling it away from the side of the flesh of the squid

- Now turn the squid inside out and clean the remaining insides

- Wash clean all the cleaned squid and let stand in a sieve

-    Remove the flesh from the tomatoes & finely chop
-    Remove the seed from the avocado and finely chop
-    Finely chop the red onion, coriander & chili

- Mix together all above chopped ingredients

Cooking

- Cook your squid on your griddle pan for one minute each side (medium-high heat)

- Place your grilled squid on your salsa. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, chilli and sea salt
- Eat Immediately

ENJOY!!!

Tandoori Murg

2011-03-04T00:46:00.001+01:00

This tandoori recipe is quite easy to follow, the only thing needed for it is time for the chicken to marinade. The general rule in Indian cooking is that meats are marinated twice. The first marinade removes moisture and the second introduces flavours and spices. You would ideally like to marinade in your yoghurt& spices for a minimum of 3 hours, a great idea is to marinade overnight and prepare for a weekend lunch or early dinner.

With the below recipe it is a single serving but a great idea for this recipe is to double the marinade quantities and buy a whole chicken and divide it into 4 pieces (2 legs, 2 breasts).

Using boneless pieces of chicken & push them through skewers for a Chicken Tikka
Serves 1

Ingredients
2 legs of chicken

Marinade 1 (Ginger-Garlic Paste)
1 tsp sea salt
3 cm cube of fresh ginger
2 large cloves of garlic
½ red chilli
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp lemon juice

Marinade 2 (Tandoori)
200g Greek Yoghurt
1 tbsp garam masala
50ml vegetable oil
½ tsp cinnamon powder
½ red chilli powder
1 tsp salt

To Serve
25g butter
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
½ a lime

Cooking Utensils
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Food processer
Sieve
Large marinating bowl
Oven dish

Preparation

- Remove the skin from all the chicken and make deep incisions into the meat, sprinkle with sea salt. This will help the marinade penetrate the meat while the salt will start to tenderise the chicken.

- Ginger/Garlic Paste: place all ingredients into a food processer and blend until everything is blended finely. Remove to a smaller dish and mix further with a fork.

- Mix your chicken completely with the ginger-garlic paste, getting deep into the incisions

- Place your chicken in a sieve over a bowl and leave for 20 minutes at room temperature to allow juices to settle

- Tandoori Marinade: mix together all the ingredients and coat the chicken thoroughly and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Preheat oven to 200C

Cooking

- Cook the twice marinated chicken on a baking seet in your preheated oven for 10 minutes

- Remove and baste your chicken in half your butter/oil
- Cook for a further 15 minutes
- Baste with remaining butter/oil and sprinkle lime juice

- Serve with cooked white rice or/and nan bread

ENJOY!!!

Macaroni with Cheese

2011-02-22T20:42:00.001+01:00

This has been a while…..

I have recently returned from a very enjoyable and long holiday and I got to admit have taken some time to get back into my routine with cooking etc. I have however found myself trawling thru my old favourites from this site as a help to get me back into things

First up on my return is a quite legendary dish from the States that is amazingly simple to get together. One note on it when choosing your cheeses: take parmesan & mozzarella for definite but then you can choose whatever other grated cheese you prefer with those 2

Serves 2 with a lot of leftovers

Ingredients

300g Macaroni
250ml (1 cup) Heavy Cream
250ml (1 cup) Whole Milk
2 tsp white flour
Salt & Pepper
100g Cheese (Fontina, Gruyere, Gouda, Edam)
50g Parmesan
1 small ball Mozzarella
200g cooked Ham
1 clove garlic
Butter for greasing
Chopped mixed (fresh) herbs (optional)

Cooking Utensils
Chopping Board
Sharp Knife
Garlic crusher
Large bowl for mixing
Large Saucepan for pasta
small-medium oven dish

Preheat oven to 200 C

Preparation

- Grease your oven dish with your butter
- Grate your cheese and finely chop your mozzarella

- In a large mixing bowl, mix together your milk, cream, ham, crushed garlic, black pepper, chopped herbs & half of your cheeses

Cooking
- In a pot of salted boiling water cook your Macaroni for 5 minutes until tender but still with a bite. Drain after cooking

- Mix together macaroni with your milk/cream mixture and transfer to your oven dish

- Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top
- Bake for 20 minutes in your pre-heated oven until the sauce bubbles and all the cheese melts and begins to form a crust on the top

- Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving

ENJOY!!!

Tartiflette

2011-01-03T23:08:00.001+01:00

The French most certainly know how to cook & if I was to undertake any type of cooking course it would most definitely be in French Cuisine.
So it really excites me when I come onto a French classic that I was not aware of before. The Tartiflette has its origins in the French Alps & when you eat it you can certainly see why. The Crème Fraiche & Wine combined with your cooked potato with the mixture of melted Reblochon Cheese on top is very delicious. The one thing I have learned on this recipe is that it needs Reblochon….so seek the cheese out and try it…..you will not be disappointed

Serves 2 generously

Ingredients
800g Potatoes
2 shallots
1 medium onion
250g bacon pieces
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
125ml crème fraiche
Half a glass of white wine
Salt & pepper
½ a block of Reblochon Cheese
Butter for greasing oven dish

Cooking Utensils
Chopping Board
Sharp Knife
Vegetable Peeler
Frying pan
Small bowl
Oven Dish
Saucepan

Preparation
- Peel potatoes & cut into even sizes

- Finely chop all onions

- Mix together the crème fraiche & white wine, add some salt/pepper

-    With your knife lightly remove all the rind from your Reblochon Cheese
-    Cut your cheese in half – down the middle with the rind on both sides

Cooking
-    Place all your potatoes in boiling water and cook until cooked
-    Remove all water & place a tea towel over & let the potatoes completely cool (the steam from beneath the tea towel will flour up the potatoes)
-    Pre-heat your oven to a very hot 240C

-    Meanwhile on medium heat cook your onions in olive oil, after 3-4 minutes add your bacon and cook for a further 8-10 minutes until both onions & bacon are cooked.
-    Grease your oven dish completely with butter
-    Cut all your cooled cooked potatoes into even sized slices

- Firstly line your oven dish with layer of cooked potato slices

- Now add your onion & bacon mixture

- Pour evenly your cream/wine mixture

-    Top off with the rest of your potato slices
-    On the top place your 2 half crescent/moons on top, rind side up.
-    Place in your oven for 10-15 minutes or until the rind is golden brown

- Serve with a light salad or try my cherry tomato salad recipe.

ENJOY!!!

Cherry Tomato Salad

2011-01-03T22:46:00.000+01:00

Yet again the Food Wholesaler across from my house has cherry tomatoes on sale, a quite ridiculous 12 punnets of cherry tomatoes for only €1.99. The principle reason for buying so many tomatoes was to prepare double batches of both my Chutneys but now I also wanted to find something quick & tasty to go with my planned Tartiflette recipe.

The below cherry tomato recipe is super simple, the only pre-requisite would be that you let it sit for a minimum of 2 hours in the fridge.
Serves 4

Ingredients

2 punnets cherry tomatoes (2*250g)
60ml sunflower oil
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp dried Italian mixed herbs
Handful fresh herbs (Coriander/Basil)
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp white sugar

Cooking Utensils
Chopping Board
Sharp Knife
Large Bowl
Small mixing jar

Preparation

-    Cut all cherry tomatoes in half
-    Finely chop your fresh herbs
-    Mix all oils, sugar, salt & herbs in your mixing jar

- Combine all in your Bowl and leave in fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, stirring periodically

ENJOY!!!

Leek and Potato Soup

2010-12-13T20:49:00.001+01:00

A real old favourite of mine. What I love about this soup is the simplicity in the flavours in the soup itself can be completely jazzed up with your choice of toppings that you want to add to the soup.

Serves 2 generous portions

Ingredients

350g Potatoes
250g Leeks (2 leeks)
2 cloves garlic
25g butter
1 litre stock (chicken or vegetable)
2 Bay leaves
2 Tbsp cream
Salt & pepper
Red Chilli (optional)

Toppings (all optional)
Bacon bits
Coriander
Spring Onion
Grated Parmesan
Pinenuts

Cooking utensils

Chopping Board
Sharp Knife
Large Saucepan
Stafmixer

Preparation

- Peel, wash and chop into rough pieces all your potatoes
- Peel, wash & chop into rings all your leeks (discard the bottom & top 1/4s)

- Finelt chop garlic & chilli (if using)
- Prepare your stock

Cooking

- In a thick bottomed pan melt butter over medium heat

- Sauté leeks for aprox 4 -5 minutes until they start get soft

- Mix in Garlic and potatoes (also chilli if using) and stir together for another 5 minutes

- Pour in Stock & add Bay leaf, bring to boil and then cook at a simmer until the potatoes are cooked (about 15 minutes)
- Remove the bay leaves

- Add your cream & blitz the entire mixture until it becomes one even liquid
- Add Salt and Pepper to taste

- Serve with your choice of topping

ENJOY!!!

Beef Bourguignon

2010-12-05T19:06:00.002+01:00

This French classic still very much has a place in the modern kitchen. That place namely being like it was today, freezing cold outside and you wanting something really heavy to warm you from the inside out.

I cooked this dish in a saucepan but it can also be done in a casserole dish and in the oven – if you are cooking it in an oven you would want to cook it at 140C

Serves 2

Ingredients

500g stewing steak
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp white flour
Italian herbs (thyme, oregano)
Bay leaf
6 shallots
10 mushrooms
125g Smoked bacon bits
300ml Red Wine (Burgundy is best but any French red will do)
2 tbsp olive oil

Cooking utensils
Chopping board
Sharp Knife
Wooden spoon
Saucepan
Frying pan

Preparation
- Chop the beef up into 4cm cubes
- Chop medium sized onion into small pieces
- Finely chop the garlic and also shallots
- Cut the mushrooms into quarters

Cooking

- In a saucepan heat your olive oil to sizzling and add your beef – sealing it on both sides. Remove from pan
- Turn heat down to medium and add your onions and cook for 5 minutes

- Now return the meat to pan and mix together with your onions. Add your flour & mix well

- Add your Red wine, garlic, bay leaf & herbs and place lid on saucepan and turn heat down to low
- Cook at a simmer for up to 2 hours, remembering to stir the mixture every 20 minutes or so.

- In a separate frying pan you will cook (medium heat) your shallots & bacon until they are lightly golden

- After the 2 hours add your shallots, bacon & chopped mushrooms to the meat sauce & cook for a further 60 minutes on a low heat with the lid on the saucepan

- Serve with with steamed potatoes & your choice of cooked vegetables

ENJOY!!!

Minestrone Soup

2010-12-02T21:02:00.002+01:00

Minestrone Soup is one of the cornerstones of Italian cuisine. It is essentially a vegetable broth with whatever vegetables are in season at that moment. So if you do not like one of the vegetables below you can easily remove it. Also if you want it vegetarian just remove the bacon.

The process of getting it together is actually fairly simple. The one comment I would make with my own recipe is that I was unable to locate an Italian bean such as cannellini or borlotti so I used red kidney beans. If your beans are fresh or dried you would need to obviously cook them first.

Serves 4

Ingredients

125g smoked pancetta or bacon
2 red onions
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
2 medium sized potatoes
1 leek
½ head of fennel
3 cloves of garlic
1 courgette
200g Spinach
200g Red Kidney Beans
Bunch of fresh basil
1 litre Chicken Stock
Glass of red wine
2 tins of plum tomatoes
100g dried pasta
Grated Parmesan cheese
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Cooking Utensils
Chopping board
Sharp knife
Potato peeler
Rolling pin
Large Saucepan

Preparation

- Peel and chop into even sized pieces your onions, leeks, carrots, celery, potatoes, courgette & fennel
- Coarsely chop your spinach and wash thoroughly
- Finely chop your garlic & the stalks from your basil
- Prepare your litre of chicken stock

- Place your pasta in a clear bag and with a rolling pin break up into small pieces

Cooking

- Put 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a large saucepan to medium heat and add your bacon, onions, leeks, carrots, celery, potatoes, fennel, garlic & basil stalks
- Sweat the vegetable mixture for 15-20 minutes, leaving the lid ajar on the saucepan and stirring at regular intervals

- Now add your tomatoes, courgettes & red wine and simmer gently for 15 minutes

- Now add your spinach, stock, beans & smashed pasta

- Stir and continue until the pasta is cooked
- Season with Salt & Pepper

- Serve with sprinkled torn up basil leaves and grated parmesan cheese

ENJOY!!!

The €5 euro meal

2010-12-02T19:00:00.003+01:00

As someone who loves to cook I have found that the vast majority of my disposable income will go into food and in general cooking my evening meal. So much money in fact that in recent times, I have really researched and invested a lot of time into the following concept.

‘The €5 euro meal’

What I have always thought and do strongly believe is that if you have the will to do it, it is possible for you to eat your evening meal for 2 people for just €5 a day. So in 30 days or a month you can spend only €150 on your evening meals and you can eat very well during that time.

A few tips however before we start:

- Bulk Buying: Plan out in advance what you want to cook and buy in bulk. This way you can only buy what you need and you will avoid waste. Purchase your meat in bulk and freeze in dinner servings until needed.

- Ignore Brand Loyalty: this is not the time for spending your cash on those expensive brands you might always turn too. Now is the time to buy the generic brands that are considerably cheaper.

- Make a list: Before you shop make a list of what you want & stick to it. (no impulse buying)....Never shop when you are hungry!

- Shop Local: get to know your neighborhood & shop local for cheaper options.

- Weekly Specials: get to know the specials in your supermarkets & plan meals around them.

- Buy Seasonal: buy seasonal vegetables instead of their out of season more expensive cousins.

- Store your vegetables properly to keep them freshest the longest.

The Meals:

What I do here to keep the meals interesting is to break them down into separate price categories. That way you can play around yourself and decide when and what you want to cook. As you can see with the recipes you have a vast selection of options open to you at any time so it will never get boring.

Remember however that if you have a €7 meal you then in turn must cook a €3 meal to compensate.

Always plan your recipes in such a way that you will use up all your ingredients whenever you buy them, do not ever throw anything away.

€3 or lower meals Cost per Meal Hamburgers €2.20

Broccoli & Cherry Tomato Pasta                              €2.50
Tomato Sauce with Pasta                                                    €2.80
Fusilli with Bacon & Cream                                                    €3.00

€4+ meals
Roast Veggie Pasta                                                             €4.00
Sausage Pie                                                                       €4.00
Chicken Stroganoff                                                              €4.00
Potato & Roast Vegetable Quiche                                           €4.50

€5 meals
Spaghetti Bolognese                                                         €5.00
Tomato Sauce with Meatballs                                €5.00
Pepper Pesto Pasta                                                           €5.00

€6+ meals
Musilitos de Pollo                                                        €6.00
Pink & Green Pasta                                 €6.50

€7 meals
Quiche (3-4 people portion)                                           €7.00
Salmon Dinner (with roast veggies & potatoes/rice)                €7.00
Beef Steak Dinner (with roast veggies & potatoes/rice)           €7.00

Side dishes
Egg Fried Rice                                                                   €1.20
Potato Gratin (3-4 servings)                                                €2.50
Mozzarella Garlic Bread                                                       €1.00

To obtain my prices I used www.ah.nl as my reference point. Albert Heijn is not the cheapest place to shop so if you know your local stores and plan you’re shopping better the above prices are definitely possible at a lower price.

Note: With the above prices I will assume that your kitchen will already have the stable goods such as Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, Spices, Flour, Soy Sauce, Fish Sauce, Sambal, Sweet Chilli sauce etc.

As these products have a shelf life of longer than a month it is always useful to have these as they are the cornerstone to any meals you may have now or in the future

ENJOY!!!

Broccoli & Cherry Tomato Pasta

2010-12-01T08:25:00.002+01:00

The simplicity in this dish is what really makes it so special. As part of my €5 meal concept this meal is less than €2 to get together once you have the ingredients in-house.

To prepare the dish it is just so simple and it all can be done in the time it takes to cook your pasta. You will flash fry small florets of broccoli in garlic & chilli. Then this will be added with chopped cherry tomato to cooked pasta and chopped fresh herbs (if you have some available). All served on a warm plate with grated parmesan on top.

Super Quick, Tasty & Cheap……really the perfect combination to any meal

Serves 2 Cost of meal €2

Ingredients
5-6 large Broccoli florets
8-10 Cherry Tomatoes
Clove of Garlic
Red Chilli
Olive oil
Fresh Herbs (coriander/basil)
Grated Parmesan
Salt & Pepper
250g dried pasta (Farfalle/Penne/Fusilli)

Cooking utensils
Chopping Board
Sharp Knife
Wok
Saucepan

Preparation

- Chop Broccoli into small sized florets
- Quarter all cherry tomatoes
- Finely chop garlic & chilli

Cooking
- Cook in rapidly boiling salted water your pasta as per cooking instructions
- Heat some olive oil in a medium to high heated wok

- Start off by adding your garlic & chilli to create a sort of garlic/chilli oil

- Flash fry your broccoli for 3-4 minutes in wok – stirring all the time

- Add your cherry tomatoes to your drained al-dente pasta & stir

- Now add your cooked broccoli, chopped herbs & a drizzle of olive oil. Mix thoroughly
- Season with salt & pepper if required

- Serve on a warm plate with a small amount of grated parmesan on top

ENJOY!!!

Food Devil

Roast Pepper, Tomato & Chilli Soup

Traditional Roast Chicken with Roast Spuds

Sangria

Chicken Soup

Goats Cheese, Red Onion & Tomato Tart

Irish Soda Bread

Roast Turkey

Honey Roasted Ham

Mushroom and Mozzarella Burgers

Seafood Quiche

Smoked Turkey Filo Quiche with onion, potato, pinenuts, gruyere & sage

Damn you Amsterdam 'Summer'

Fish au Gratin

The moment of truth has arrived.......

Baked Tilapia

Fish in TinFoil

Rooftop Gardening: 8 weeks on

Parmesan Encrusted Fish

Vegetarian Omelette

Broccoli Feta & Cherry Tomato Salad

Avocado with cottage cheese & black pepper

Cous Cous Salad (Tabouli)

Rooftop gardening: in 5 short weeks

Italian Breadcrumbs

Better late than Never

Smoked Salmon & Prawn Pies

Poached Salmon in Cream & White Wine

Rooftop Gardening: Take II

Coriander & Spring Onion Marinade

Rooftop Gardening: Back to Square One

Rooftop Gardening: What did I plant?

Rooftop Gardening: The Start

Rooftop Gardening: An Introduction

Grilled Squid with a Tomato & Onion salsa

Tandoori Murg

Macaroni with Cheese

Top 10 posts of 2010

Tartiflette

Cherry Tomato Salad

Leek and Potato Soup

Beef Bourguignon

Minestrone Soup

The €5 euro meal

Broccoli & Cherry Tomato Pasta