How to Cook a Lovely Fluffy Rice

Serves: 4                 Prep Time: 5 minutes                     Cooking Time: 16 minutes

The above picture shows 2 different rice’s – the first one is an Azafrán rice and the second is a mild green curry spiced one. It isnt that difficult to produce a lovely fluffy rice. I normally use Basmati Rice because it’s healthier than ordinary white rice. If you think rice is just rice, here are just a few of the reasons why Basmati is best and why to choose Basmati over ordinary rice. Basmati is gluten-free and low in fat. It contains all eight essential amino acids, folic acid, and is very low in sodium and has no cholesterol. And to top this: Basmati rice has fewer calories in a serving than its grainy cousins. You can reduce the amount of calorie intake by 20 calories with just one serving. Eating three portions of Basmati rice a week, you are already saving 60 calories per week.

• 1 Onion, medium sized, finely chopped
• 1 Garlic Clove, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Cooking Oil
• Pinch Salt and Pepper
• Spice depending on what flavour you want: –
  Azafrán, Curry, Sweet Paprika, Tomato Puree …
• 150g Basmati Rice
• 300ml Water

1. Sautee the onion and garlic in the oil in a hot saucepan.
2. When blanched add the spices, salt and pepper, and stir for approx.. 1 minute to increases the flavour.
3. Then stir-in the rice and make sure it looks like each rice corn is coated in oil and spices.
4. Then add the water, bring to boil and lover the heat to 1/3 cover the pan and leave for 16 minutes. Do NOT feel tempted to stir, its not needed and you’ll lose some liquid.
5. Remove from heat after 16 minutes, check if the rice is cooked to your preference, if you want the rice softer, add 2 tbsp water to the pan and return it to the heat, simmer for max 2 minutes.

That’s it, you now have a perfect rice, and it only took 5 minutes handling.
When cooked you’ll have approx. 600g rice, at a stretch it could feed 6 persons when you serve a lot of vegetables as well as the meat, fish, chicken or turkey.

PER SERVING: 179 Kcals

Total Fat 3.7g	(Saturated 0.6g)	Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 44mg	Total Carbohydrate 32.8g	(Sugars 1.2g)
(Fibre 1.1g)	Protein 3g	Potassium 87mg

You can freeze the leftover rice and when I cook rice I ALWAYS cook for 4, that means that I have 3 portions in the freezer for when I don’t want to cook.

1. Wait until the rice is cold. Place approx. 150g (this is regarded as one portion) per bag. Take a little time and roll the rice like the front package and not like the rear, this will ensure ease of storage, and as you can see it takes up less space.
2. It is also a good idea to write on a sticky label or directly onto the bag (with a marker pen) what flavour rice and the date of freezing as it is impossible to see which flavour rice it is once it is frozen.

Hasselback Potatoes – Air Fried

Serves: 3 – – – – – – – – Prep Time: 10 minutes – – – – – – – – Baking Time: 2x 15 minutes

Hasselback is a cooking method in which potatoes or other items are sliced not-quite-all-the-way through in thin, even layers, which can be stuffed or topped with additional flavourings. It’s a way of creating more surface area for flavours and creating additional texture. As a technique, it’s nothing new.
They look good and makes a nice accompaniment or a lovely starter.
You don’t have to use 3 different potatoes, you can just use one type.

• 1x (150-200g) White Potato
• 1x (150-200g) Red Potato
• 1x (150-200g) Sweet Potato
• 3 tbsp melted Butter
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, crushed
• ½ tsp ground Paprika
• Salt and ground Black Pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp chopped Fresh Parsley

1. Preheat Air Fryer to 180°C and set timer to 30 minutes.
2. Slice each potato evenly across entire length making roughly ¾cm to ½cm slices, but make sure the knife only cuts through to the bottom ½cm, keeping the bottom of the potato intact. (Trick: use 2 chopsticks, one either side of the potato, to cut down on, thus making sure to cut evenly low).
3. Combine butter, olive oil, garlic, and paprika in a small bowl. Brush some of the mixture over each potato and into the slits. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Place potatoes in the air fryer basket and bake for 15 minutes open the Fryer (when prompted to turn), brush potatoes again with butter mixture, making sure to get it down into the fanned out slices. Continue baking until potatoes are cooked, another 15 minutes.
5. Remove potatoes from the basket and brush with any remaining butter mixture. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve immediately.

PER SERVING: 317 Kcals

Total Fat 16.6g	(Saturated 8g)	Cholesterol 31mg
Sodium 165mg	Total Carbohydrate 39.7g	(Sugars 6g)
(Fibre 5g)	Protein 4.4g	Potassium 1007mg

Cheerful heart-warming Winter Salad

Serves: 2 Prep         Time: 5 minutes         Cooking Time: 0 minutes

I love this salad it gives me a happy feeling both to look at and to eat. It is just delicious.

• 90g Romaine salad, washed and chopped
• 70g Orange or 2 small easy peelers, peeled and chopped
• 50g Plums, washed, destoned and chopped
• ½ tbsp Cherry Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 pinch Salt and Pepper

1. Wash and dry the salad and plum. Peal the orange.
2. Cut each onto roughly 1cm pieces and place in a salad bowl.
3. Sprinkle with oil and vinegar.
4. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, as required.
5. Toss, serve and enjoy.

PER SERVING: 92 Kcals

Total Fat 7.1g	(Saturated 1g)	Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 12mg	Total Carbohydrate 7.6g	(Sugars 5g)
(Fibre 1.1g)	Protein 1g	Potassium 170mg

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Nearly Ratatouille

Serves: 4-6         Prep Time: 10-20 minutes         Oven Time: 45 minutes

I didn’t have all the ingrediencies required for a ratatouille but I think my take of this dish suites most home cooks. Its not difficult and it gets rid of the small need to be used vegetables in your fridge.

• 1 portion lardoons
• 1 Red onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 Shallot onion, coarsely chopped
• ¼ Celeriac, coarsely chopped
• 2 leeks, cleaned and chopped into 1cm pieces
• 1 sweet red pepper, quartered long ways and cut into 1cm pieces
• 4-5 thin slices Ginger
• 2 Courgettes quartered long ways and cut into 1cm pieces
• 4 Carrots, quartered long ways and cut into 1cm pieces
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3-4 garlic, chopped finely
• 2 tbsp Olive oil, for blanching
• 1 glass white wine
• 1 tin chopped Tomatoes
• Salt, Pepper and Mixed Herbs to taste.
• Optional – a little Saffron and or Sweet Paprika.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Chop/prep all ingrediencies and keep in separate bowls.
3. Add the oil to the big oven dish, and blanch the lardons, before they crisp up add the onions, chopped garlic, red pepper and ginger.
4. After 3-5 minutes stir in the carrots, celeriac and leeks. Fry, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.
5. Then pour in the wine and chopped tomatoes.
6. Season with salt and pepper. Add the sprays of thyme and maybe add some mixed herbs.
7. Top the lot with the courgettes, gently turn the courgettes under the contents of the oven dish. Cover with a lid and place in the oven for 30 minutes.
8. Remove from oven. Check the taste, and add extra if needed. This is also where you add the saffron and paprika. Gently turn everything in the dish making sure its all covered in liquid and return to oven without the lid, for another 15 minutes.

Serve and Enjoy!

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Jerusalem Artichokes

I didn’t know anything about Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes) until
a friend of mine gave me a bag (roughly 1.5kg) of his harvest. I was a little comprehensive because they looked weird and they had no give-away smell at all.

It took me two days to get courage enough to start experimenting.

My first try, was just to boil them in saltwater – similar to potatoes – without peeling them.

I placed 10 medium sized roots in a saucepan with enough water to cover them. Added 1 tsp salt, and left them cooking for 15 minutes. I then removed the skin, simply by cutting length-wise and squeezing the flesh out. I was surprised of the flavour, I know I’ve tasted it before, but no idea where. It wasn’t an unpleasant taste.

I used a teaspoon to make small cakes on a frying pan with butter, and sprinkled mixed herbs, garlic & onion salt over them. That was very nice.

I then used the rest to make a mash, by adding a little milk and butter, plus pepper, nutmeg, onion and garlic salt. Mixed it thoroughly and reheated the mash, and that was quite a pleasant taste too.

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Croutons vs. Chips

I had ½ a stale white bread and because of our current circumstances with Covid-19, I didn’t just want to throw it away or feed it to the birds.

As I quite like to have a nipple when I watch TV, I decided to make some flavoured croutons.

• Left over bread
• Some oil (olive or sunflower)
• Salt and flavouring (onion salt, Garlic salt, mixed herbs …)

• Cut 4 slices, and cut the slices into 1cm cubes.
• Placed ½ of the cubes in a pre-heated wok,
• Drizzle some sunflower oil, salt and onion salt over the lot.
• Turn heat down to half, and turn the cubes at regular intervals until the croutons are browned but not burned.
• For the second half replace onion-salt with another flavour.

And there you have it, croutons instead of chips to nipple.

Cooking and Prep. time max 10 minutes.

 

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My Beetroot Smoothie

Prep time 2 minutes	Blending time 3 minutes
Makes 3 beakers/glasses	Only 67.3 kcal (81.6 kcal)/glass

I love beetroot salad and pickled so I was looking for what would taste nice in a beetroot smoothie, without too much of a Rooty flavour, and here is my solution. Yesterday I made the “Red Fruity” smoothie, but this “Beetroot Smoothie” is even deeper red. You can leave out the garlic, and if you can find it use the Cherry Vinegar, that really improves the taste.

• • 2-3 precooked Beetroots (180-200g)
  • 2 small Shallots (40-50g), roughly cut
  • 3 Radishes (15g), head & tail removed
  • 1 small Garlic clove (5g)
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh Ginger (10g)
  • 250 ml unsweetened Coconut Water
    (or cold green tea)
  • ½ lemon (15g)
  • 1 tsp Womersley Cherry Vinegar
  • Pinch salt and pepper

Add 1 handful frozen cherries (100g)
This increases the kcal per glass by 14 kcal
If you leave out the garlic, subtract 2.5 kcal from the above kcal/glass

1. 1. Place all ingredients in the blender.
   2. Blend for 2-3 minutes
   3. Split evenly between 3 glasses.
   4. The smoothies will keep in fridge for max 2 days.
      Shake well before usage.

Enjoy!

 

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Tonight’s Smoothie is Red

Prep time 2 minutes	Blending time 3 minutes
Makes 3 beakers/glasses	Only 56 Kcal/glass

• 250 ml cold green tea
• ½ lemon, peeled, de-stoned and quartered
• 4 slices of ginger
• 1 handful frozen Raspberries
• 1 handful frozen Blackberries
• 1 handful frozen Blueberries
• 100 g frozen Pineapple
• 3-5 drops Vanilla extract

Add a banana for a sweeter and more filling taste
This increases the Kcal per glass by 20 Kcal

1. Place all ingredients in the blender.
2. Blend for 2-3 minutes
   until smooth and no more ice lumps
3. Split evenly between 3 beakers/glasses.
4. The smoothies will keep in fridge for max 2 days.
   Shake well before usage.
5. Serve and enjoy you drink.

Enjoy!

 

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Yellow Smoothie

Prep time 2 minutes	Blending time 3 minutes
Makes 2½ beakers	Only 24 kcal/½ beaker

I heard about yellow smoothies, so, I decided to try to make one myself. I am not in favour of using milk products (yogurt and milk). Here is my solution of a yellow smoothie. .

• 1 pear, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 lemon, peeled, de-stoned and quartered
• 100 g frozen mango
• 4 slices of ginger
• 250 ml cold green tea

1. Place all ingredients in the blender.
2. Blend for 2-3 minutes
   until smooth and no more ice lumps
3. Split evenly between 2 shaker beakers, and poor remaining liquid into a glass.
4. The smoothies will keep in fridge for max 2 days.
   Shake well before usage.
5. Serve and enjoy you drink.

Enjoy!

 

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Easy Rösti with Tuna Steak and steamed Broccoli

Prep time 2 minutes	Cooking time 15 minutes
Serves 1	Calories 420 in total

I have a Chinese supermarket nearby and I like their frozen tuna steaks (just under £10 for 5 individually sealed steaks). The rösti couldn’t be much easier to make than this, all it requires is a grater or a food processor that can do the coarse grating for you. Why steamed broccoli? Because of the latest findings in vegetable cooking this is the healthiest way of cooking vegetables. The vitamins stay where they are (doesn’t get cooked away into the water) and the flavour and colour are also so much nicer. The salting of steamed vegetables is a little tricky, I use one of two ways to do this. The first: while cleaning the veg add salt to the last rinse and leave vegs in soak for a couple of minutes. The second: in the steamer add double salt to the water below the veg and the steam will then become salty.

• 1 Tuna Steak
• 200g grated potatoes (one large potato)
• Onion and garlic salt
• 4-6 broccoli flowers
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1-2 tbsp Rapeseed oil
• 10g butter

1. Coarsely grate a washed potato (no need for peeling), place the grated potato in one bowl of boiling hot water, leave to rest for a minute or so, then drain it, but leave it in the strainer.
2. Wash the broccoli flowers and place in a steamer. Dissolve the salt in the steamer water (button bowl), place the steamer in a microwave and cook on full heat for max 3 minutes.
3. In the meantime – I like using a wok, because I can control the heat and I don’t need too much frying oil – heat a wok/frying-pan – when hot add 1 tbsp oil and 10g butter, when this has amalgamated – add the grated potato. Flatten into a pancake, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, onion salt and or garlic salt. Fry for 5 minutes each side. Leave lid on.
4. While the rösti is frying – heat a griddle pan (or just a frying pan) – dry the tuna steak on some kitchen towel – when the pan is smoking hot place the tuna stake on it. Seal both sides before seasoning (salt, pepper and maybe some garlic salt) and if using a frying pan – add a little oil – lower the heat. Fry for max 2 minutes each side.
5. Remove the lid from the rösti and turn heat up to make the sides crispy, max one minute each side.

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