Salmon Broccoli Pie

Prep time 2 minutes	Cooking time 15-20 minutes
Serves 2

I had purchased a side of fresh salmon (for myself) and just didn’t want to freeze half of it. So, I cut the side into 3 pieces and griddled them. I ate 1 slice, froze another slice and made a pie with the last piece. This is the result.

• 200g cooked/fried fresh salmon
• 1 handful frozen prawns (optional)
• 1 small broccoli (cut into florets, stem- peeled and cut into smallish pieces)
• ¾l milk and fish stock (dissolve a fish-stock cube in ½l hot water & use half)
• 20g butter (10g each for the filling and the broccoli mash)
• 2 tbsp Cornflour (to make the roux gluten free)
• Salt & Pepper and herbs (onion, garlic salt and green herbs) to taste.

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
2. Place the broccoli in a steamer and microwave for 4 minutes.
3. Remove the skin from the salmon, flake it, making sure to remove all fishbones. Spread this into 1 big oven dish or 2 smaller portion oven dishes.
4. Spread the frozen prawns evenly over the salmon.
5. Make a roux with butter and corn flower, and gradually add the milk & water mixture.
6. When the sauce is smooth add salt, pepper, garlic or onion granules and the dried parsley and pour this evenly over the fish.
7. Place the cooked broccoli in a food processor (using a blade) and add the butter (flake it), salt, pepper and other herbs if wanted. Pulse it until it has a slightly grained consistency. I also use a little of the leftover fish stock to make it easier to pulse. Spread evenly over the dish(s) making the pie lid.
8. Place in the hot oven for approx. 15 minutes, until the lop looks crusty.
9. Finish off by placing the dish under the grill for 2 min to get a lovely crunchy brown top.

Enjoy!

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Luncheon Salad

• 1 Hardboiled egg, sliced
• 3-4 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 10 slices cucumber
• 1 handful green salad
• 2-3 tbsp Carrot salad
• 2-3 tbsp Beetroot salad
• 2-3 tbsp Raw Courgette Salad

Served with pita bread or Ryvita and
maybe add a slice or two of ham or smoked salmon.

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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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Chicken Lasagna without pasta

Prep time max 10 minutes	Cooking time 20-25 minutes
Serves 2-3	Calories 755 in total

• 150g cooked skinless chicken, cut or torn into bite size pieces
• 100g grated cheese, lactose free
• 1-2 courgette thinly sliced slightly on an angle to be used instead of lasagna
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 tin of peeled tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves
• Salt and black pepper.
• A prise of mixed herbs, thyme.
• Sweet Spanish paprika Grated nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 200° C.
2. In the meantime, use a food processor to chop the onions, garlic and tomatoes.
3. Spread the chicken pieces in a large lasagna dish.
4. Spread the tomato mix over the chicken pieces.
5. Cover the dish with a layer of sliced courgettes.
6. Finish with a layer of grated cheese
7. Dust with paprika and a touch of nutmeg
8. Place in oven and cook for 20 to 25 minutes at 200°C.

Super healthy dinner for one

Calories: 380 cooking and prep time max 15 minutes

For the stir-fry:

• 100g cooked chicken, diced roughly.
• ½ medium sized onion, chopped
• ½ courgette, julienned
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 3 cherry tomatoes, halved and quartered
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 5g butter
• Salt, pepper and herbs to taste.

For the rösti:

• 1 medium potato, grated and washed (after grating)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 5g butter
• Salt, pepper, garlic salt and onion salt.

Start the stir-fry:

1. Melt the butter and oil in a wok.
2. Add the onions, garlic, tomatoes and herbs; let simmer for 2 minutes stirring now and again.
3. Lower the heat and add courgettes and chicken, stir it, cover with lid and leave simmering for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, make the rösti.

1. Rinse the grated potato in cold water, squeeze as much water from the rinsed potato.
2. Heat the oil and butter on a separate frying pan.
3. Shape the potato on the pan like a pancake. Use a spatula to press and shape the rösti.
4. Sprinkle the potato pancake (one side only) with the herbs.
5. Fry on medium heat for 5 minutes on both sides.

Venison Stroganoff

Serves: 2-3

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 2 ½ – 3 hours

Ready in: 3+ hours

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil
500g diced venison
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 can cream of mushroom soup
.. or 500ml homemade mushroom soup*
½ the can of water (keep for later)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1-2 bay leaves
½ tsp mixed herbs
1-2 sprays of fresh thyme or 1tsp dried thyme
A pinch of nutmeg

* See ”My Gluten and Milk Free Mushroom Soup”

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.
3. Cook the venison in the hot oil until browned on all sides, about 5-8 minutes.
4. Once browned, remove from the frying pan with a slotted spoon and put aside, leaving the remaining oil in the frying pan.
5. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the onions and garlic; and fry until translucent.
6. Pour the contents into a Dutch oven or ovenproof dish, add the meat and the remaining herbs.
7. Add the can of mushroom soup to the Dutch oven, rinse the can with water and then.
8. Clean the frying pan with the water; and add to the Dutch oven.
9. Cover, and cook in oven for 2½-3 hours, or until the venison is tender;
   check now and again making sure that the liquid hasn’t totally evaporated.

Thicken the Stroganoff with rice flour, if needed.

Serves: Inside a plain rice ring (the common way to serve Stroganoff)
. . . . . . .or with pasta: Pappardelle, Bucatini, Angel Hair, Orzo, Spaghetti or Penne
Decorate with parley.

Can be frozen – keep for max 3 month, in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Gluten and Milk Free Mushroom Soup

Serves 4

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 15 minutes

Very easy

I came up with this quick and easy Mushroom Soup so that I can feed my food allergy suffering friends and because I needed a mushroom soup for one of my recipes. I must admit that I let it simmer for 30 minutes to reduce the soup.

Ingredients

• • 20g butter
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 300g mushrooms, sliced (use any; but wild ones are tastier)
  • 1 small handful dried porcini; Optional * (see below)
  • 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
  • 500ml chicken or vegetable stock
  • Maybe some extra salt and freshly ground pepper

* This increases the prep time by 30 minutes, as the dried porcini needs soaking for that time.

Method:

1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan
2. Lower the heat and add the onions and garlic and stir until translucent.
3. Increase the heat, add the mushrooms and thyme and stir for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the stock, cover, lower the heat and simmer for 5-6 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat, use a stick-blender or a food processor and blitz until smooth

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My Bolognaise sauce

Serves 4

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 30 minutes

Ready in: 40 minutes

I was making lasagna the other day and wanted to refresh my memory so I went to my “Cookery book for my Mother” just to check if I had everything needed to make a bolognaise sauce, and realised I had never actually written how to make this sauce. I know, it’s just something that happens and it was taught to me by both my mother and my Italian grandmother, who would turn in her grave seeing this recipe. She would insist that the sauce should simmer for between 10 and 12 hours. Sorry grandma, we don’t have the time nowadays.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. vegetable/olive/rapeseed oil
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 500g minced beef
• 1½ tin (600g) chopped tomatoes (maybe blended)
•       or 500g pure “Tomato Passata”
• ½ tube of Tomato Purée
• 200ml chicken stock
•      (or 1 crushed stock cube dissolved in 100ml boiling water)
• 1 tsp of mixed herbs –
• or pinch of: sweet paprika powder, oregano, basil, thyme & rosemary
• 1 pinch of salt & black pepper

Optional ingredients:

• 1 pinch fresh grated nutmeg or powder
• 1-2 carrots, roughly grated
• 1 celery stick finely chopped
• 1 small glass sherry/brandy/wine

Method:

1. Add the onions and garlic to a frying pan (or wok) with the oil.
   Fry until the onions are slightly tranluscent.
2. Add the mince to the frying pan until all of the meat is brown –
   but only just brown as you don’t want your meat burnt.
3. Once the meat is slightly brown, add the tinned tomatoes (blended – if you want),
   tomato purée, chicken stock and mixed herbs, paprika, salt and pepper if you want.
4. Cover the pan (or wok) with an anti-splatter lid, lower the heat to just less than half
   and let the sauce simmer for 15-20 min. stirring now and again

• Serve with pasta or use in a lasagna.

Tip

• A small glass of sherry/brandy/wine added to the simmering sauce will enhance the taste. Keep the sauce in fridge for 2-3 days or freeze and keep for up 3 months. If frozen: thaw in fridge overnight. Don’t use from frozen.
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Quick Healthy Lunch

Serves 1

Time from start till finish: 5 minutes

I was hungry and didn’t have any bread for a sandwich.
So, a rummaged in my fridge and freezer
and this was the result of my finds.

Ingredients:

½ Onion, chopped finely

1 Tomato, chopped not too finely

100g lardons

100g leftover chicken, cut into cubes

100g frozen mixed vegetables.

1 tsp olive oil

15-30g butter

Salt, pepper and whatever other herbs you want or none.

Method:

1. Heat the butter and the oil in wok (or frying pan).
2. Add the onions and lardons, and fry until the onions are translucent.
3. Then add the frozen vegetables, stir, cover and leave for 1-2 minutes.
4. While the vegetables thaw and cook, chop the tomato and chicken meat.
5. Then add this to the wok, stir and add your herbs.
6. Cover and let simmer for 2-3 minutes.
7. Serve and enjoy.

Easy Fried/Stir-Fried Potatoes

This is a quick way to make fried potatoes from scratch, if you are in a hurry and don’t want to wait for your potatoes to be cooked.
This is a two-in-one recipe for fried potatoes.

2-5 potatoes
1tsp olive oil
25-50g butter (depending on how many potatoes are used)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Pan-Fry: Slice the potatoes into thin slices using a mandolin

Stir-Fry: Cut the potatoes into cubes using a mandolin.

• While slicing/cutting bring a saucepan of water and a little salt to boil.
• Add the sliced/cut potatoes to the boiling water and cook for about 2-3 minutes, drain and dry with a kitchen towel.

Pan-Fry:

1. Heat oil and butter in a frying pan
2. Add the potatoes and fry. Turn occasionally until potatoes are browned and slightly crunchy.
3. If wanted you can also add some sliced onions to the frying pan.
4. Serve as a Side-dish to your dinner or lunch, sprinkled with parsley and/or chives.

Stir-Fry:

1. Heat oil and butter in a wok.
2. Add the potatoes to the wok. Stir occasionally.
3. Add whatever else is needed for the stir-fry.
4. And serve.