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Belle Babies

Belle Babies - Served

ByBilalBham | On July 28,17 | 0 Comment

My Italian friend Giovanni was having a dinner party at his and invited his European, hailing from Italy and Spain, over for food and asked us to bring or cook something. As you know, I love to cook, but I also wanted to show off my culinary skills… ehem! Since my friends were European, the food had to be good! I wanted to make something which was relatively easy to transport, didn’t need any Tupperware and people could just pick up and eat on a small plate. I also had to ensure that it was tasty in terms of spices but not too spicy hot since various people had different levels of tolerance, and I am a softy when it comes to spicy hot !If you are wondering why I used 3 different bell peppers, it’s simple, I like my food to be colourful and appetising!

I had made stuffed peppers before but I wanted to make sure I nailed it right this time. The time before, I didn’t have enough tomato puree and it showed up in the taste test!

If you are wondering how I managed to transport this to Giovanni’s place directly from the oven, then here’s the spoiler – mum came to the rescue with a brilliant idea! She covered the top with more aluminium foil, and then wrapped it in packing paper we had lying around from various deliveries, popped it in a large shopping bag and I was ready to roll! When I arrived 10 mins later, the food was still piping hot and ready to eat, and thankfully, they all enjoyed it!

For my vegetarian/vegan friends, you can swap the beef mince with Quorn mince, tofu, legumes and grains, or nut blends.

INGREDIENTS

1 kg beef mince

9 bell peppers

1 red onion

1 normal onion

3 cloves garlic

1 cm ginger

1 cm turmeric

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

100 g tomato puree

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon of coconut oil

RECIPE

Chop up the onions, garlic, ginger, chilli and turmeric, and sauté at medium heat in a small frying pan with coconut oil.
In a larger frying pan, cook the beef mince at medium heat until it is cooked through and turned a tan/light brown colour – get rid of all the red bits, unless you like eating raw meat!
Whilst the 2 frying pans are cooking, slice the top of the bell peppers off and clean out the insides of seeds and other debris. Be sure to wash to get rid of everything, and shake dry.
Transfer the sautéed vegetables to the mince meat saucepan and mix thoroughly.
Add the tomato puree – they tend to be 200 g so use half – and mix thoroughly until cooked.
Set the oven at gas mark 6/200°C and set a shelf in the middle.
Line a baking tray with aluminium foil.
Fill all of the bell peppers with the beef mince mix, cover with the sliced portions, and place in the baking tray.
Bake the bell babies for 30 minutes until the tops begin to turn brown.
Belle Babies served!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 9 people – my friends loved these!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Snack, Vegetarian

Fishy Omelette

Fishy Omelette :)

ByBilalBham | On October 24,16 | 0 Comment

I love eggs! Free-range mind. And I eat 4 every morning for breakfast! I get my daily dose of post-gym protein and healthy fats without fail! Hard boiled, scrambled or as an omelette, I eat eggs! The omelette is ubiquitous throughout the world and comes in many different forms such as the frittata (Italian omelette) in Italy, tortilla in Spain (Spanish omelette) or the tamagoyaki in Japan (Japanese omelette).

In Gujarat, India, the birthplace of my parents, the omelette is called a pura. As you can expect, Indian omelettes are spiced up to the high heavens! If there’s no chilli, it isn’t Indian! I loved the omelettes my mum and dad made for me and sometimes mum does still make them. In our household, and I am sure many households, it is the default go-to dish when you are hungry, don’t want to make a fuss in the kitchen and enjoy a filling meal.

Now, I do love my mum’s omelettes, but they tend to leave me feeling a little hungry – must be my big appetite! So, about 3 months ago, after a big morning workout, when I felt hungry enough to eat a cow, I decided to experiment (much to the chagrin of my mother’s traditionalist attitude in the kitchen) with a tin of tuna, and half a tin of mixed vegetables, along with the regular spice, and coconut oil! Up until this point, mum was using olive oil (and vegetable or sunflower oils before that, which play havoc with my immune system) for her omelettes, even though we’d switched to coconut oil – something about frying and “proper” oil ;). Anyway, I ended up cooking a deliciously healthy, tasty, quick and easy meal, rich in protein, good fats and healthy carbs, which was rustled up in 15 mins, and eaten in about 5! You can have this omelette for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and if you reduce the ingredients, a hearty snack! Oh, and if you want to up your greens, this omelette goes perfectly with salad!

I cooked this without the half tin of mixed vegetables because it was late and I wasn’t as hungry as I am after the gym! However, don’t be scared to experiment, have a bit of fun in the kitchen and see what you can come up with!

INGREDIENTS

4 free range eggs

4 cloves garlic (I used a bag we’d frozen before)

2 cm ginger (I used a bag we’d frozen before)

2 green chillies (I used a bag we’d frozen before)

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Red chilli powder

Optional: ½ can of mixed vegetables

1 can of tuna (remove the brine)

½ teaspoon dried corriander

1 teaspoon coconut oil

RECIPE

In a bowl, whisk up the eggs, garlic, ginger, chilli, salt, pepper, seasoning and tuna (and mixed vegetables);
Heat up a teaspoon of coconut oil in a large non-stick frying pan;
Pour the mix into the frying pan and cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes, the bottom is cooked;
Turn on the solar grill to full and place the frying pan in there for about 5 minutes whilst the top of the omelette cooks. If you don’t have a solar grill and/or want to flip the omelette, good luck!
Once it cooks to your taste, place a large plate over the frying pan, carefully flip over, and you are ready to eat!

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 2 people

This was a meal for me, but it could easily feed 2! My rule of thumb is 2 eggs per person 🙂

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Dinner, Lunch, Snack

Spicy Lamb Seekh Kebabs

ByBilalBham | On May 01,15 | 0 Comment

Who loves kebabs? I love them! Pure meat with some spices! But how many of you have paid the price the next morning after one from the takeaway? Or, got a frozen which just didn’t quite live up to what you were expecting? So mum and I began experimenting a while ago at home and it turned out that mine were better than what mum came up with! I ended up developing my own way of making kebabs, stealing bits here and there and coming up with something that makes my mouth water just writing about it!

One of the major obvious benefits of kebabs is the high protein content. If you are looking to lean up and bulk up in the gym, meat will be an essential part of your diet. I usually make enough to last me a couple of weeks if not longer, so that I can snack on them too! Yup, spicy lamb mince seekh kebabs are my light late night snack everyone! No carbs, good fats, plenty of protein, deliciously fiery (which boosts metabolism and burn fat!) and so quick to make, grill them or bake them they don’t take long. Served with some fresh salad or grilled vegetables, I can’t think of a more filling and nutritious meal any time of the day!

INGREDIENTS

500g lean lamb mince

1 onion

1 red onion

3 spring onions

4 cloves of garlic (I love garlic in my food)

1 cm of ginger

1 cm haldi

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

1 spoon dried coriander

A bunch of fresh coriander

Salt

Pepper

1 large free range egg

½ lemon

Wooden skewers

INSTRUCTIONS

Slice and dice the onions, crush the garlic, and chop up the ginger, corriander, haldi and chillies into tiny pieces;
Add the vegetable mix to the lamb mince and mix thoroughly;
Whisk up the egg separately and add the juice from half a fresh lemon and add to the mincemeat and mix thoroughly;
Kneed the mix as you would dough, creating striations with your knuckle which shows that the meat is completely broken down and mixing with the vegetables;
Roll up the mix in a bowl, cover it and leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight;
Soak the wooden skewers in lukewarm water for 30 minutes to stop them from burning or catching fire;
Bring out the mix from the fridge and knead again to fresh it up;
With moist hands, pick off a handful of the kebab mix and mould it onto the skewers, leave some out to eat now and some to place straight into the freezer for another time;
Place on grill for 15-20 minutes/oven bake in a tray at gas mark 5, 190°C/375°F for 20-30 minutes, depending on how well done you like your meat – do check every 10 minutes and turn them to ensure thorough cooking.
Serve with a salad or grilled vegetables such as courgette/zucchini, aubergine, sweet potato or butternut squash, or my favourite long peppers!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves up to 4 people

We always make more so we can enjoy the food another time!

Please do let me know how you get on and feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Snack, Teatime

Super Soya Yoghurt

ByBilalBham | On April 04,15 | 0 Comment

When one is on the type of restricted diet that I am because of my acid reflux, IBS, and lactose intolerance, and leads a very active lifestyle encompassing my quest for a 6-pack where I attend the gym 5 times a week and dance salsa several evenings a week, one has the absolute need for highly nutritious food for needs to replace the forbidden food! I can’t have dairy so milk and Greek Yoghurt are out! I can’t have refined carbs so cereals, bread, rice and pasta are also out!

But I am a man! I need fibre! I need sugar! I need roughage! And I don’t want to have to reduce myself to raw carrot and sugar snap peas all the time (I do enjoy them but come on, every single day?!) for a snack when I want and need something filling!

Enter my Super Soya Yoghurt! I created this initially with porridge but after speaking to my PT who suggested removing the oats and dairy, I decided to switch to simply using soya (which he disagrees with!). This dish takes about 10 minutes to put together because I have all of the ingredients in separate tubs (yes, I am THAT particular!) and packs a serious nutritional punch encompassing all of what we need! We have a plethora of vitamins, minerals, healthy carbohydrates/sugars, fibre and protein, that’s what makes this yoghurt super!

I tend to have this has a small meal when I don’t want to have cooked food, usually late afternoon or evening, and with a cup of Spicy Masala Chai, it definitely hits the spot!

My collection of Dried Fruit, Nuts, Seeds, Spices!

INGREDIENTS

250 mL Soya Yoghurt

Natural Forever Bee Honey

Dried Fruits

1 teaspoon Dried Cranberries

1 teaspoon Pitted Dates

1 teaspoon Banana Chips

1 teaspoon Apricots Whole Pitted

1 teaspoon California Seedless Raisins

1 teaspoon Sultanas

1 teaspoon Currants

1 teaspoon Dried Blueberries

4 Prunes Whole Pitted

4 Sun Dried Mango

4 Dried Apple Rings

4 Diced Pineapple pieces

8 Diced Papaya pieces

Nuts

4 Whole Cashew Nuts

4 Brazil Nuts

4 Walnut Halves

4 Pecan Halves

8 Macadamias

8 Hazelnut Kernels

4 Almonds

Seeds

1 teaspoon Pine Kernels

1 teaspoon Pumpkin Seeds

1 teaspoon Sunflower Kernels Hulled

1 teaspoon Brown Linseed

Spices

Sprinkle of ground Cinnamon

Sprinkle of ground Nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONS

Add all the dried fruit, nuts and seeds in a bowl.
Pour in the soya yogurt.
Squeeze on the natural bee honey.
Sprinkle the ground cinnamon and nutmeg on top.
Mix it up and dig in!

Preparation time 10 minutes

Eating time 10-15 minutes

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Breakfast, Snack, Teatime

Spicy Masala Chai

ByBilalBham | On March 18,15 | 0 Comment

If you go to an Indian (or any Asian subcontinent) household you won’t simply be offered tea, but a choice of “English or Indian/Desi tea”!

What is the difference you may ask? Well, English tea is what we are accustomed to here in the UK: boil water, add to the kettle/mug with teabag, add milk, sweeten to taste, and voila!

Indian tea on the other hand requires a bit more than just hot water! First of all we use spices to help create that familiar scentsational aroma and up the antioxidants…. and then, depending how milky you like it, you can have 100% milk, 50-50 milk and water or 100% water and add some milk at the end. As you may know, I am lactose intolerant so use alternative non-dairy milk, and use sweetener from the stevia plant instead of sugar because it’s healthier!

You can purchase a quick and cheap version of this on the high street in coffee chains. On of them calls their version of it “Chai Tea Latte”, Chai means tea and latte is Italian for milk, so they are advertising “Tea Tea Milk”! Urgh! One of my pedantic gripes!

Here is how we make Indian tea in our home which serves 2 people.

INGREDIENTS

3 mugs of soya milk/almond/hazelnut/coconut milk

Stevia according to desired sweetness

4 small cinnamon sticks

4 cardamom seeds

8 whole black pepper

8 clove seeds

Small shaving of nutmeg seed

2 tea bags/4 spoons of loose tea (tea bags are easier to clean up!)

INSTRUCTIONS

1) On 3/4 heat, add all ingredients into a saucepan.

2) Stir until your tea to ensure good mixing – the darker your the, the stronger it will be!

3) Let the tea cook for about 5 mins.

4) Bring your tea to the boil a couple of times by increasing and then decreasing the heat, all the time ensuring you continue to stir – make sure you don’t let your tea overflow!

5) Breakfast or teatime, your Spicy Masala Chai is served!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂