Browse Tag by Food Porn
Dinner, Lunch, Snack

Belle Babies

Belle Babies - Served

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.

Belle Babies – Ingredients

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

  1. Chop up the onions, garlic, ginger, chilli and turmeric, and sauté at medium heat in a small frying pan with coconut oil.
  2. 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!
  3. 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.
  4. Transfer the sautéed vegetables to the mince meat saucepan and mix thoroughly.
  5. Add the tomato puree – they tend to be 200 g so use half – and mix thoroughly until cooked.
  6. Set the oven at gas mark 6/200°C and set a shelf in the middle.
  7. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil.
  8. Fill all of the bell peppers with the beef mince mix, cover with the sliced portions, and place in the baking tray.
  9. Bake the bell babies for 30 minutes until the tops begin to turn brown.
  10. 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 🙂

Belle Babies – Served
Dinner, Lunch, Teatime

Sweet’n’Spicy Chicken Tagine

Dinner is served!

I haven’t made a tagine for a while and felt inspired after hearing from my sister from another mister, Hanane. Hanane and I have been friends for about a decade and have become family, with me visiting them and her and her mother visiting us. On my visit to Morocco, I knew I didn’t want to come home without a tagine, and so Hanane and her family helped me get an excellent one for pennies from the Atlas Mountains! Whilst we were visiting Marrakech, we stopped by a road seller selling tagines of all sizes, and I got one for about 50p!

During my time with Hanane and her family, both over in Morocco and here in England, they cooked some wonderful tagines for me, and my mother and I also cooked our slightly spicier versions, and I must say, mum is quite fond of using the tagine!

I wanted to cook something healthy, spicy (not too spicy), sweet, filling, rich in protein and healthy carbs, and this is what came to me! My Sweet’n’Spicy Chicken Tagine! It was a lot tastier than I thought it would be and it looks like I will be cooking it again for mum and I!

If you don’t have a tagine, then a casserole dish should do the job too!

Ingredients Sweet'n'Spicy Chicken Tagine
Ingredients Sweet’n’Spicy Chicken Tagine

INGREDIENTS

3 chicken breasts

1 red onion

1 white onion

1 regular onion

1 spring onion

3 cloves garlic

1 cm ginger

1 cm turmeric

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

3 sweet peppers

20 pitted dates

1 teaspoon dried coriander

Salt and pepper to taste

A pinch of saffron

6 tablespoons olive oil

RECIPE

  1. Chop up the garlic, ginger, and turmeric, move to a bowl and add 3 tablespoons olive oil, saffron, dried coriander, salt and pepper.
  2. Clean the chicken breasts, coat them with the mix in the bowl and leave to marinate in the fridge whilst you prepare the rest of the tagine (you can leave it anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight to really get the flavour infusion).
  3. Slice the onions and sweet potatoes, and wash the chillies and peppers.
  4. In the tagine, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and the red, white, normal and spring onions, covering the bottom and side of the tagine.
  5. Cover with the tagine lid and cook on a raised bracket on low to medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the onions begin to caramelise.
  6. Place the chicken over the onions, cover and leave to cook for 10 minutes.
  7. Turn the chicken and leave to cook for another 10 minutes.
  8. Turn the chicken again and add the chillies, peppers and dates across the chicken and sides, and leave to cook for 5 minutes.
  9. Add the sweet potatoes on top and leave to cook for another 10 minutes.
  10. Sweet’n’Spicy Chicken Tagine is served! (If you wish, garnish with fresh coriander, parsley, basil or even mint!).
Dinner is served!
Dinner is served!
Sweet'n'Spicy Chicken Tagine is served!
Sweet’n’Spicy Chicken Tagine is served!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves 2 to 4 people – mum loved hers!

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

Dinner, Lunch, Soup, Vegan, Vegetarian

Four Bean Soupreme

Four Bean Soupreme is served!

During the winter months, I enjoy warm, hearty meals with a bit of a kick to fight off those lazy days and over-eager bugs! The Spicy Winter Soup with chicken proved very popular among my family and friends, however, being vegetarian this month meant that I would be getting my protein source from elsewhere! Cue, pulses, in the form of beans, the tinned variety!

Beans are hearty, full of vitamins and minerals, and loaded with protein! Tinned or dried, we have been eating them in various meals for years in our household! If you want to have this as a chilli con carne type meal or increase the protein content, simply reduce the water and add in mincemeat, Quorn or tofu.

I had a busy day and was hungry so had my soup with German rye bread, which is naturally love in gluten and heavy! Two slices do me every time! You can have your soup with whatever you wish! You can even serve it with rice, quinoa or any other carb staple, just remember to not add 1 litre of water, unless you want a sloppy mess!

This recipe is meat free, gluten free, and dairy free, but highly nutritious and delicious, even if I do say so myself!

Ingredients - Four Bean Soupreme!
Ingredients – Four Bean Soupreme!

INGREDIENTS

Four Bean Supreme Soup

1 red onion

1 onion

3 spring onions

4 cloves garlic

1 cm ginger

½ red chilli

½ green chilli

½ red pepper

½ green pepper

½ teaspoon dried coriander

1 tin chopped tomatoes

¼ tin red kidney beans

1 tin mixed beans (containing Adzuki, Cannellini and Haricot beans, you can use any mix you like)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons coconut oil

1 litre filtered water, boiled

RECIPE

Four Bean Supreme Soup

  1. In a large saucepan, melt 2 teaspoons coconut oil, and add in sliced and diced red, normal and spring onions (keep the green leaves until the end), crushed garlic, chopped ginger and turmeric, and sauté until golden brown, cooking on 3/4 heat;
  2. Add in 1 tin chopped tomatoes, dried coriander, ½ teaspoon salt, and cook until the water evaporates for an infused and blended taste. I added in the chillies at this step because I wanted a spicier soup;
  3. Add in the chopped peppers and beans, mix gently and add in the boiling water;
  4. Cover and leave to cook for around 10 minutes on ¼ heat, stirring occasionally and to check the ingredients are done as you like them;
  5. Your Four Bean Soupreme is served! (If you wish, garnish with fresh coriander, parsley, basil or even mint!).
Four Bean Soupreme is served!
Four Bean Soupreme is served!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves 2-4 people

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

Dinner, Lunch, Vegan, Vegetarian

Chilli Con Quorni

Chilli Con Quorni and Juwar Chapatti!

It’s my first full month of going vegetarian and we’re cooking on gas, both literally and metaphorically! I wanted to cook chilli con carne but didn’t have all the ingredients that I would have liked but, so I improvised! I love spicy food but not too spicy, and the whole point of my blog is to make spicy tasty food highly nutritious, so I upped the vegetables and added protein in the form of Quorn mince!

Chilli con carne is usually served with white rice, but I really didn’t fancy more (brown!) rice this week, especially after having so much quinoa! Therefore, I decided to get the boss, my mum, in to help out! I wanted some form of bread but being gluten intolerant means her delicious chapattis (made from chapatti flour) don’t go down very well, literally, so mum suggested that I have my meal with juwar chapatti instead!

Juwar, or sorghum flour, is naturally gluten free, high in protein and carbs, light but moreish, and very easy to make, so easy that I got my mother in to make it… also, because I have the hands of a baby and can’t handle the heat from the hot chapatti pan… ehem…! But mum does it better anyway, as you might have seen from the video, so I got the seasoned experts in!

This recipe is meat free, gluten free, and dairy free, but highly nutritious and delicious, if I do say so myself!

Chilli Con Quorni Ingredients
Chilli Con Quorni Ingredients

INGREDIENTS

Chilli Con Quorni

200 g Quorn mince

1 red onion

1 onion

3 spring onions (I would have added them if I had them!)

3 cloves garlic

1 cm ginger

1 cm turmeric (I would have added it if I had it!)

½ courgette/zucchini

½ red chilli

½ green chilli

½ red pepper (I would have added it if I had it!)

½ green pepper

½ teaspoon dried coriander

1 tin chopped tomatoes

½ tin white kidney beans (I would have added half a tin if I had other kidney beans in!)

½ tin red kidney beans (I would have added it if I had it!)

½ tin black kidney beans (I would have added it if I had it!)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons coconut oil

Juwar Roti

250 g sorghum flour

500 mL filtered water (boiled)

RECIPE

Chilli Con Quorni

  1. In a large saucepan, melt 2 teaspoons coconut oil, and add in sliced and diced red, normal and spring onions (keep the green leaves until the end), crushed garlic, chopped ginger and turmeric, and sauté until golden brown, cooking on 3/4 heat;
  2. Add in quorn and mix until all the bits are separated;
  3. Add in 1 tin chopped tomatoes, dried coriander, ½ teaspoon salt, and cook until the water evaporates;
  4. Add in the chopped chillies, peppers, kidney beans (drained) and courgette, cover and leave to cook for around 10 minutes on ¼ heat (start making the juwar chapatti), stirring occasionally and to check the ingredients are done as you like them;
  5. Chilli con Quorni is served! (If you wish, garnish with fresh coriander, parsley, basil or even mint!).

Juwar Chapatti

  1. In a bowl, add 250 g sorghum flour, and add enough boiling filtered water needed to knead the dough into dough balls;
  2. 250 g of sorghum flour will give you around 5 dough balls, more than enough for 2 people;
  3. On a plastic sheet, gently flatten out the dough balls with your hands into a circle (~15 cm diameter);
  4. Cook on a hot pan, the one you saw mum use is specific for chapattis;
  5. To ensure the dough is cooked thoroughly and in the interests of speed, you can use a solar grill to finish off the juwar chapattis.
Chilli Con Quorni and Juwar Chapatti!
Chilli Con Quorni and Juwar Chapatti!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves 2 people

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

Dinner, Fish, Lunch

Spiced Up Salmon

Spiced Up Salmon is served!

Continuing the theme of more fish in November, and going vegetarian for December, I had a craving for grilled salmon! Now normally, mum or myself will cook it by topping the salmon with garlic, ginger, chilli and seasoning and eating with some salad, but I wanted some taste and a little of a kick to my food, so I came with this! And even mum enjoyed the sauce, even if she’s not a big fan of salmon!

Salmon is a big part of my diet for my breakfasts and occasional lunches, where I eat the smoked variety on top scrambled eggs and avocado or with a mouth-watering salad!

Instead of normal onions, I went with a red onion this time, because the scent of salmon is lovely but for me the red onion breaks up the taste and adds a layer of pungency to the dish! I added the green chilli and pepper for both taste and colour, otherwise it would be a very red dish! And as usual, I had it with some quinoa! I made sure that had a good mix of protein, fats and healthy carbs in this dish, and this one has the macronutrients covered!

You can have this dish with rice, naan, chapatti, bread, bulger, buckwheat or anything like that but I love my quinoa so had it with that!

Spiced Up Salmon Ingredients!
Spiced Up Salmon Ingredients!

INGREDIENTS

Spiced Up Salmon

2 salmon filet

1 fresh lemon

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

Mixed herbs

Spiced Up Sauce

1 red onion

3 cloves garlic

1 cm ginger

1 cm turmeric

½ red chilli

½ green chilli

½ red pepper

½ green pepper

½ teaspoon dried coriander

½ tin of chopped tomatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons coconut oil

Quinoa

40 g quinoa

½ small onion

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon coconut oil

200 mL filtered water

RECIPE

Spiced Up Salmon

  1. Lay the salmon filets onto aluminium foil;
  2. Season with salt, pepper and mixed herbs (as I said in the vlog, you can do what I used to do, which is top the salmon with garlic, ginger, chilli and seasoning and have it with salad but I wanted something tastier!);
  3. Wrap the aluminium foil around the fish, closing all ends and leaving space for it took, it should look like a boat tent;
  4. Place on the middle shelf of your oven at gas mark 5/375F/190°C for 30 minutes;
  5. Bring out, unwrap the aluminium foil, place on your dish and top with slices of lemon, and your almost there!

Spiced Up Sauce

  1. In a large saucepan, melt 2 teaspoons coconut oil, and add in ½ sliced and diced red onion, crushed garlic, chopped ginger, and chopped turmeric, and cook and stir until the smell goes, cooking on 3/4 heat;
  2. Add in ½ tin chopped tomatoes, dried coriander, ½ teaspoon salt, and cook until the water evaporates;
  3. Add in the chopped chillies and peppers and cook until you have a tight sauce with all the water evaporated, around 10 minutes on ½ heat;
  4. Continue to stir occasionally and check the vegetables are done as you like them;
  5. Spiced Up Sauce is served! (If you wish, garnish with fresh coriander, parsley, basil or even mint!).

Quinoa

  1. In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil (put the filtered water on to boil);
  2. Slice and dice in the ¼ onion and stir, sauté until the onion caramelises;
  3. Add the quinoa and stir gently for 30 seconds, and then add in the boiling water and a ¼ teaspoon of salt, and allow the quinoa to simmer by turning the heat down to a quarter and covering with the lid;
  4. Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds intact. Repeat until the quinoa is cooked and all the water has evaporated;
  5. Cooking time is about 20 minutes and your quinoa is ready to eat!
Spiced Up Salmon is served!
Spiced Up Salmon is served!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking/baking time: 30 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves 1 person – mum loved the extra sauce I made her but didn’t fancy the salmon!

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

Dinner, Fish, Lunch, Vegetarian

Hearty Haddock

Heart Haddock is served!

As part of me going chicken-free in November, and vegetarian for December, I decided to cook fish! I looked in the freezer and found some haddock. I love how my mum cook’s haddock but it can be a bit too spicy for me, and although I love chapatti, my stomach doesn’t do well with gluten! I also bought a pack of mixed vegetables the other day and I decided to put it to good use!

I love colour in my food, and although many of the dishes turn out red because of the tomatoes, I love the mix of green and red, so always try to ensure a colourful and of course tasty dish! Ever since I began this blog, I wanted to ensure that I had a good mix of protein, fats and healthy carbs in my dishes, and this one has the macronutrients covered!

You can have this dish with rice, naan, chapatti, bread, bulgur wheat, buckwheat or anything like that but I love my quinoa so had it with that! Also, depending on how well you like your vegetables cooked, adjust the time you cook them for. I personally like them slightly crunchy, mum loves them basically mashed! Each to their own!

Heart Haddock and Quinoa Ingredients
Heart Haddock and Quinoa Ingredients

INGREDIENTS

Hearty Haddock

250 haddock filet (2 pieces)

1 large onion

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

Small pack of mixed vegetables

½ teaspoon dried coriander

Optional: A handful of fresh or frozen coriander

2 teaspoons coconut oil

Quinoa

100 g quinoa

1 small onion

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon coconut oil

200 mL filtered water

RECIPE

Hearty Haddock

  1. In a large saucepan, add in 2 teaspoons coconut oil, 1 chopped onion, and caramelise on 3/4 heat;
  2. Add in garlic, ginger, chilli, and cook and stir until the smell goes;
  3. Add in 1 tin chopped tomatoes, dried coriander, 1 teaspoon salt, and cook until the water evaporates;
  4. Add in the fish, mix, cover, and cook until all the frozen bits are cooked (unless using fresh, in which case cook until it is almost done), around 10 minutes;
  5. Add in the mixed vegetables and cover for 10 minutes;
  6. Continue to stir occasionally;
  7. Check the fish and vegetables are done as you like them and add the fresh or frozen coriander as a tasty garnish;
  8. Hearty Haddock is served!

Quinoa

  1. In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil (put the water on to boil);
  2. Slice and dice in the ¼ onion and stir, sauté until the onion caramelises;
  3. Add the quinoa and stir gently for 30 seconds;
  4. Add in the boiling water and a ¼ teaspoon of salt;
  5. Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
  6. Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
  7. Repeat step 8 until the quinoa is cooked and all the water evaporates;
  8. You are now ready to eat!
Heart Haddock is served!
Heart Haddock is served!

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 2 people

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