Category Archives: Vegetables

An unusual jacket potato

20 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by in Uncategorized, Vegetables

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An unusual jacket potato

An unusual jacket potato

I came across this on Pinterest and had never thought of doing a jacket potato this way. So I gave it a try and loved it. It’s a mix between a jacket potato and crispy oven sliced potatoes.

I used butter and garlic but you can just use olive oil if you prefer.

What you will need:

A large potato
1 garlic clove
2 tsp of butter
Salt and pepper

Heat your oven to 220C

Start from one end of the potato and create slices all along the potato – leaving 1 cm at the bottom. The thinner the slice the crispier the potato, My slices were about 3mm wide.

In a bowl mix thinly chopped garlic and butter together. Then cover the potato with the butter trying the get some garlic into the slices.

Place the potato into an oven proof dish and into the oven for 40 to 45 minutes.  Half way through the cooking if your potato looks like it’s getting a bit dry you can add a bit of butter.

I had my potato as a side with chicken and some green beans. It’s an easy and unusal side.

Enjoy
Mel

Fried plantains

29 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by in Sides, Vegetables

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Fried plantains

I went round to my friend’s house for a yummy Saturday lunch. Now Sarah has already featured on this blog because of her fantastic cooking which is Cuban inspired, http://wp.me/p1sdbX-4k. So we made homemade burgers and exchanged chips for some fried plantains.

Plantains are fried all around the world, wherever they are grown but they are also getting more and more popular in the UK as they are just delicious and easy to find!

What you will need:
1 plantain for 2 people
Vegetable oil
Non stick cooking paper (we used a piece of white paper)
Salt

You can fry in a pan or in a frying machine.

Peal the plantains and slice them, about 4cms high. Add oil into a frying pan, you want there to be enough oil to cover at least half the height of a plantain slice. Boil the oil and add the plantain and wait until it starts to golden, then turn and do the same on that side.

Sliced plantains

Remove the slices onto a plate and then one by one place them in the cooking paper, fold and press down to squash.

Squash plantain

Return the pieces to the oil until they have a crispy looking exterior.

Fry plantain

Remove from the oil and place on some kitchen paper and spinkle with salt. Serve straight away whilst nice and hot.

Enjoy!
Mel

Pinto Bean Burger with Avocado Salsa

15 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in Beans, Vegetables

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Pinto Bean Burger with Avocado Salsa

I am not  a huge fan of black beans but I wanted to try making a bean burger. I decided to use Pinto Beans instead and it was simple and delicious!

Here is what you need:

For Avocado Salsa:
1 Avocado
1-2 Tablespoons of Salsa (you decide)

Avocado salsa

Once you spoon out the avocado, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of salsa and mix.

For Bean Burger:
1 15 oz can of Pinto Beans (drained and rinsed)
2-3 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 Teaspoon of Cumin
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 Cup of Corn
1/4 Cup of Breadcrumbs
1/3 of a Medium Onion (minced)
Fresh Parsley or Cilantro (use what you have)
1/2 Cup White Cheddar Cheese (shredded)

Smash the beans with a fork and then add the remaining ingredients. Stir well but not too much. You want your burgers to be chunky and irregularly shaped.

I cooked them two ways:

If you want your bean burger to be on the dry side, bake them on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. If you want them slightly moist, pan fry them for 3-4 minutes on each side.

Pinto Bean Burger with Avocado Salsa

Top with a generous amount of cheese on each burger and add your Avocado Salsa. Enjoy!

Baby Food: I baked a burger for my 1 year old daughter. Once it was done, I mashed it in a tablespoon of rice and added a tablespoon of avocado and 1 tablespoon of pureed carrot. She LOVED it!

Joy

The sushi class

26 Sunday Jun 2011

Posted by in Seafood, Sushi, Vegetables

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Sushi

Since Alexis and I have been together he’s been getting more and more into cooking. As he loves sushi I thought that for his birthday we’d go to a sushi making class. It was fantastic, and I’d recommend anyone living in London who enjoys cooking to go to Suzu’s in Hammersmith for its 2 hour class. It was relaxed and inspiring and well I walked out knowing how to make maki sushi, nigiri sushi and californian rolls. We made a total of 24 pieces each so ate about half whilst there and had the rest for dinner.

I’m not going to go into how they were all made as I think I will try making them at home again as I want to try and be creative and fill them with yummy ingredients.

Apparently there’s a famous Japanes fishmonger called Atari-ya who has the freshest fish for sushi so I’ll go there to get some of my ingredients. In the coming weeks, if you’re interested in making sushi watch out for my next few blogs 🙂 I think the biggest challenge will be getting the rice right…

Mel

French Tomato Tart

15 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by in Tarts, Vegetables

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Tomato tart

I love making tomato tart because for me it means it’s the summer as I always make it when tomatoes are at their most delicious. This is one of my friend’s recipes from France. She lives in the countryside and grows the most scrumptious tomatoes. It’s easy to make and is fresh and healthy.

What you will need:

A tart tin
3 or 4 tomatoes
Herbs (your choice I used thyme)
Dijon mustard
Cheddar or emmental cheese

For the pastry:

200g flour
100g butter (it’s easier if it a bit soft)
50ml of water

Pre-heat your oven to 180C.
You can buy ready made short crust but it is very easy to make. Put your flour and butter in a bowl and with your fingers rub them together. Once the two ingredients have been completely combined add the water and mix until it forms a ball.

Sprinkle a bit of flour on a clean work surface and roll out the pastry with a rolling pin until it will fit your tin. Lay it in the tin and poke it with a fork.

Cover the pastry base with Dijon mustard and then lay your sliced tomatoes on top. Sprinkle with herbs, salt and pepper and then cover with grated cheese. I love cheese so I put quite a lot, you can put as much or as little as you want. Put the tart in the oven for 30 minutes.

It’s nice to have with a green salad and a nice glass of wine.

I’ve got some tomato plants growing on my windowsill, so let’s hope the sun comes out again and I can eat my own yummy home grown tomatoes.

Mel

Fried aubergine

16 Monday May 2011

Posted by in Vegetables

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I’m not a big fan of aubergine but love it cooked this way, it was always one of my favourites when my mum cooked it.

You will need:

1 aubergine
1 egg
Flour
Olive oil
Salt

Beat the egg in a bowl, slice the aubergine (about 1cm thick) and put some flour on a plate. Heat the oil in a pan, make sure the oil covers the whole pan. Once the oil is hot dip a slice of aubergine in the egg (make sure it is all covered), then cover in flour and drop in the oil (repeat process for every slice). Leave the aubergine for a couple of minutes on each side until golden.

Put some kitchen towel on a plate and put the slices of aubergine on it when they are cooked, sprinkle some salt straight away.

This is a very quick and easy way of making aubergine taste super yummy.

Mel