Tag Archives: oil

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

Chimichurri BBQ beef

05 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by in BBQ, Beef

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Chimichurri beef

Chimichurri beef

Now this dish is perfect for a BBQ! I first had this when I was in Nicaragua and ended up having it nearly every single night I was there it was so delicious. So obviously when I got home I tried it and it is really simple.

chimichurri blender

chimichurri blender

What you will need:

A big piece of sirloin steak sliced in half (other cuts of beef are also ok)
3 large handfuls of fresh parsley
Chopped chilli (to taste depending how hot you want it)
2-3 chopped cloves of garlic
½ cup olive oil
2 tbsp vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

In a blender add all the ingredients (except the beef) and blend. Put the beef in a bowl and a third of the chimichurri mixture to marinate. You can do this the night before or a couple of hours before depending on the time you have. Keep the rest covered in the fridge.

When it’s BBQ day cook the meat. You’ll have to decide on your timings depending on how hot your BBQ is and how red you want your meat but it really doesn’t take long – about 5 minutes on each side (medium rare for me!).

Once your meat is cooked cut it into slices on a large plate and cover it with another third of the chimichurri sauce and serve. The other third is for anyone who might like to add some sauce.

This is definitely a must try dish!
Enjoy!
Melanie

Balsamic tuna with cherry tomatoes and rocket

18 Wednesday May 2011

Posted by in Seafood

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Only have 20mins to prepare a meal? Then this one is perfect and super yummy! I treated myself to a tuna steak this evening and it was definitely worth every penny. I had it as a light meal but if you want something more substantial I’d eat it with new potatoes. This feeds one so just multiply everything by the number of people you are cooking for.

What you will need:

 1 tuna steak
10 cherry tomatoes
2 handful of rocket
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Chilli flakes
Salt and pepper

Cherry tomatoes

Heat your oven to 180C. In a bowl mix a spoon of vinegar for two spoons of oil. Place the cherry tomatoes in an oven proof dish and cover with the ‘vinaigrette’ add salt and pepper to taste. Once the oven is hot put the tomatoes in; they should take no more than 15mins.

 Tuna steak

You should start this about 5mins before the tomatoes are done. Heat a pan, add oil (not much about 2 tablespoons worth), chilli flakes to taste, salt and pepper and add the tuna. Cook for 2mins on each side.

Rocket and ta-da

Place the tuna, the cherry tomatoes and rocket on a plate. Add about a tablespoon of vinegar to the hot pan, mix, and pour over the tuna, rocket and tomatoes. If you want more ‘vinaigrette’ you can also use some from the tomatoes.  

Mel

Fennel salad

31 Thursday Mar 2011

Posted by in Salads

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Fennel and garlic salad

Fennel and garlic salad

I keep seeing recipes in the papers about cooked fennel. Ok it’s good but I have to say it’s so much better raw and strangely enough people just don’t seem to eat it that way. It’s so fresh and crunchy with aniseedy flavours. I feel that cooking it takes quite a lot away from it.

You’ll need:

1 fennel
1 – ½ clove of garlic
½ a lemon
2 – 3 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

So it’s quite simple, cut the fennel in half and then slice thinly. Put it in a bowl and add the crushed garlic and half a lemon’s juice. The acid from the lemon juice will start to ‘cook’ the garlic. Mix it all together and then add the olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir it all once more. Then cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This will ensure that all the flavours are properly infused.

Serve as a side salad with anything really 🙂 I think that this is one of my favourite things. Though I have to warn you that I love garlic, so if you are a little afraid of it don’t put too much.

Little tip: eating garlic keeps mosquitoes away (ok I hear you say the boys as well, haha).

Mel