Claire's Cake Bake & Other Foodiness

We don’t eat many courgettes and I wouldn’t normally get excited about a courgette recipe, however, last week we found a tasty courgette panzanella which we would recommend.

The courgette is basted in a dressing of olive oil, sugar and chilli flakes and is then griddled.  The courgettes are then added to a mozzarella, tomato and basil panzanella.

One of my brothers was telling me last week what he’d had for tea – Tuna steak with lentils and sweet potato wedges.  I’m not keen on sweet potatoes but the Lentils sounded good so I asked for the recipe.

Now, I’ not sure if I’ve missed something but the lentils started to dry out quickly in the pan so I tweaked the recipe slightly, added a little cream and we ended up with this…

Ingredients

• 1 Tin of green lentils
• Coriander
• 1 Clove of garlic
• 1 Small onion
• 1 Teaspoon Ground cumin seeds
• 1 medium chilli finely chopped and de-seeded
• 1 Tablespoon double cream
• 6 Tbsp water
• 2 Tuna Steaks
• 4 Tomatoes

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°c
2. Halve the tomatoes and roast for 30 minutes – start the rest of the cooking after 15 minutes
3. Finely chop the onion, garlic and chilli
4. Put lentils in a a pan with the copped onion, garlic and chilli and the cumin seeds
5. Add 6 tablespoons of water to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes
6. Meanwhile start to griddle the Tuna – ours were well cooked
7. When lentils are cooked, take off heat and stir through the double cream then add the coriander leaves
8. Serve Tuna on top of lentils with roasted tomatoes around the side

Yet another quick dish I’ve thrown together. It is filling and rather tasty in a zesty kind of a way.

Ingredients

• 2 Tuna Steaks
• 1 lime
• 1 red chilli
• Olive oil
• Tin of mixed beans (Soya beans, Chick Peas, Pinto Beans, Black Eye Beans, Red Kidney Beans & Aduki Beans)
• Mixed salad leaves – we used rocket, spinach and watercress
• 3 tomatoes

Method

• Rinse Tuna & put in a dish so that they can lie down next to each other
• Squeeze juice of lime & a good glug of olive oil over tuna
• Chop chilli finely & add to tuna – cover dish & pop in fridge for 20 minutes
• Put griddle pan on to heat up
• Drain tin of bean & rinse well
• Put tuna in griddle pan, pour over excess liquid, season with salt and pepper – cook as you like it
• Place a good handful of leaves on a plate, sprinkle over a good handful of beans & place tomatoes around the side
• Place tuna steak on top of salad & serve

Delicous and healthy, even if I do say so myself.

On the rare occasion I have to make dinner for one, I’ll often opt for a cheeky little creamy mushroom pasta type dinner as Anthony isn’t a fan of the humble mushroom.

Tonight we were supposed be enjoying sausages from Hollies Farm Shop in Northwich (a new discovery when we bought a new car from the area a week or so ago).

However, Anthony had to have a tooth out this afternoon so wasn’t up for anything but soup and with sausages on the intended menu, that certainly means he really couldn’t eat anything.

Back to the mushrooms though. Every time I make something like this it is just thrown together at the drop of a hat, no recipe in sight. Tonight’s was quite delicious & I thought it about time I share (& post!).

Mushroom & Thyme Pasta for One

• 6 Chestnut mushrooms
• 1/2 small white onion, chopped
• Sprig of fresh thyme
• 2 Tablespoons low fat creme fraiche
• Pasta

Carry on reading & leave a comment…

In this weeks vegetable box we got some Chicory. Its actually something I’ve never eaten before.  So after a quick flick through my vegetable guide – aka Sarah Ravens Garden Cookbook – I discovered that chicory, if eaten raw, can be quite bitter, but once cooked it can be delicious. I opted for the cooked version and we ended up with quite a pleasant Sunday lunch (though not in the traditional sense).

Braised Chicory for two – lunch sized portion

• 2 pieces of Chicory
• 4 slices prosciutto chopped into small strips
• Salt & Black pepper
• 15g unsalted butter
• 1 Tablespoon water
• Juice 1/2 lemon
• 100ml double cream

Method

1. Butter a small oven proof dish & put oven on a low heat (100°c)
2. Arrange chicory in the bowl and dot with little knobs of butter & the strips of prosciutto
3. Season with salt & pepper
4. Put a piece of greaseproof paper over the dish & put on lid (mine didn’t have one so I used tinfoil)
5. Braised in oven for 40 minutes until tender & lightly browned
6. Take out of oven and add lemon juice & cream
7. Serve with crusty bread

Last weekend I made some Lamington cupcakes as a ‘Get Well Soon’ gesture for my brother who had just had an operation.

I had intended on following Bill Granger’s recipe for Lamingtons themselves but the sponge mix didn’t set and with 6 eggs in it I wasn’t overly surprised. So after a quick re-think I whizzed up a batch of Nigella’s trusty cupcakes and then topped each with lamington icing.

Carry on reading & leave a comment…