My Teriyaki Salmon with Thai Sticky Rice and Chilli Lime Broccoli

Last night I made a fairly quick teriyaki salmon dish because we fancied something full of flavour but fairly light and I always look to Asian food for this! I served it with some sticky Thai rice which went with it very well, though you could use noodles or even egg fried rice if you'd prefer. And to keep it zingy, I lightly fried my broccoli in chilli and lime juice. The perfect late Friday night meal after a long week at work that involves minimal prep, only about 15mins in front on the hob and whole lot of satisfaction at the table (or on your knee in front of Alan Carr!)

Ingredients 

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons clear honey
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 garlic clove, chopped
a chunk of ginger, chopped (about double the size of your garlic clove)
2 salmon fillets

oil (I used olive as it's all I had in, but preferably a none flavoured oil)
a handful of tender stem broccoli
1/2 - 1 chilli (depending on taste), chopped finely
1 lime

thai sticky rice
fresh coriander to garnish



Firstly marinate your salmon buy mixing together the vinegar, honey and soy sauce in a shallow bowl. Add the garlic and ginger (and don't worry about chopping these super finely as we will be sieving them out later). Then put your salmon in the bowl and coat all over. Cover with some cling film and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours or until you are ready to cook!





When you're getting hungry, preheat the grill to about 180degrees and cook the rice according to packet instructions. If you're doing Thai sticky rice then I always aim to have it cooked about 10minutes before I'm ready to serve so you can leave it in the hot pan with the lid on to get really really sticky first!

Take out your bowl of salmon, and roll the salmon in the marinade again so that it is all covered. Take the fillets out and put onto a baking tray, saving the left over marinade for your sauce later. Put into the preheated grill for about 10-15minutes, checking regularly. You want to be able to put a knife into the thickest part of the fillet and it to slide a flake out very easily, but don't overdo it and dry out the salmon - as soon as it is no longer rubbery then take it out!



As the rice and salmon are cooking, get a pan of water on the hob and boil (or steam if you have a steamer!) the broccoli for about 5 minutes or until just tender. Drain and put to the side for a moment.

Give the broccoli pan a quick rinse and add the left over marinade to heat for a few minutes until it thickens slightly. Squeeze in the juice of half a lime, saving a couple of wedges to garnish if you'd like. Don't worry if it doesn't look like much sauce - there is so much flavour in this that you won't need a lot!






Add a splash of oil to a frying pan and add your chopped chilli. Fry for a couple of minutes then add the broccoli. Squeeze in the juice of the remaining half a lime, and you're ready to serve!


Line up the rice, salmon fillet and broccoli on a plate, making sure you sprinkle all of the chilli over from your broccoli pan! Sieve the sauce into a jug so that you remove the chunks of garlic and ginger, then drizzle the sauce over the whole dish. Sprinkle with fresh coriander and add the lime wedge if using.

A really tasty dish, full of fresh, zingy flavours with just the right amount of stickiness to feel indulgent!! Enjoy!

A really very tasty (and also kind of healthy) lamb kebab!

I just made a totally yummy sort of lamb kebab for dinner and it was SO BLOODY GOOD that I'm blogging it before I forget exactly what I did! Unfortunately, I can't take all the credit because it was inspired by Jamie - I was watching his money saving meals thing the other day and he did a kebab that is probably EVEN BETTER than this one so you may as well search for that instead - but I've made this my way and it's probably a little simpler than his and kind of healthy too!

As I've just cooked this for me with left overs in the fridge for tomorrow, this recipe is for two, but everything in it is so easy to double or triple in quantity and I think it would be a brilliant help-yourself-around-a-table/finger-food dinner to make for friends!

For the kebab
2 flame baked chapattis (or whatever kind of flat bread type thing you can find!) 
about 250g/half a standard supermarket pack of lean lamb mince (we're not cooking in any fat so if you get a good quality mince then it really is pretty healthy!)
a tea spoon of garam masala (or a combination of warming spices, like cumin and coriander)
salt and black pepper

For the tasty bits
1/2 white cabbage, sliced finely
1/2 red onion, sliced finely
a couple of glugs of white wine vinegar
a tea spoon of sugar

about 250g/half a pot of low fat natural yoghurt
a handful of fresh mint, chopped
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 tiny garlic clove, chopped finely/crushed (or a bit of garlic powder if you prefer)
salt

For the extras
a red chilli, chopped
a handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
1/4 cucumber, sliced
a handful or two of sweet gem lettuce, chopped

Preheat the oven to about 180 degrees and pop in your flat breads. Cook these according to packet instructions and make sure they're not piping hot when you serve up because you're going to want to be able to pick them up!

To make your kebabs you literally need to mix the spices and a good few twists of salt and pepper into the mince with your hands. Then split into four and roll each one into a kind of sausage shape - there's no need for it to be neat! If you've got some skewers then wrap the sausages around them, but I didn't bother and they still worked brilliantly (they'd be dead good barbequed but we've only just hit Feb so I think that might be a bit ambitious!)



Then get a griddle pan over a medium-high heat and pop the kebab straight onto it. Leave for several minutes on one side before turning - you're aiming for it to almost blacken with the fats inside the meat just sizzling away on the pan - and then turn until the whole sausage has been cooked. Remove onto a piece of kitchen roll to soak up any excess fats and then these are good to go - I made all of the other bits and bobs while the kebabs were cooking so the meal literally only took as long to make as these tiny sausages took to cook!

So while the lamb is on the hob, mix together the cabbage, red onion, white wine vinegar and sugar in a bowl and scrunch all together. The quantities here are too much for two people but this should keep pretty well so you could use it in another meal later in the week! In another bowl mix together the yoghurt, mint, lemon, garlic and a couple of twists of salt.

Make sure you've got all of the extras prepped and then dish up! I don't think there is a good way to eat this but I went with one hand and one fork and it went down pretty well...

Enjoy! No, seriously, you are really going to enjoy this!!

Beef Goulash

When I was traveling around Europe in the summer I couldn't help but bring back a load of local bits and bobs to cook with! One of the things I brought back was some goulash spices from the Naschkmarkt in Vienna, because after trying goulash in Prague (and later in Hungary) I was keen to make it myself!

Last night I made this for me and boyfriend and it was really delicious! As you probably can't make a trip to Vienna just to pick up the spices, I'd say to use paprika instead. It worked brilliantly served with just some crusty bread and a green salad, but you could always have a go at some dumplings to serve in the stew or it would be tasty with some rice!

 

serves 2

Ingredients

olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped/crushed
1-2 teaspoons goulash spices/paprika
salt and black pepper
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
stewing steak (enough for two people), diced
1 beef stock cube
1/4 glass of dry white wine
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
a small handful of fresh parsley, chopped (or a teaspoon of dried if you forget to pick up the fresh stuff like I did!)
2 tablespoons sour cream

to serve
crusty bread (I used part-baked rolls from the supermarket, but some nice bread from the bakery would be lovely as well!)
green salad leaves
 

Preheat your oven to about 130 degrees.

Fry the onion in a splash of olive oil for a few minutes over a medium heat. As the onion is starting to soften, mix in the garlic, spices and a generous twist of salt and black pepper. Fry for a further two minutes before adding your chilli and pepper. Once the peppers have started to soften, tip the contents of your pan into a casserole dish.



Add the steak to the pan and mix it around until it is sealed all over (this will only take a couple of minutes). Add about 100ml of boiling water to your stock cube (probably less than the packet will recommend) and pour into the pan. Mix in the wine, tomato puree, and chopped tomatoes. Heat through for a couple of minutes and then add to the casserole dish, mixing with the veg. You should have enough liquid for all of the ingredients to be just covered.






Loosely wrap some silver foil around the casserole dish (or use a lid if you have one) and pop in the oven for about an hour and a half, stirring half way through. About 10 minutes before the end of cooking, take out and add the parsley and sour cream. Mix and return to the oven without the foil. I put the bread into the oven at this point to bake for ten minutes to serve warm with the goulash.


Serve with your chosen accompaniment and enjoy!

Kind of Thai Fishcakes

Just a quick recipe for you tonight that I made for me and my flatmate last night. We had a Thai inspired meal of fishcakes and stir-fried veg.

I'll be honest, it was my first time making these fishcakes and I completely made up the recipe so they still need a little bit of work, but I vowed to share my kitchen successes and failures on this blog so you're going to get it anyway!! Not that this was a failure - it was pretty nice, just not gobsmackingly beautiful - so why don't you play around with the recipe a little and you might find something more delicious than mine!



  
Serves 3 (us two and my dinner tonight!)

 

Ingredients

3 small portions of potato, peeled and chopped
1 stalk of lemongrass
your choice of stir fry veg, chopped - I used cabbage, pepper, broccoli and carrot
1 teaspoon sugar
splash of rice wine vinegar
3 fillets of white fish
3 teaspoons Thai Green curry paste (if you spend a little more on a better paste then this is more than enough because it'll be full of flavour, but if it's a cheapo one then you might need a little more!)
a handful of fresh coriander, chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
sea salt and black pepper
1/2 lime, squeezed
 olive oil 
1 small egg
plain flour
a drizzle of soy sauce
sweet chilli sauce (to serve)

Begin by getting a pan of water boiling on the hob. Slightly squash your lemon grass with the flat of your knife to release the flavours, then add to the pan whole (or in half if too long!). My intention here is to flavour the water - and subsequently the potato - with these gorgeous citrus flavours without them overpowering the fishcake.


Prepare all of your stir-fry veg and put in a bowl. Mix in the sugar and rice wine vinegar and leave to one side for later.

Then, spread the green curry paste over your fish fillets. Place them on a baking tray and wrap loosely with silver foil. This needs to go in a preheated oven until just cooked and flaky (probably at about 180 degrees for around 10-20mins depending on the size of your fillets).
  
Add your chopped potato to the pan of water and boil until soft (about 10mins).


Once the fish is cooked, remove from the oven and flake into a large bowl. Add the chilli, coriander and lime juice, and season with salt and pepper.

Once soft, drain the potatoes and remove the lemongrass stalk. Add a drizzle of olive oil and mash. Then add the potato to your fish bowl, mixing together.


Sprinkle your flour onto a flat surface. When the ingredients in your bowl are cool enough to touch, crack your egg into the bowl and combine with your hands. Collect a small handful into a ball and squash between the palms of your hands to make a fishcake shape. Lightly dip both sides into the flour and put on a plate ready to fry. Repeat until you have created all of your fishcakes.







Add a drop of olive oil into a pan (I used a griddle pan) and pop your fishcakes in. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side.

For your veg, simply add it to a wok with a dash of olive oil and soy sauce. Cook for a couple of minutes until the veg is starting to soften, but still with some crunch!



Serve up and enjoy with some sweet chilli sauce!

My best ever Fried Rice Recipe

The other night I made the best fried rice ever... it was tasty, healthy, cheap, easy and lasted me a dinner and two lunches! With just a few bits of veg I had left over in my fridge and a selection of Thai flavours I concocted this yummy dish, and I really didn't expect it to go quite this well... It was that good I probably won't be able to recreate it, but I've done my best to write a bit of a recipe for it here so that you can have a go and so I can try and remember how I did it!! Apologies for the big headedness - you will just have trust me that this was just THAT good!

Ingredients (don't trust these completely, alter as you wish, and feel free to add whatever veg you like!)

Serves 2-3
two white fish fillets (I actually just used cheapo frozen white fish!)
1 portion of rice (about 1/3 cup)
1 large carrot, grated
2 teaspoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
2 eggs
olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
about half a broccoli (cut the florets into small pieces)
2 lemon grass stalks, chopped finely
1 garlic clove, chopped finely
1 chilli, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3spring onions, chopped
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of Thai sweet chilli sauce
salt and pepper
a large handful of fresh coriander, chopped roughly

Recipe (or something similar!)

Bake the fish in the oven for 15-20mins depending on the size of the fillets. Boil a pan of water and add your rice. Cook until it is soft and then drain. Mix the grated carrot with the sugar and white wine vinegar. Crack the eggs into a jug and whisk with a fork. Leave all these to the side for later.

Put a dash of oil in your wok over a medium-high heat, then add the onion and broccoli and fry until the onion starts to soften a little.

Then add lemon grass, garlic, chilli and red pepper and fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the carrot mixture and spring onions and fry for a further minute before tipping the veg into a bowl, leaving the wok empty.


Put another dash of olive oil into the wok and add your whisked eggs. Keep moving it around with a wooden spoon until the eggs begin to cook, making sure that none of it sticks to the pan.

Add the ready cooked rice and mix in. Make sure all of the egg is cooked, then add your veg mixture.

Mix in your soy and sweet chilli sauces and season with salt and pepper.

Finally, throw in as much coriander as you like (it's my favourite herb and an essential flavour to this dish!), mix altogether and serve.

YUM!!!!!

Keepin' it Simple Paella

Paella is one of those dishes that tastes exquisite when cooked traditionally, in a huge pan with loads of different sea food and complex, rustic flavourings. I also think it can be bloody delicious cooked nice and simple with a few key ingredients.

For me, a chorizo and prawn combo captures the typical flavour of the dish, so I don't bother/can't afford to add in all the mussels or even chicken! This is a fairly quick recipe, and when you've got all the ingredients in, you can kind of just leave it to bubble away and soak up the stock. I actually chop one ingredient, throw it in the pan, then chop the next and so on, so there's not much prep involved! These quantities (only rough guides as normal) made enough for me and my boyfriend - he eats A LOT so it is probably enough for three! Here I have also used risotto rice, which makes it more creamy than you would get in Spain, but is yummy anyway!!  Enjoy!

Ingredients

small white onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped or grated
1 red chilli, chopped (optional)
paprika
salt and black pepper
100g chorizo, chopped
half red pepper, chopped
1 chicken stock cube
risotto rice (2 portions as indicated on the packet)
6-10 king prawns (I like to remove all of the shell to avoid faff when eating, but whatever your preferences are!)
a handful of frozen peas
a small handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Recipe

Boil the kettle ready for the stock.

In a large frying pan (I actually used a wok!), fry the onion in a dash of oil until it starts to soften. Add the garlic, chilli, a healthy sprinkle of paprika and seasoning.

Fry for a minute or two, then add the chorizo.

When the chorizo begins to brown a little, add the chopped pepper.

Make your stock by mixing the cube with the boiling water in a jug, measuring out the water. The stock will need to cover all the ingredients and more... usually about double the quantity of rice (follow the instructions on the rice packet), but I always end up adding more water as it seems to soak it up like crazy!

Stir the risotto rice in with the chorizo and other ingredients, making sure it is all coated nicely in the red colouring. Fry for a couple more minutes.

Then you can add the stock, prawns and peas, mixing it all together.

Then this can just bubble away for about half an hour, until all the rice is soft. You will need to keep an eye on it, give it a stir every now and again, and add more water if needed... but pop an episode of Friends or Big Bang Theory on and kick back for a bit!

Finally, stir most of the parsley into the paella, dish up, and then sprinkle a little on top of each plate with a quick twist of black pepper. Simple!