Ingredients (serves 2):

• 2 good sized cuts of steak (sirloin or rump)
• Mixed peppercorns
• Pinch of salt
• 4 teaspoons of dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Good sized knob of butter
• Mixed vegetables
• Potatoes for mashing

Start by heating the oven up to 190 degrees C.  Cut the steaks into half or thirds to make 4 inch square ish shapes.  Rub them with the dijon mustard on both sides before grinding over some mixed peppercorns and a dash of salt.  Take an oven proof pan and put it on a high heat on the hob, add a little olive oil and then place the steaks in.  Cook briefly until seared and turn over and repeat.  Add the large knob of butter to the pan and let it melt.  Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 4-7 minutes until cooked to your preference.  The butter sauce should go a nice golden colour and really infuse the steaks with a warming flavour.  Once cooked to your liking remove the pan from the oven and leave the steak to rest for a few minutes.  Be careful when handling the pan as the handle will be very hot!

Serve with some mashed potatoes and veg that has been par-boiled and then oven roasted with some rosemary and olive oil.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 500g of pork belly
• 3 small shallots – sliced and diced
• 1/2 an onion – sliced and diced
• 3 cloves of garlic – finely sliced
• 1 heaped teaspoon of chilli flakes (more if you prefer)
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste

You should marinate the pork the day before eating preferably. 🙂

This recipe gave me chance to use my new pestle and mortar, which was fun!  Put all of the ingredients into a large pestle and mortar and pound until nicely beaten together.  It doesn’t need to be a perfectly consistent sauce but more of a salad dressing style consistency.  Slice the belly of pork in half and then into half inch strips.  Place the pork and marinade into a snap lock container, mix well and leave to marinate for 24 hours.

When it comes to cooking the pork you can do it on a BBQ or under a very hot grill.  To do it under the grill, heat the grill upto its maximum setting.  Pour the contents of the pork and marinade container into a foil lined oven tray and stick under the hot grill.  Turn the pieces of belly pork over once they start to go crispy and golden.  Once cooked on both sides serve up with some chips and salad and enjoy the flavours!

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• Chicken breasts
• Brie – sliced into small pieces
• Green pesto
• New potatoes
• Garlic clove – very finely sliced
• Knob of butter
• Fresh salad
• Salt and pepper to taste

Start by pre heating the oven to around 180 degrees C and also bring a pan of water to the boil.  In a bowl mix together the brie and pesto until fairly well mixed together.  Lay the chicken breasts out on a flat stable surface and, whilst holding your hand flat on top of each one, make a cut 80% into the breast and along the breast also.  This should give you a nice pocket to pack full of the pesto and brie mix, which you can do now.  If you have any of the mix leftover you can smother the top of the breasts with it.

Once they’re prepared put them into the oven at the same time as you put some new potatoes on to boil.  Keep an eye on both of them and adjust temperatures as required.  When the potatoes are nearly boiled drain them off and return them to their pan with a knob of butter and a very finely sliced garlic clove.  Leave for a moment whilst the butter melts and then toss in the pan for a few seconds.  This will coat the potatoes in a lovely buttery and garlic sauce.

To serve, dress a plate with some salad leaves and drizzle some balsamic over them.  Place the chicken breasts on the plate along with the new potatoes and enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• 200g of chicken – cooked and cut into small pieces
• 3 medium mushrooms – sliced
• 200ml of chicken stock
• A couple of knobs of butter
• A little flour
• Some frozen peas
• 3-4 tablespoons of double cream
• Enough puff pastry to cover your pie dish
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 heaped teaspoon of tarragon
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 egg – whisked

Start by heating the oven up to 200 degrees C.  Heat a little oil in a pan and cook off the chicken until cooked through then remove to one side.  Return the pan to the hob and saute the mushrooms in a little butter until they’ve released most of their juices.  Again, put to one side once done.  You’re now ready to start on the sauce.

Melt a knob of butter in a pan on a low heat and sprinkle in a little flour.  Stir until the flour and butter just start to clump together then pour in the chicken stock and bring to a nice simmer.  Simmer for a few minutes before pouring in the cream and tarragon.  Keep stirring so that the cream blends into the sauce.  Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, season with salt n pepper and simmer steadily for five minutes, but don’t allow the sauce to become thick at all.

After five minutes switch the heat off and stir in the chicken and mushrooms minus their juices.  Pour in some frozen peas, half a fist size should do it.  Mix it all in until the ingredients are evenly distributed.  Switch on the heat again if needed for the peas.

Roll out the pastry to give you a 1cm thick top for the pie (use the oven dish you’re using for the pie as a template).  Lightly grease the oven dish before pouring the pie mixture into it and then place the pastry on top, making sure that it’s tucked upto the sides of the dish.  Cut a couple of holes in the pastry to allow steam to escape, butter lightly with the whisked egg, and then put the pie into the oven for 20-30 minutes or until the pastry is rich and golden.  Leave to cool for a minute before serving up!

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• 3-4 slices of cooked ham
• 12-15 triangles of pineapple
• 250g of flour
• 120ml of water
• Dash of salt
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• Grated cheese
• 1 ball of mozeralla
• 1 tin of tinned tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon of basil
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• A squeeze of ketchup
• Dash of garlic salt

Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees C.  Put a pan on the hob and simmer the tinned tomatoes along with the basil, oregano and ketchup.  While the tomatoes are simmering away, make the pizza dough following my previous method (http://366meals.co.uk/?p=26).  The pizza dough should be a bit larger than normal due to the slightly higher quantities of ingredients.  Pinch around the edge of half of the pizza base.

Once the tomatoes have reduced by about a third to a half, allow the sauce to cool for a minute before lining half of the pizza base with it.  Top it with cheese and then the ham and pineapple.  Rip the mozarella up and place it around the mix and top with the rest of the cheese.  Now carefully lift over the other half of the dough and make a semi-circle parcel.  Use the back of a knife to press the dough down and form a seal all the way around the edge to stop the cheese oozing out during cooking.  Pour a glug of olive oil into a bowl and put a dash of garlic salt in the oil.  Stir briefly before either brushing or spooning and rubbing over the oil all over the top of the pizza dough.  This will make it go nice and crispy!

Put the pizza into the oven for around 10-12 minutes or until the outside goes golden brown.  Serve up straight away but be careful of the very hot inside! 🙂

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 4 eggs
• 1 large white potato – peeled and finely sliced into discs
• 1 tomato – chopped into chunks
• Grated cheese
• 1 onion – cut into cubes
• 1 clove of garlic – finely sliced
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

Start by heating up a pan and adding in some olive oil along with the sliced potato and garlic.  Cook on a low to medium heat until the potato is just cooked through, which should take 10-15 minutes.  Make sure you turn the potato regularly to stop it burning.  Just before the potato is cooked, throw in the onion for a few minutes.

In a large mixing bowl crack the four eggs and whisk lightly just until the yolks and whites combine.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the tomatoes, cheese and the potato and onion mix and stir until evenly mixed.

Put the frying pan back onto a medium heat and pour half the mixture into the pan (I was using an 8″ pan).  Cook until nearly all of the liquid on top of the omelette has disappeared.  While it is cooking you should lightly shake it every now and then and also run a wooden spoon down the sides of the pan to stop it sticking.  When the omelette is ready to turn over get a large plate and cover the pan with it.  Turn the pan and the plate over at the same time.  Hopefully you’ll have a now upturned omelette on the plate.  Simply slide this back into the pan and finish cooking for a couple of minutes.  Serve up straight away.  A nice refreshing meal!

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

• 500g of beef mince
• Half a chorizo sausage – sliced
• 1 onion – chopped
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 2-3 cloves of garlic – finely sliced
• 6 peppers – tops cut off and seeds removed
• Half a mug of white rice
• 1 teaspoon of chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• Some grated cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Start by heating the oven up to 200 degrees and putting the rice on to cook; steam the rice by putting about 50% more water in the pan than there is rice and put the lid on whilst it’s on a gentle simmer.  While the rice is cooking you can make the rest of the filling.  Heat a pan up and add in a little oil followed by the onion and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes before adding in the mince.  Cook the mince while stirring occasionally until it’s browned off.  Add in the chorizo and cook for a few minutes, allowing the juices to start to come out of the chorizo.  Add the chilli, cumin and oregano along with the tinned tomatoes and cook for a further 5-10 minutes.

Once the rice is cooked add it into the beef and chorizo mix and stir it around.  Pack each of the peppers full of the mix and place onto a baking tray.  Bake in the oven for around 25-30 minutes.  After 20 minutes remove the peppers from the oven and sprinkle over some grated cheese before returning them to the oven.

Once the peppers are just starting to blacken slightly on the outside they’re ready.  Remove them carefully and serve with a fresh green leaf salad.

Ingredients:

• 250g plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 170g unsalted butter – melted
• 200g dark brown soft sugar
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 200g chocolate chips

Heat the oven up to 170 degrees C and line 3 or 4 baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a bowl.  In another bowl, pour in the two types of sugar and slowly pour in the melted butter a little at a time.  Stir the mixture around with a knife or spoon and continue pouring the butter in until it’s all gone and the mixture is consistent.  Crack the two eggs into the mixture and stir in until it becomes creamy.  Finally, add in the vanilla extract and stir once more.  You’ll then need to sift in the flour a little at a time while stirring constantly.  Make sure all of the flour is mixed in before adding a little more.  Repeat until all the flour is mixed in.  Pour the chocolate chips in and stir in using a wooden spoon.  By now the mixture should be nice and sticky.

Drop dollops of the mixture onto the baking trays making sure that you leave enough space between them to allow for growth during cooking.  Repeat until all the mixture is gone.  Don’t squash the mixture down as this will naturally happen during the cooking process.  Put the trays into the oven for around 15 minutes but keep checking every minute after the 12 minute mark.  If necessary, swap the trays around part way through cooking to make sure that all the cookies cook at the same rate.

Once they go golden around the edges remove them from the oven and allow to cool.  You can eat them after they’ve been cooling for 3-5 minutes and then once fully cooled you can store them in an airtight container.  They should keep for a few days but they probably won’t last that long! 🙂