I’ve been watching the old Nigella programmes, all the way from when she first started as a guest on Nigel Slater’s simple cooking to her later BBC shows. It is amazing how much she has changed….in her ‘Nigella Bites’ programmes she comes across as much shyer and definitely less sexual but now her name is almost synonymous with food porn. As my friend put it, I smell a bit of PR re-marketing. Nevertheless, I love her in all her guises and surprisingly she is the one who inspired this healthy version of chicken nuggets! As they are baked there is much less oil used and you can add any flavours you like to the breadcrumbs to vamp things up a bit. I’ve opted for a fresh Mediterranean feel with herbs, lemon and garlic.
For the Goujons:
You will need:
250g Chicken Breast (sliced into goujons)
2 cups of bread crumbs
zest of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
herbs de province (or any dry or fresh herbs you like)
1 egg (beaten)
spray oil
First mix the bread crumbs with the garlic, herbs and lemon zest. Then dip the chicken one by one into the beaten egg, followed by a coating of the breadcrumb mixture. Place the coated goujons onto a baking tray and spray them 6-8 times with the spray oil. Cook in a pre-heated oven at around 180 degrees centigrade for around 20-30mins or until they have turned golden brown.
Nutritional Information:
Calories:571 kcal
Fats: 14.2g
Proteins:65.2g
Carbohydrates: 48.6g
I LOVE YOU JAMIE OLIVER!! Haha…sorry I just had to get that off my chest, I feel much better now :D. If like me you have been watching “Jamie’s Great Britain” then you will know why I am suddenly having nostalgic cravings for pie and mash, Yorkshire puddings and Bakewell tarts. Unfortunately, British food often got a bad press in the past, mostly for being bland or boring, but it really isn’t. Thankfully Mr Oliver’s programme illustrates this point quite beautifully. Maybe it is the cold weather too but at the moment I can think of nothing else but meat, pastry, gravy and mash potatoes. So for those winter nights when it is pouring with rain outside, here is my (slightly posher) version of a Greggs steak bake; pure comfort in a pie :D.
For the Steak and Ale Pasty:
You will need:
250g beef frying steak
200g chestnut mushrooms (sliced)
1 beef stock cube
2 red onions (sliced)
1 cup of brown ale
2 garlic cloves (diced)
2 bay leaves
fresh/dried thyme
1 tbsp butter
1 sheet of ready rolled puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
1tbsp oil
1 heaped tbsp flour
First brown the beef in a casserole dish in a little oil. Remove the beef and put to one side. Next melt the butter in the pan with the beef fat and slowly fry the onions until golden brown. Then add in the mushrooms, garlic and thyme and fry a little more until the mushrooms as slightly softened. Return the beef to the dish and sift in the flour, stir well then add the ale, stock cube and bay leaves to the dish. Leave to simmer with the lid on a medium heat for around 1 hour or put in the oven at a low-medium temerature (around 160 degrees C) for the same amount of time. Once the beef is cooked leave to rest and cool down almost completely. Mean while cut the pastry sheet into two, then place onto a well floured surface. Add half the beef (avoiding too much liquid) onto one half of each of the pastry pieces. Brush around the edges with a beaten egg then fold over into a rectangle sealing the beef inside the pastry. Cut a few slits in the top and brush with beaten egg. Place the pasties onto a greased baking tray and cook in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for around 30-40mins or until the pastry is golden brown. This serves 2 hungry people, or if you like you can divide your pastry to make 4 smaller pasties.
Nutritional Information:
For each large pasty
Calories: 788 kcal
Protein: 42.2g
Carbohydrates: 63.0g
Fats: 33.2g
I love Panettone and it has long been a staple cake in our house hold. However, the strange thing is, we never buy them, they just seem to turn up at any family celebration as if by magic. I think it’s because Ethiopians don’t really have traditional sweets, we tend to celebrate by cutting bread rather than cake and Panetonne is a kind of happy medium. We obviously have the Italians to thank for spicing up our dessert time; I always think that we were a little bit lucky (well, in a way) to be invaded by people who at least knew a thing or two about good cakes :D.
Panettone is also very versatile; recently my friend has been ordering the chocolate and orange version at Costa, which is a great variation of this classic and you can also make the leftovers into a fantastic bread and butter pudding. However, all this thought about Panettone really got me thinking;I had no idea how it is made made. Therefore, in preparation for this coming Christmas I adapted this simple and impressive recipe so that we will definitely be seeing my fruity friend around this year.
For the Panettone:
you will need:
- 1 tablespoon dried active baking yeast
- 225ml warm milk
- 4 tablespoons golden, caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 125ml low fat natural yoghurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest from 1 lemon zest
- zest from 1 clementine
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 600 g (1 lb) plain flour
- 100g mixed dried fruits and peel
- 8 maraschino cherries (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar
- 1 tsp melted butter (to brush, optional)
In a large mixing bowl, first add the yeast to the warm milk and caster sugar. Leave to one side for around 10 mins. Once the yeast has become frothy, add the eggs, yogurt, vanilla, lemon zest, clementine zest and salt to the mixture. Whisk together until well combined. Next stir in 500g of flour bit by bit until well incorporated. Sprinkle the rest of the remaining 100g of flour onto a work surface and knead the dough until smooth and not sticky, this can take up to 10 mins by hand. Alternatively you can do this in a bread maker. Leave to rise in an oiled bowl for around 1 hour covered in a tea towel.
Mean while coat the mixed fruit and cherries in the icing sugar. When the dough has risen punch it in the bowl 1/2 times then turn out onto a floured board and knead in the fruits. Then place in a 20cm, round cake tin that has been lightly greased. Cover loosely with an oiled layer of cling film and leave to rise until the dough has almost reached the top of the tin. This can take between 1-2hrs.
Once the dough has risen again, brush the top of the dough with melted butter or egg and place in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for around 30-40 mins or unitl the top is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. If after 30 mins or so the top becomes too brown just cover with some tin foil for the remaining cooking time to stop it from burning. Once out of the oven, leave it to cool in the tin for a few mins, then turn out onto a wire cooking rack to cool completely. Once cool sprinkle with icing sugar for decoration. This recipe serves 12.
Nutritional Information:
For 1/12 of a panettone
Calories:262 kcal
Fat:2.2g
Protein:7.1g
Carbohydrates:52.9g
I have been trying to make the perfect Focaccia for years but my attempts have never been quite right. This notoriously wet dough is so tricky to handle and the temptation to add more flour is over whelming especially when kneading this dough by hand. However, I think I finally found the soulution: the bread maker. It is so easy, just bung in all the ingredients and let it do the work for u :D Although, if you don’t have a bread maker it is fine to use a bit of elbow grease just make sure you oil the board you are kneading the dough on instead of using flour. This method should prevent your dough from sticking and provide you with a delicious Focaccia complete with characteristic irregular holes in the middle. This recipe is from the Hairy Bikers book ‘Mums Know Best’ (which they certainly do), I’ve adapted the anchoiade topping a little bit and also included a sundried tomato version for those who are frightened of anchovies. I also discovered leftover anchoiade is pretty great with tomato sauce and pasta so don’t worry if you make a little to much, it also keeps in the fridge for ages.
For the Dough:
You will need:
2 tbsp olive oil
45og strong, white bread flour
1 tsp sea salt
7g dried yeast
275ml water
For the Anchoiade:
You will need:
10 green olives
3 cloves of garlic
2 tins anchovies in olive oil
2tsp olive oil
For the Sun-dried Tomato Topping:
You will need:
sundried tomatoes in oil
dried/fresh Italian herbs such as oregano or rosemary
To make the dough put all the ingredients in a bread maker and set to the ‘dough’ cycle. If you don’t have a bread maker combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl adding the water gradually and kneading. When all the ingredients are combined transfer the dough to an oiled work surface and knead until smooth and elastic (this make take a while: around 5-10 mins). Once the dough is kneaded transfer to an oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise until double in size. Once the dough is ready, divide into 2 and stretch into a rectangle shape on an oiled baking tray. Cover and leave for another 30 mins.
Meanwhile prepare the anchoiade by combining all the ingredients together using a pestle and mortar or food processor until you have a smooth paste.
Once the dough has been left to rise for the second time cut a few holes in the bread as shown above. Next, on one of the breads spread over a thin layer of the anchoiade and on the other sprinkle on the sundried tomatoes and herbs. Drizzle with olive oil then cook in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees C for around 25-30 mins.
This recipe makes 2 loaves.
Nutritional Information:
1/4 of Foccacia with anchoiade
Calories: 380 kcal
Fat:18.3g
Carbohydrates:39.1g
Protein: 15.5g
1/4 Foccacia with 3 sun-dried tomatoes
Calories: 236 kcal
Fat: 4.28g
Carbohydrates:41.4g
Protein: 7.1g
