Tapas Thursday ......{Chorizo in Red Wine}

A selection of tapas was the first dish that I made for H when we first started dating - way back when..... What he didn't realise at the time is that they are so easy and simple to make. I'm sharing you my recipe for Chorizo in Red Wine because it is H's favourite and some things in life you should just share!

Chorizo in Red Wine 

ring of chorizo, sliced 

red onion, finely sliced 

1 clove garlic, finely chopped 

250ml - 3000ml red wine 

pinch of dried red chilli flakes

heat the chorizo in a pan until it gets a bit crispy, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. In the remaining oil (add in a bit extra if you need) and add the onions and red chilli into the pan and allow to soften. add the garlic and cook for a couple more minutes. add the chorizo back into the pan with the red wine and mix them all together. you can either place in an oven proof dish and cook in the oven for 20 mins or you can leave to simmer in the pan for about 20 mins. serve with some lovely crusty, fresh bread.  

healthy Weekday Meal #4 ............{Halloumi with cous cous and kale}

A hit is how I describe this dish. Went down very well in our household and H appreciated the extra protein in the form of chorizo in his version. I didn't miss the chorizo and found this dish really nice and filling. Its  very quick and easy to make which makes it perfect for an evening meal after a long day at work and you could also substitute the couscous for quinona if you so wish, it works just as well.  

Halloumi with Cous Cous and Kale

block of halloumi cut into slices 

around 50g of chorizo, sliced  *OPTIONAL*

50g couscous, made according to instructions (i make mine with stock)

good few handfuls kale, as much as you like!

mustard vinaigrette - i make mine - few glugs of OO, 1 tbsp cider vinegar, 1 clove garlic chopped, 1 tbsp mustard (Dijon or wholegrain) a squeeze of lemon juice and some S&P all shaken up together. but use shop bought if you want 

steam your kale for just a few minutes until the leaves have gone slightly darker but it's not soggy. drain and let cool down slightly. take a pan, if you are cooking the chorizo add them to the pan and cook off for a 5 or so minutes then remove them from the pan. add in the halloumi and then cook that, turning occasionally - if you have used the chorizo then it will just cook in the oils released if not add a tiny bit of oil to the pan. toss the kale, cous cous and a bit of dressing together and place in pan. add the halloumi and chorizo to the top and serve. 

Linking up with Vicky at Honest Mum

Basking in Dry January....... {Chicken Basque}

One of my plans to own my 2015 is to loose some weight and to kick it off H and I have been partaking in Dry January. Its a great way to get cracking on healthy eating and lifestyle and lets face it a rest from the booze is never a bad thing. So Saturday night came around and as we weren't drinking and we were still quite tired from the Christmas and New Years holidays we decided to have a night in and I decided to cook us a nice but relatively well balanced meal. It also gave me a chance to try my new cookware - a present to myself , I couldn't resist as it was half price in Sainsburys. This recipe is one I have loved for years - Delia Smith to thank for that and I'm giving you my version of it here, it's rustic cooking at it's best. Enjoy!

Chicken Basque

(Original recipe by Delia Smith and can be found here)

6 small chicken fillets

1 large red pepper, sliced 

1 Spanish onion, thickly sliced 

4 tbsp olive oil

150g Chorizo, cut into slices thickness of £1 piece

100g sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped 

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1/2 tsp smoked paprika 

1 tbsp tomato puree 

125g brown basmatic rice

125g wild rice 

300ml chicken stock

200ml dry white wine 

1/2 orange cut into wedges 

50g pitted olives (I used black and green)

put 2tbsp of the olive oil into the pan and brown off the chicken. Remove from pan. Add the rest of the oil and the onions and peppers, cook for 5 minutes or so until they have softened and browned off slightly. Add in the chorizo, tomatoes and garlic and cook for couple of miutes, stirring constantly. stir in the rice and make sure the grains are coated in the oil. Add the tomato puree, stock and wine and seasn. bring to a simmer. place the chicken on the top of the rice with orange and olives dotteded in between (my photos show how it should look. Cover and put in oven at 180oC for and hour, until rice has cooked through. 

The Sandwich Sessions #2........ {Courgette Quesadillas}

My eldest little sister (who blogs over here) gave me the idea a while ago that I should do a blog series on how to take your sandwiches to a whole other level and enjoy this most perfect of comfort foods.

Sandwich #1: Fishfinger sandwich 

Today I'm going for a Mexican toasted sandwich - a quesadilla which I make with courgette, chorizo and lots of gooey melted cheese. You can omit the chorizo if you want this to be vegetarian and you can also omit the spice if you so wish - which I never do! Perfect served with an ice cold beer!

Courgette Quesadillas

1 onion, diced 

50g chorizo, cubed 

olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2tsp cumin 

2 tbsp tomato puree 
1 tin black beans, drained 
2 courgettes, sliced on the diagonal 
200g cheddar, grated 
green chilli, finely chopped
handful of coriander
limes
tortillas 

take a griddle pan and heat it up, using a pastry brush, brush the courgette with olive oil and then place them on the pan and char-grill them on each side, set aside to cool, season and squeeze over a bit of lime juice. in a separate pan fry off the onion and chorizo in a pan with a tiny splash of oil. once they have softened add in the garlic, cumin and tomato puree and cook off for a couple of minutes. add in the beans along with around 6 tablespoons of water and mash the beans a bit with a fork until you have a rough paste. in a bowl combine the cheese, chilli and  coriander. take a shallow pan and place on tortilla on one half add the beans, courgette and the cheese and then fold it over, pressing down slightly, cook for a few minutes and then turn over and cook for a couple of minutes on the other side. remove from pan and then repeat until you have used all the ingredients. 

I'm linking this "session" with Honest Mummys blog's link up - Tasty Tuesdays! 

The days are getting colder.........{Stuffed Pumpkins and Baked Cod)

I swear it hasn't stopped raining in London/ Kent the last few days. I'm kind of over grey skies and drizzle, and I'm a self confessed rain lover. I don't know it's all a bit melancholy. Still December is just around the corner and then the dark nights become more magical and there's the end in sight to the exhaustion of work as we have the Christmas holiday to look forward to.  On these dark and cold autumn nights we need food that will nourish and warm us. These pumpkins are a great side dish although we sometimes have them on their own. I did them with cod this time as I like cod and chorizo - they go well together. If you are vegetarian feel free to omit the chorizo the stuffing will work just as well without it

Stuffed Pumpkins and Baked Cod

1 medium pumpkin, cut in half and de-seeded
1/2 aubergine, diced finely
1 small onion, diced finely
1/4 orange pepper, diced finely
50g chorizo, diced finely
3 tbsp. breadcrumbs, I used panko
50g blue cheese, gorgonzola works well here
sprinkling of grated parmesan or cheddar
2 pieces of fresh cod
couple of lemon slices

take the two halves of pumpkin rub them all over with olive oil and bake for about 30mins. in a pan cook the onion and pepper with chorizo, remove from the pan and add a couple of glugs of olive oil and then cook the aubergine. once the aubergine is cooked then add the bread crumbs and the other already cooked ingredients. take the pumpkin from the oven and scoop out the flesh so there is a cm left(this will help you pumpkin remain sturdy) add the flesh chopped up a bit into your stuffing mix and crumble in the blue cheese. give the stuffing a good mix and then stuff the pumpkins, top with grated cheese and cook on a medium to high oven for approx. 45mins until lightly brown on top. I cooked the cod in a bag made from greaseproof paper (as I did in this recipe here) I just seasoned the fish well and laid it on a couple of slices of fresh lemon, wrapped it in its parcel and cooked for around 25mins.

When One Raids the Contents of Ones Fridge......... {Spanish Wild Rice}

The other day was one of those days when I hadn't planned what we were going to eat, I had no idea what I wanted us to eat and I hadn't gone to the shop to buy anything to eat so I just opened the fridge and cupboard and cobbled something together. I like cooking like that as I'm a firm believer that if you trust your experience of flavours, textures and ingredients there's always something that can be made from not much at all and as a budding cook its the best way to learn. This was a sort of combination of a basque and a paella and it tasted wonderful; the oil for the chorizo and the peppers delicately flavouring the nutty rice. I had to blog it as H loved it so much and I need to remember the recipe....

Spanish Wild Rice  

150g Chorizo, sliced in to circles size of pound coin 
one chicken breast cut into chunks 
one large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 
1/2 orange pepper, sliced
approx 200g cooked wild rice 
200ml chicken stock
100ml white wine 
1 TBSP tomato puree 
couple handfuls frozen peas
S&P

cook the chorizo in the pan, remove with slotted spoon. add chicken and cook in the chorizo oil, one cooked through and golden brown remove, add onion garlic and pepper to pan and cook until soften. add in the chorizo and chicken with tomato puree, stock and wine cook off for a couple of minutes before adding rice and frozen peas, season and transfer to oven proof dish and place in oven 200oC for approx 30-40minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the dish is piping hot.