Mexican Steak and bean wraps with homemade guacamole.

You may have noticed that although I love food made from scratch, I'm not shy of using a few shortcuts here and there. As with any sane person, time is precious to me. If there is a chance of saving some without compromising the final product, I'm in! This time it came in the form of a tin of mixed beans from tesco. I was looking at the shelf for some mixed beans in water but saw 'Tesco taco mix beans and Mexican sauce.' Hello shortcut. 

I made a simple stew by adding some fresh ingredients to the beans and served it inside the homemade tortillas with cheese, steak strips and guacamole on the side. A little naughty but all those vegetables make up for it, right?

Mexican bean stew with steak

Serves 2 with leftovers

1 courgette or 3 super cute baby courgettes, sliced

1 tin taco mixed beans

1 small tin sweet corn

Half a red pepper, chopped

Half or a whole chilli finely chopped (to taste)

3 or 4 spring onions, sliced

2 thin cut steaks

Firstly take the courgette and fry off in a pan until slightly browned. Next add in the beans, corn, peppers, and chilli. Allow to cool down slightly, add in some water if it gets too dry. 

Leave the beans on a low heat and get a pan really hot. I used the pan I had been cooking the tortillas in so it was already nicely hot, nearly smoking. Add in a small amount of oil and butter, let it froth and then pop in your steaks. The thin cut steaks really only need about 3 minutes cooking if you want them pink. Start with 2 minutes on one side, leave it to cook quickly and then turn it. Take it off the heat and leave to rest for a couple of minutes before slicing in to strips. 

Lastly add in the spring onions to the bean mix and serve. 

Fresh guacamole

Makes 4 portions depending on size of avocados

Take half a chilli and finely chop, along with a handful of chopped coriander and mix together. Add in 3 small ripe tomatoes that have cut in to cubes. Halve the avocados and peel, then chop roughly. Add in to the other ingredients and mash with a fork. Last add lime juice and salt to taste, mix through and it's ready to eat. 

Homemade tortillas

I've always thought having some tortilla wraps in the kitchen is a good idea. They are so versatile you can easily have a wide number of breakfasts, lunches or dinners from these little heroes. I normally keep mine in the freezer as they defrost so quickly in a warm oven.

Having said that, despite how much I love tortillas, I've never actually made them from scratch. I suppose I've always thought that seeing as they are there to make rustling up dinner easier then I should buy them. This time I made the extra effort and I was glad I did. They were soft but had a slight crunch on the outside that the shop bought counterpart lacks. I served mine with a bean stew, steak and guacamole on the side (recipes to follow.)

Tortillas

Makes 8 medium or 6 large

275g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

50g lard at room temperature (butter can substitute this)

150g warm water

Combine the dry ingredients then take the lard and rub it to it, until fully incorporated. Then add the water until you have a sticky dough. Or if you have a mixer chuck it all in and use a dough hook. Work the dough until soft and bouncy. If it feels too sticky and some flour but it is meant to be quite a wet dough. 

Leave in a covered bowl for 30 minutes to rest. 

Tip the dough on a floured surface and then split in to 8 equal balls. Take the first ball and shape in to a disc. Put a heavy bottomed pan or skillet on a medium high heat. 

Roll out the dough as thinly as possible using flour to stop it sticking, it may feel fragile but it will hold up to some pressure. (I did read about being able to roll in between two pieces of a freezer bag though I didn't try it. Might help with the sticky dough.) 

Once rolled, carefully place in the hot pan. While that's cooking, carry on rolling the next tortilla. 

The first one is ready top flip when bubbles appear and it begins to colour slightly. 

Continue with this cycle of cooking one while rolling the next, it will speed up the whole process. Serve them immediately or allow to cool, wrap and store in the fridge or freezer. 

German sausages and the marvel of lidl.

I hadn't visited a lidl properly since my time at university and even then it was just because of the excitement of a new shop (being a student full-time has its dull days.) However recently I'd been told that they do some really good quality products at ridiculously low prices. Fortunately there is a lidl about 5 minutes away from my house so when I had the opportunity and some space in my fridge and freezer I headed down to have a look. There is a great selection and the prices are definitely reasonable, especially for the German sausages. I stocked up on a couple for breakfasts and dinners, putting a packet in the freezer. Fast forward a few weeks to a rather sad looking bank account and a fully stuff freezer, it was time to bring out the sausage. 

When I normally cook bratwurst or bockwurst, I do a pretty tasty currywurst after falling in love with it in Germany. This time I wanted a change, so I researched some recipes to use with my bockwurst (a smoked version of bratwurst.) One of the common recipes that came up was bockwurst or pork with a creamy mustard sauce. I decided this would work well seeing as it was a particularly cold spring day. I served it with mashed potatoes to soak up all the gravy and some green beans on the side. Simple and comforting. 

Bockwurst with a creamy mustard sauce. 

Serves 2

Start with a knob of butter. About 40g. Let it melt down then add in a shallot, diced finely. Cook them until transparent and soft then sprinkle over a teaspoon of flour, you want a bit to thicken but not enough to turn your sauce to the thickness of bird's custard. 

Once you've whisked it in and the flour has cooked out, add a generous splash of beer or white wine, depending on preference. I went for a lovely German beer we have had in the flat the last few months. Let the beer reduced down a bit until thickened slightly. 

At this point you can add in the mustard, Dijon, about 1-2tsp should do it. You can always add more in at the end if you feel it needs it. Lastly add another generous dash of double cream. Let this all boil down until you have a lovely pouring sauce. Taste then add salt and pepper. 

I grilled the bockwurst and served it all with mash, green beans and chopped parsley stirred through the sauce at the last minute. 

Beautiful baklava.

I'm extremely excited about this post as it's something that has been on 'the list' for a long time. I have two main lists to do with food, the first is places I want to dine and the second, the more important obviously, is things I want to make and bake. Baklava has been pretty high up but always something I've not got round to making. Mostly because it's quite pricey to make when buying all the ingredients what with all the nuts and the filo pastry. 

On this lucky day I found myself owning most of the ingredients and so set myself to make it. I thought it would be labour intensive and a faff to make but really it was so simple and worth the little effort you do need. The flavours ended up tasting a bit Christmassy (which I love but some people don't) so maybe next time I would leave out the cinnamon from the nut mix. Also feel free to mix up the nuts you use depending on your own personal taste.

Serve with tea or coffee after a Middle Eastern or Turkish meal. Alternatively just gobble it up all by itself. 

Walnut, pecan and pistachio baklava

150g pistachio

75g pecan nuts

75g walnuts

150g light brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

22 sheets filo pastry (cut in to 25cmx15cm or to the size of your dish/tray) 

75g butter, melted

For the syrup

180g caster sugar 

180ml water

1/2 cinnamon stick

Zest and juice of half a lemon and orange

2tbsp or 30g dark honey. 

3 cloves

3 cardamom pods, crushed

1 1/2 tsp orange blossom water

Start by putting all the ingredients for the nut mix in to a food processor until blitzed finely with a few chunky bits. If you don't have a food processor then chop the nuts up as finely as you can and then mix with the sugar. 

Next cut the filo to shape and then cover with a damp cloth. This is important as filo pastry dries out very quickly. Then taking one sheet at a time, place in a lined tray and brush with the melted butter in between each layer. Do this until you have 6 sheets of buttered filo. Tip half of the nut mix on top and spread out so it's even and flat. Repeat the process again until you have 6 layers of filo and then top with the rest of the nuts. Press down and then continue with the pastry until you have 10 sheets on top.

 

Taking a sharp knife cut out squares, diamonds or rectangles in the top sheets.

Place in a preheated 180 degree oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown. 

While the baklava is baking, start making your syrup. Place all the ingredients in a small pan and boil until it reaches 108 degrees Celsius. The syrup will be thick and coat the back of a spoon easily. Keep it hot until ready to pour over the baklava but don't over boil or burn. It's best to reach the right stage just as the pastry is ready. 

When the baklava is out of the oven, take the sharp knife again and cut all the way through where you cut before. It's a little tricky as the top layers will be loose but just be careful and keep going. Once cut, pour the syrup over the top and leave to cool. When it is cooled fully, wrap and leave for at least 7 hours or overnight so the syrup has time to soak fully. 

Pie fit for summer.

Now that the sun is shining and things are warming up, I've been inspired to cook something a bit summery to suit the weather. I normally end up thinking about what I want to cook, while at work, when I know that I have the evening off. This time wasn't any different, so while busy with working I managed to come up with this recipe. Obviously it changed a bit here and there whilst cooking when I realised one or two of the ingredients had past their best without me noticing (this happens more often than I care to admit.)

The main event was some filo pastry that I had in the freezer and some vegetables and cheese going equally soft in the fridge. I wanted something a bit lighter than a normal pie but with the same satisfaction in the eating. It didn't disappoint. Feel free to mix up the veggies and/or cheese, its a great recipe to experiment with. You can even add in some cooked meat too, it's such a versatile dish. Perfect for a midweek treat, lunch or veggie dinner party. 

Spinach, mushroom and goats cheese parcel

Serves 2

2 onions, sliced

a handful of mushrooms

2 tbsp sherry vinegar

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp dried thyme

1 big bag of fresh spinach

2 slices of goats cheese

6 sheets of filo pastry

Start by frying off the onions with some salt (this speeds up the caramelising process) until they start to go golden and soft. Next add in the mushrooms and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the sherry vinegar and honey and keep frying until you have a nice soft and sweet mix. Stir in the thyme and then add all the spinach until it wilts down. Take off the heat and allow to cool down, after stirring through some black pepper. 

Take the filo pastry and cut the sheet in half. Get a tray ready with some baking paper and melt down some butter. Place two of the halves on the baking tray, side by side. Brush some of the melted butter on each and then place another filo half on top in the other direction so you have an X shape. repeat until you have used all the pastry halves. 

Next, divide the vegetable mix and place in the middle of the pastry. Break up the goats cheese and place on top. 

Butter the edges of the pastry and gather them up so it ends up looking like a money bag. 

Bake in a 180 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until golden. Serve with a nice green salad. 

Last minute cannelloni

First of all I need to ask you to be patient as I made this recipe quite some time ago and have only just got round to writing it up. It may be hazy in places and probably not exactly how I made it but hopefully you'll get the idea about this simple Italian dish. I decided to make this just after my lasagne post a few weeks back as I had so many of the ingredients in my fridge and store cupboard, in particular the ricotta which was soon to be going past its best. Obviously the first food pairing that comes to mind is spinach and luckily I had some in the freezer. The beauty of this dish is that you can have most of the ingredients in your cupboards and freezer, only needing to buy one or two extra fresh ingredients if you don't have them already. I made it quickly after work, worth the extra effort when it came to the eating. Feel free to skip the white sauce and just use some mascapone let down with a bit of milk. I was going for cheap and cheerful but to make it more luxurious use some sliced or grated mozzarella on top too. The beauty of this recipe is it can be a humble weekday dinner or an oozy cheesy dinner party meal depending on what you put on it. It's also perfect for when you have vegetarian guests over too. A jolly good all rounder!

Spinach and ricotta cannelloni 

Serves 4

Spinach filling
400g frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed of all excess water
250g ricotta
zest of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
small grating of fresh nutmeg

Chop the spinach up and then mix with all the other ingredients. Put inside a piping bag if you have one or just keep to one side in a bowl if not

Tomato sauce
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar or honey
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
chopped basil, oregano and rosemary.

Bechamel Sauce
Follow the recipe in my lasagna post (you might not need the whole recipe)

Fry off the onion until soft then add the garlic. Saute for a couple of minutes then add all the other ingredients. Cook slowly, the slower the better for at least 45 minutes, stirring often to prevent it catching.

8 sheets of lasagna pasta or cannelloni

Boil some water and blanch the pasta until slightly soft, about 4-5 minutes.

Lastly assemble. Spread the tomato sauce on the bottom of and ovenproof dish (I did this the wrong way round.)

Fill your pasta with the spinach filling, place on top of the tomato sauce. 

Lastly pour over the bechamel and grate some Parmesan or cheddar over the top. Bake at 180 degrees until golden on top and the pasta is soft. 

Pork belly Bao bun filling.

Carrying on from the trendy Taiwanese buns, here is the recipe I used for the filling. I'm not sure if it's a strictly traditional filling for these little pillows of dough but it looked pretty tasty and not too laboured intensive so with my large list of jobs it was ideal. It's a Shanghai style of cooking pork belly, also known as red cooked pork, I imagine because of the colour it has taken on once cooked. It was rich and sticky, just what I was looking for. The recipe calls for the belly to be cut in to bitesized chunks or slices but I think it would work well in a whole piece, cooked slower in the oven too. Serve with your own bao buns, along side rice and vegetable dishes, chucked in a noodle stir fry or even in an Asian broth. 

Shanghai-style braised pork belly ( Hong Shao Rou)

Serves 2

500-750g (depending on how greedy the diners are) pork belly, rind removed. 

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp shaoxing rice wine

1 tbsp light soy

1/2 tbsp dark soy

2 cups water

Start by bringing some water to the boil and quickly blanching the pork. I'm not entirely sure if it's necessary but the recipe said it would clean the pork so I did it anyway. Feel free to skip if you wish. 

Drain after boiling for 1 minute. 

Take a heavy bottomed pan or wok and heat the oil and sugar until it's melted. 

Add the pork, being careful incase it spits and fry until it starts to brown and caramelise. Do this over a medium heat, trying not to burn the sugar. 

Turn the heat down once browned then add all the other ingredients. Add a lid and cook slowly for 45mins to an hour until the pork is nearly fork tender (you can cut it with a fork.) Take the lid off and cook until the sauce has reduced and become sticky. Serve with a garnish of coriander or chilli, to your taste.