baked salmon and roast potatoes & tomatoes

I love collecting free magazines/recipe cards  from supermarkets - waitrose, Sainsbury's and Tesco because they usually  have easy and yummy recipes, in other words cheap & good.

this recipe was taken from Tesco magazine, made by encik suami last weekend.

ingredients

500g jersey royals (potatoes), halved if large - you can use any kind of potatoes.

1 red onion, quartered

2 rosemary sprigs,leaves picked

2 tbsp. olive oil

2x270g pack salmon fillet

1 lemon, zested and quartered

200g on-the-vine cherry tomatoes - can just use any kind of tomatoes but quartered or diced

1. preheat oven to gas 6, 200 deg C.

2. cook potatoes in a pan of boiing salted water for 10 minutes or until tender. drain well

3. put the potatoes, onion and rosemary in a roasting tin and drizzle with half the oil. raost for 10 mins

4. add salmon to roasting tin and scatter over the lemon zest.

5. cut the tomato vine into 4 and add to the tin, squeeze over little lemon juice and add lemon wedges to the tin

6. drizzle over the remaining oil then season well. return to the oven for further 10 minutes or until salmon is just cooked through and potatoes are crisp.

7. divide between 4 plates and serve immediately.

8. serve with salad or roasted Mediterranean vege and rice as side dish (rice salad)

note : we didn't make the roast potatoes last weekend, just deep fried  some chips.

mushroom risotto

I made this yesterday, my first attempt. we loved the risotto that we had in Turin, Italy on our year end holiday 2 years ago and I've been wanting to try making it ever since but I never got round to look for the most important ingredient - dried porcini mushrooms.

yesterday morning I was in Tesco and the dried mushroom packets were right infront of my eyes, googled recipe and bought risotto rice and sparkling white grape juice (to substitute white wine). I used the recipe from Hairy Bikers' Family cookbook, which is not much different to the recipe from bbcgoodfood  http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2364/mushroom-risotto

the most important ingredient in any risotto recipes are  the dried porcini mushrooms and of course the risotto rice. if you cant find the porcini mushrooms, you can skip that and use any other kind of mushrooms but not the dried Chinese mushrooms - they are a bit strong. you can also use fresh white/chestnut (brown)/oyster mushrooms instead. and most recipes use white wine and of course, I substituted that with sparkling white grape juice. it has to be sparkling, not still because the wine/juice will have to evaporate when poured into the rice. 

and you can also make chicken or seafood risotto.

now that I have made the risotto (Italian rice dish), next on my list would be paella - the Spanish rice dish.

welcome back.

its coming to end of may 2016 and i'm writing my first post of the year???!!! tsk! tsk! tsk!

I've been posting lots of food photos on facebook that sometimes I forgot why this blog exists. and when  friends asked for the recipes, I usually copy & paste the recipes which I usually got online and more often than not, I would delete those posts after sometime and lost the recipes.

off late, I turned to my recipe book collection for the new dishes that I make for family meals. now that the weather is getting warmer with occasional rain on some days, we dine at the patio at weekends/in the evenings. my dream is to build a conservatory at the patio area  but after getting the quotation the other day, it looks like I have to forget about that for the time being (like few more years!).

and when we have our occasional alfresco dining, then the food will have to be simple, one dish meals served on the dinner plates which can then fit the small round dining table. what matters to us is the ambience and cosy-ness and most importantly, everybody sits  down and eats together.

the other day, my first born said to her lil sister, when she was about the leave the table to watch telly
"what is more important than sitting down having dinner with the family? once you leave the house (for uni) then you will not be able to do this again". and ever since that day, everyone has to sit at the table until everyone finishes.

we don't have much but we have each other.

Silverstone

At Silvestone watching Jazeman race. Best of luck!

Tuna Pasta Bake

when the kids are on half term break and mummy works at home, dapor tak berhenti berasap sebab nak kena prepare lunch. but fortunately the kids just eat simple food such as  pizza, chips, pasta, soup.
on Friday I just felt like making tuna pasta bake which big missy likes, but the lil missy not liking tuna wanted cheese & broccoli pasta.

 
I used the recipe from this website. http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/534857/tuna-pasta-bake

1tbsp oil

1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped

5 medium-sized mushrooms,chopped

150g sweetcorn, canned or frozen

400g can chopped tomatoes

3tbsps tomato puree

300g penne pasta

185g can of tuna fish in sunflower oil, drained

25g pack of ready salted crisps

100g mature Cheddar cheese, grated

900ml flameproof dish

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over a medium heat, then add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, until softened. Stir in the sweetcorn, tomatoes and tomato purée and simmer for a few minutes.
2. Meanwhile, stir the pasta into a pan of boiling salted water and cook according to pack instructions, until just tender. Drain, then put it back in the pan. Set the grill to hot.
3. Stir the pasta into the sauce, then break the tuna into large flakes and gently mix in. Spoon into the dish. Crush the crisps in the bag and sprinkle them over the top, with the cheese.
4. Put the dish on a baking tray and grill for about 5 minutes until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown. Serve hot with salad or greens.

Spaghetti meat balls

my kids love pasta and we normally have them at least once a week. this is the simplest & again fuss free meat ball recipe that I found online.

I didn't have to ubahsuai the recipe sebab semua ingredients senang nak cari.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/spaghetti_and_meatballs_69603

simple tomato sauce with lots of flavour is perfect for spaghetti and meatballs. A weeknight classic. This is designed to be a low cost recipe.

Ingredients

For the sauce

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 1 x 400g/14oz tin tomatoes
• 500ml/18fl oz vegetable or beef stock (from a cube)
• 400g/14oz dried spaghetti
• salt and pepper

For the meatballs

• 400g/14oz beef mince
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• ½ tsp dried mixed herbs
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Preparation method

1. Heat a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the olive oil. Once hot, add the onion and cook gently without browning for 4-5 minutes, or until softened and translucent. Add the garlic, continue to cook for two minutes until aromatic, then add the dried herbs, tomatoes and stock. Bring the sauce to a simmer, reduce the heat and simmer gently while you make the meatballs.
2. For the meatballs, mix together the mince, garlic and herbs along with a decent pinch of salt and pepper. Using your hands roll into 20 balls.
3. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and add the olive oil. Once hot, fry the meatballs on all sides until nicely coloured, being careful not to burn them. You may need to do this in batches. Transfer to the saucepan holding the sauce.
4. Continue to simmer the sauce for 10 minutes while you cook the spaghetti.
5. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add a pinch of salt and cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions. Once cooked, drain and tip into the saucepan with the meatball sauce. Mix well and serve hot.

Mary Berry's Fast Lasagna

I watched her made this lasagne on telly last weekend, terus teruja nak try sebab memang fast and fuss-free. however with some of the previous recipes, I made  some adjustments to suit the halal haram requirement and to cut short the process further. Work smart ok!

last night I just used Dolmio tomato lasagne sauce instead of making tomato & thyme sauce. saja lah malas nak buat sauce and also there was an offer in Tesco - Dolmio sauce was at half price. 83p for the big 750g bottle. but I think the homemade sauce is better and not as runny.

my verdict : easy to make and taste yummy.. no need to make white béchamel sauce separately like the usual lasagne recipe.

recipe from http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/fastlasagnewithporka_83462

Ingredients

For the ragu and spinach sauce

• 1 tbsp oil
• 450g/1lb pork sausage meat - I replaced with minced meat.
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 fat cloves garlic, crushed
• 150g/5oz button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 x 200ml/7fl oz carton full-fat crème fraiche - I used crème fraiche because its easily available in the shops here. but you can use thick double cream if you cant find crème fraiche
• 100g/4oz baby spinach, roughly chopped - I didn't chop the spinach because they tend to soften so easily and kids didn't even notice them..
• salt and freshly ground black pepper 

For the tomato and thyme sauce

• 1 x 400g/1lb can chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
• 1 tsp demerara sugar
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

For the lasagne

• 6 sheets, about 75g/3oz quick-cook white lasagne or fresh lasagne
• 50g/2oz strong cheddar cheese, grated

 

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
2. For the ragu and spinach sauce, heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan, add the sausage meat and brown over a high heat until golden, breaking up the meat with two wooden spoons.
3. Add chilli, garlic and mushrooms and fry for a few minutes. Stir in the créme frâiche and spinach.
4. Bring to the boil for a couple of minutes, season well and set aside.
5. For the tomato sauce, measure all the ingredients into a jug and season well.
6. Divide the ragu sauce into thirds and spoon one third into the base of an oven-proof dish.
7. Spoon one third of the tomato sauce on top and arrange half the pasta sheets over it. Repeat using two more layers of ragu and tomato sauce and one of pasta.
8. Sprinkle over the grated cheese.
9. Place in the oven for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown, bubbling around the edges and the pasta is tender.