Banana, Chocolate & Fudge Muffins

Ingredients

• 3 very ripe banana’s
• 125ml vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 250g flour
• 100g caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½  a chocolate bar approximately 50g
• 25g fudge

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees/gas mark 6 and prepare you muffin cases.

Mash the bananas and set aside for a moment.

Pour the oil into a jug and beat in the eggs.

Put the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a large bowl and mix in the beaten egg and oil mixture, followed by the mashed bananas.

Fold in the chocolate & fudge then place equal quantities in the prepared muffin cases.

Bake for 15-20 mins or until golden brown, then enjoy!!!!! 

Mini Wholemeal Pitta Bread stuffed with Baby Plum Tomatoes, Chicken and Diced Yam

This is a quick and easy recipe that makes a great snack or light dinner.

Ingredients        

• Handful of baby plum tomatoes, chopped into fours
• 2 grilled chicken breasts, diced
• 1 slice of yam, boiled & cut into small cubes.

In a small pan drizzle some olive oil, and slowly fry the baby tomatoes. Season with some salt and pepper and allow it to fry for about 2 minute.

Once the tomatoes have become soft add the remaining ingredients into the pan and allow everything to cook for about 5 minutes.  

Warm up a few mini pitta’s in a toaster. Once ready slice the pitta’s in half and stuff with the Baby Plum Tomatoes, Chicken and Diced Yam mixture.

Serves 2

Happy Easter!!

Hi,

I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend!!!!

Bank Holiday Monday is always such a lazy day for me, trying to recuperate from all the festivities that might have taken place over the Easter weekend. So I thought to myself, I am going to make some brownies and have it with ice-cream!! Really… can you think of a better way to round off the festivities and get ready for the week ahead!!! I can’t!

I must admit I did cheat a bit in that I used Betty Crocker’s brownie mix and didn’t make them from scratch, but like I said earlier I was having such a lazy day!!!

Either way the end result was fantastic.

I have also posted a simple recipe that you can use to make the brownies from scratch if you wish to go down that route.

Enjoy!!

A Recipe from Scratch

Ingredients

Makes nine 2 1/2-inch squares

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into large pieces
• 6 ounces (170g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving a slight overhang on all sides. Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, and whisk in sugar. Whisk in eggs, 1 at a time, until combined. Whisk in cocoa and salt. Fold in flour until combined.
2. Pour batter into pan. Bake until set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift brownies from pan using parchment. Remove parchment, and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely. Cut into 9 squares.

Source

Fish & Shrimp Stew with Spinach

Ingredients

• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 chili (increase or decrease to suit your preference)
• 1 whole bell pepper, finely chopped
• 5 pieces of fresh cod fillet, skinned and boned
• 150g raw shrimp
• 180g bag of baby spinach
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• Salt, pepper, curry powder, thyme & all purpose seasoning

To start put the fish and the shrimps in separate bowls and lightly season with some salt and black pepper.

In an appropriately sized large pan, drizzle some olive oil and slowly fry the onions, chilies and bell peppers for about 5 minutes until soft and tender. Then add the can of chopped tomatoes to this mixture and season with the salt, pepper, little bit of curry powder, thyme & some all purpose seasoning mix well and allow the mixture to thicken. Then add the fish into the mixture turn the heat down, cover the pan and leave to cook for about 15 minutes. At this point add the shrimps into the mixture followed by the spinach and allow the mixture to cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Serves 5

*Chef's Notes*

My tip for mixing the sauce without breaking to much of the fish is to put the lid on and swirl the pot round a few times.

This sauce can be enjoyed with rice, couscous or pasta.

Coconut Granita

Ingredients

•   200ml coconut cream
•  ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar

Pour the coconut cream into a small container, then add the vanilla extract and stir well.

In a separate cup add the brown sugar and dissolve in warm water, then pour into the coconut cream mixture.

Pour the mixture into a freezer box, cover and freeze. Stir with a fork every 30 minutes during freezing to break up ice crystals and create a better texture. Keep in the freezer until you are ready to serve, then roughly fork to break up the ice crystals.

Serves 2

*Chef's Notes*

Definition:- Granita (in Italian also granita siciliana) is a semi-frozen dessert of sugar, water, and flavorings originally from Sicily, although available all over Italy. 

Source

This recipe came about over the weekend using the ingredients we could find in my friend’s house!!

The end result was quite nice but could use one or two adjustments. What I would suggest to give this recipe more of an edge is to try coconut water instead of coconut cream.

Another thing you could try if you used the coconut cream is yogurt or vanilla ice-cream so soften the edge on the flavor once it freezes. 

I hope you enjoy this recipe and please feel free to let me know your thoughts or comments on the above.

Recipe of the Month - March

Fresh Fish & King Prawns on a bed of Spaghetti with Parsley & Chili.

Courtesy Mrs Rita Dada

Serves 2

 

 

Ingredients

• A bunch of fresh basil
• 2 packs of fresh parsley
• 1 whole lemons, deseeded
• 2 x 200g fresh fish (eg. Tilapia, Cod or Salmon)
• 8 raw king prawns, peeled
• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 fresh or dried red chilies
• 200g dried Spaghetti or penne

To make the fish and the king prawns.
1)    Pre-heat your oven 180c/gas 4.
2)   Have an oven tray ready with foil paper and drizzle it with some olive oil.
3)   Get a medium size bowl and finely chop your basil, the 2 cloves of garlic & 1 fresh or dried red chili. Add the salt, freshly ground pepper, a nice drizzle of olive oil & add the juice of 1 whole lemon. This will be used to marinade the fish and the king prawns.
4)   Next place your fish into the mixture, making sure you cover the fish as evenly as possible. Do the same thing with the prawns and place on your oven tray.
5)   Place the tray in your oven and grill for about 15-20mins or until the fish and the prawns are cooked to your satisfaction.

To make the spaghetti with parsley & chili.
1)    Put a large pan of salted water on to boil.
2)   Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the packet instructions.
3)   While your pasta is cooking finely chop your parsley and 1 chili into a bowl.
4)   Once the pasta is cooked drain the water and add some olive oil stir that in, then add your chopped chili and finely chopped parsley to the mix. Stir well.
5)   Serve your pasta on a plate, add your fish and a few king prawns and enjoy!!!

October’s Menu

Schnitzel strips on a bed of lettuce and tomato salad.

Haddock wrapped in Pancetta & pepper sauce served with fresh home-made bread.

Flavored mashed potatoes served with peppered beef fillets and peppercorn sauce.

Banana Fritters served with Bailey’s Haagen Daz ice-cream.