Reciplease

Salade Not-Quite-Nicoise

So this is the first post to feature a fishy ingredient - I did warn - but there are plenty of green ingredients backing it up.

This is a variation on a traditional salade nicoise but without anchoives or eggs.

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

2 x Tuna steaks (I went with the frozen kind for economy, so leave to defrost if also doing so)

Bag o’ salad (I always prefer ones with rocket leaves in)

Half an avocado

Good handful of cherry/bell tomatoes

Good handful of sourdough bread

Some cucumber

Cooking

Put the tuna steaks on a plate and season well on both sides with salt, pepper and then splash some soy sauce over to marinade for an hour or so.

Chop the sourdough into little crouton size chunks, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and throw in a preheated oven (200c) for about 10minutes.

Heat a pan up with some olive oil and place your tuna in, cooking for 3-4 minutes each side.

Whilst the tuna and croutons are cooking away, chop the tomatoes and cucumber, slice the avocado into strips and throw them all into a bowl with the salad leaves.

Get the croutons out the oven and throw in with the salad. Plate up and place each tuna steak atop the mound of salady-goodness.

Not sure what the correct dressing is, but a classic french dressing seems to do the trick.

Sunday Salad

A Reciplease original today. If you’re feeling a little tender at the end of the week, craving something greasy and substantial but at the same time wanting to stay reasonably healthy, then this one is for you. There’s no real method to it, and I’m sure bonafide chefs would tell me some of the ingredients don’t work well together, but I don’t care because a big bowl of this is one of my favourite weekend meals. So here it is - the Sunday Salad.

Ingredients

Salad leaves (bag of mixed lettuce salad from the supermarket is fine)

Cherry/Bell Tomatoes

Edamame/Soya Beans (Usually get a bag of frozen ones from Tesco)

Bunch of Asparagus

Sourdough loaf/baguette

French Dressing

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt

To make…

Pre-heat the oven to 200c and put a saucepan of water on the hob to boil.

Halve the cherry/bell tomatoes and put in a large bowl with the salad leaves and mix up.

Cut up the sourdough into small chunky croutons, drizzle in the olive oil and put on to a baking tray in the oven for 8-10mins depending on your oven and crispy preferences.

Chop the asparagus into bite-size pieces and cook in a pan in some olive oil for about 6-7minutes.

When the water in the pan boils, throw in a good handful of the soya/edamame beans, bring back to the boil and cook for 4mins. When done, drain and season with salt.

Get the sourdough croutons out the oven, mix up all your ingredients, drizzle with the dressing and you’re set.

The Dippy Egg

This morning I went with a classic breakfast, a soft-boiled egg with soldiers - that’s strips of toast. This is a meal that takes me back to childhood - I’m sure the ‘dippy  egg’ has that effect on many.

Ok, so this recipe isn’t the most interesting or elaborate but you’d be surprised - or not - how many times I’ve messed it up with the egg either coming out too hard or just not cooked enough. 

I thought it worth putting on here because a while back I discovered the ‘Delia method’ - my Grandmother will be proud - that has given me more consistently perfectly cooked soft-boiled eggs than any other method I have tried.

The link to Delia’s page is here with some variations, but the one I go for, because I like a really runny yolk, is to put the egg in a saucepan of boiling water, cover, and leave the heat on for precisely one minute. Then as soon as that timer beeps, turn the heat off and leave covered for - and here’s where I differ from Delia - five minutes if you have a good thick saucepan that holds its heat, or the full Delia-recommended six minutes if it doesn’t.

When the timer goes again, get that egg out of the water and tap the top off lickety split because eggs continue to cook inside their shells until you crack them open.

Serve with some good quality toasted bread, buttered with real butter - oh go on, it’s an important breakfast. Also don’t just finish the yolk and leave the rest, that white is some good eating. Season it lightly if you think it lacks flavour.

Simple Spaghetti

Ok, so this is the second recipe in a row that involves spaghetti but it’s a favourite and we make it at least once a month. This is more Italian than Mexican though and I like to think it’s a good authentic Italian dish because it’s simple ingredients, cooked simply and it’s light but packed with flavour.

Ingredients

(Serves 2 - again, proper portions)

Spaghetti 280g

20 or so ripe cherry/bell tomatoes (the little ones with the sweet flavour)

4 cloves garlic (oh yeh, this is a good strong garlic dish)

1/3 tsp lazy chilli or as much of a whole one depending on your heat preferences

4 tbsps good extra virgin olive oil

2 good handfuls of rocket/arugula

Parmesan cheese

Salt/Pepper to season

Cooking

Slice the garlic cloves into thin wafers and add to a pan with the chilli and the extra virgin olive oil.

Chop the tomatoes into halves (or thirds depending on how thick they are) and put into a deep salad bowl.

Bring a pan of water to the boil, add some olive oil, a pinch of salt and put the pasta in. Should take 9-10mins depending on how al dente you like it. If, like me, you’re a messy spaghetti eater, I find breaking the spaghetti in half makes it far more manageable.

While the spaghetti is cooking, turn the heat on the olive oil/garlic and when the cloves start to sizzle, switch off and let the oil cool down again. If you leave the heat on too long then the garlic will overcook and toast up.

When your spaghetti is cooked, drain and add to the salad bowl with the tomatoes. Pour the oil and cloves over the spaghetti and toss with a suitable implement until the spaghetti and tomatoes are lightly coated all over.

Season well with salt and pepper and grate some parmesan on top. Last but not least, add the rocket/arugula and mix it in. Enjoy in a deepish pasta bowl with some warm ciabatta. 

Skyline Chilli - Vegetarian style

Last night I made one of the wife’s favourites - chili. I’ve spelt it with one ‘l’ because we were making Skyline Chili, a style of chili loved and devoured in Cincinnati, Ohio where the Skyline franchise exists.

Skyline Chili is served up slightly differently to the typical Mexican style in that you have spaghetti instead of rice and it’s traditonally topped off with a mound of American cheddar “cheese” - if you can call that yellowy rubber stuff they serve there, cheese - and crumbled up oyster crackers. 

It’s actually a great dish and the chili has a very distinctive flavour thanks to its secret - and therefore speculated - ingredients of cinnamon and chocolate.

To make this dish vegetarian style you’ll need the following. (Apologies in advance for the basic recipe and instructions, I’m new to actually providing the recipe).

Ingredients

Serves 2-3 (Proper portions!)

200g Vegi mince

100g Tomato paste

850ml water

1 packet of Skyline Chili Mix (available from their website or most Cincinnati grocery stores or by using an unofficial recipe

Spaghetti (5oz or 140g per person)

For the topping:

Grated cheddar cheese (the real kind)

Roughly broken Jacobs Crackers (UK equivalent of oyster crackers)

Cooking

Combine the tomato paste and water in a large saucepan, add the chili mix, vegi mince and crank the heat up. Bring to just below boiling and then reduce to simmer, uncovered, for 1.5-2 hours or until you’re happy with the consistency - it’ll reduce right down. The spice mix will take care of the flavour but some basic seasoning is fine and a splash of Tabasco if you like some heat - it’s a pretty mild chili as is.

About 15 minutes before eating, bring some water to the boil in another pan, add olive oil and a pinch of salt and throw in the spaghetti.

Serve spaghetti first, a good dollop of chili on top and sprinkle with cheese and the crackers.