Orange, chilli and mixed leaf salad

At long last I have been sucked into the corporate machine that is Apple,
and I have got myself an iphone.
Once I work out how to use it there will be no stopping me!!
For now, I am happy to play with the camera - which takes much better snaps than my last phone.

Here's a quick Friday night salad that goes well with an oily fish like mackerel.

Serves 2
2 large oranges, segmented (keep the shells for the dressing)
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
1/2 a bag of baby leaf salad.


Dressing.
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp clear honey
4tbsp orange juice (squeezed from  the shells)

Toss all the salad ingredients together. Drizzle with honey, mustard dressing.

As with most salads, this is better if you serve it at room temperature.
I used hot plates for my fish, which meant the orange warmed up on the plate, and was delicious.

Slow Cooked Red Cabbage

With spring now upon us, and the weather starting to brighten up a little,
this will probably be the last time I make slow cooked red cabbage for a while.
It's a family favourite though and was just perfect to go with our beef wellingtons last weekend.

1 onion, thinly sliced
1kg red cabbage, finely shredded
1 cooking apple, peeled and cored, and cut into chunks
4 tbsp light brown soft sugar
2tbsp white wine vinegar
2tbsp redcurrants jelly

Preheat oven to 180C / 160 Fan
Fry the onion in a little oil for a few minutes, to soften.
Add all the other ingredients and bring to the boil.
Sometimes I add a splash of red wine  or port at this stage.
Stir and season.
Cover and transfer to the preheated oven for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours, until the cabbage is tender.

Serves 6.   You can make this a day ahead and just gently reheat on the stove.
It also freezes well.

Shredded Pork with Pomegranate Salad

Who knew pork and pomegranate was such a lovely combination?
Instead of spending hours cooking my own pork, I bought a little pulled pork joint from the supermarket.
It came with a little sachet of bbq sauce and was just enough for the two of us.

Salad (serves 2 with some left over)
2 heads of pack choi, cut into long strips
seeds from 1 pomegranate
6 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
6 radish, cut into matchsticks
about 1/3 cucumber, deseeded and sliced
1 green chilli, finely sliced

Dressing.
2tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp soy sauce

When the pork was just about ready I wilted the pak choi, in a pan, with a tbsp of the dressing.
Then I added in the rest of the salad ingredients and tossed it all together.
Serve the salad with the pork and a little of the dressing drizzled over.

Parmesan Chicken

Here's a quick way to perk up a plain old chicken breast -
give it a tasty, crunchy coating of parmesan.

Season 1 egg white with a little salt and pepper and beat sightly in a shallow bowl.
Put 2 or 3 tbsp of grated parmesan into another bowl.
Dip a skinless chicken breast into the egg white (both sides).
and then into the cheese.
Bake in a preheated oven (180C) for about 25 - 30 mins, or until cooked through.

I served my chicken with a warm green bean, new potato and spinach salad.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

I was in need of a SERIOUS chocolate fix and this mousse cake didn't disappoint.
It's dark and rich and delicious, and blows my weekly calorie budget sky high!!

The original recipe called for plain dark chocolate, but some Rum & Raisin Bournville caught my eye.
The smell of this chocolate is divine, and I managed to put most of it into the cake, only eating a couple of squares!

Original Recipe

250g plain chocolate
4 large eggs, seperated
110g caster sugar
3 tbsp warm water
Cocoa powder for dusting.

I substituted the plain chocolate for 2 x 180g bars of  rum & raisin bournville.

Preheat Oven to 180C / Gas 4
Grease a 20cm / 8in loose bottomed cake tin, and line the base with greaseproof paper.
(I only had a 7" or a 9" tin and I decided to go with the 9". Hence my cake is a little flat.
Next time I will try the 7")

Melt the chocolate. If you're using rum & raisin  do this carefully, so the raisins don't burn.
Allow to cool slightly.
Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar, until really pale and fluffy.
Carefully stir in the chocolate and the warm water.
In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
Fold them into the chocolate mixture.
Pour the mixture  into the prepared tin and bake for 15 minutes.
Take it out of the oven and allow to cool.
Dust with cocoa powder.
Then, chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Take out 1 hour before serving and cut with a hot wet knife.

Crunchy Custard Baked Appples

Recipe from Good Food

This is a quick and easy alternative to making an apple crumble.
The custard was drying up a little bit, so I covered the dish with foil after about 10 minutes.
The apples were cooked perfectly though, and we had lots of extra custard to serve it with.
My tip would be to make sure you use a really good granola.
I used Jordans Country Crisp, that's contains lots of crunchy nuts.

Soup of the day

This is a surprisingly tasty soup, considering it is low fat and low calorie.

The recipe is from the January edition of Rosemary Conley, Food & Fitness.

2 stick celery, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400ml chicken stock
2 tbsp plain flour
400ml semi-skimmed milk
2 cooked skinless chicken thighs, cut into small pieces.  (I poached my chicken in a little stock)
240g can sweetcorn, drained
fresh parsley to garnish

In a large non-stick sauce pan, dry-fry the celery, onion and garlic for 2 - 3 mins.
Add a little stock, then sprinkle over the flour and mix well.
Cook for 1 minute before adding the remaining stock and milk.
Add the cooked chicken and sweetcorn. Simmer for 20 - 25 mins, to allow to thicken.
Serve with the parsley garnish.