Lemon Spaghetti

Good ole' Rachel Ray. I made this a long time ago at home when mom and dad went out one night. As I remember I burned the garlic which didn't taste too good. Now this time was a different story. It was so quick and easy (as long as you do all the prep first) and Tom said it was something you would be happy to get in a restaurant. I also got 2 chicken breasts and used a hammer (seriously) to flatten them. I then dredged the pieces in flour, salt and pepper and fried them in olive oil for about 4 minutes on either side. I let the chicken rest while I made the pasta and then put the chicken slices on top.

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1 pound spaghetti
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 lemons, zested and juiced
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• Handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup (10 or 12 leaves) fresh basil, very thinly sliced

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and drop the spaghetti into the pot.

Heat a large deep skillet over low heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and garlic and crushed red pepper flakes.

When the pasta has been cooking about 5 minutes, add lemon juice, a ladle of the cooking water from the pasta and the cream to the garlic and oil. Raise heat a bit to bring sauce to a bubble.

Drain pasta when it still has a good bite to it, al dente. Add lemon zest and half of the cheese to the cream sauce. Season the sauce with salt, to taste. Add pasta to pan and turn off heat. Toss the pasta with sauce a minute or 2, allowing it time to soak up the sauce.

Top the plates of pasta or platter with remaining cheese, parsley and basil.

Sausage and Butter Bean Casserole

I had most of the ingredients on hand and thought this sounded like a great mid week meal. It's really easy and hearty. I'm not sure I had ever had butter beans but I give them 2 thumbs up. I only put in half of the sausages, and skipped the bacon and thyme (didn't have any). I used red wine instead of white, smoked paprika, and forgot to add bay leaves but it was still delicious. We had the mixture on top of a bit of rice. 

The Hairy Bikers’ take on sausage and beans makes a wonderfully warming and filling dish, and it freezes brilliantly.

Ingredients

• 1–2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 12 good quality pork sausages
• 6 rashers rindless streaky bacon, cut into 2.5cm/1in lengths
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• ½–1 tsp hot chilli powder or smoked paprika
• 1 x 400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes
• 300ml/10fl oz chicken stock
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp dark brown muscovado sugar
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 2 bay leaves
• 3–4 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 100ml/3½fl oz red or white wine (optional)
• 1 x 400g/14oz can butter beans or mixed beans
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

1. Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and fry the sausages gently for 10 minutes, turning every now and then until nicely browned all over. Transfer to a large saucepan or a flameproof casserole dish and set aside.
2. Fry the bacon pieces in the frying pan until they begin to brown and crisp then add to the sausages.
3. Place the onions in the frying pan and fry over a medium heat for five minutes until they start to soften, stirring often. You should have enough fat in the pan, but if not, add a little more oil.
4. Add the garlic and cook for 2–3 minutes more until the onions turn pale golden-brown, stirring frequently.
5. Sprinkle over the chilli powder or smoked paprika and cook together for a few seconds longer.
6. Stir in the tomatoes, chicken stock, tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and herbs.
7. Pour over the wine, or some water if you’re not using wine, and bring to a simmer.
8. Tip carefully into the pan with the sausages and bacon and return to a simmer, then reduce the heat, cover the pan loosely with a lid and leave to simmer very gently for 20 minutes, stirring from time to time.
9. Drain the beans and rinse them in a sieve under cold running water. Stir the beans into the casserole, and continue to cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick.
10. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve with rice or slices of rustic bread.

Old Boys Omelette

Another simple but amazing Jamie Oliver recipe! I made this for dinner and much prefer it to the omelette's I normally make. When I went grocery shopping yesterday I got a small loaf of sourdough bread (for 37 cents!) for the asparagus recipe below. I had a bit leftover and remembered reading a Jamie recipe where he used leftover sourdough. The bread may seem a bit strange but it adds a nice flavor and texture (Tom didn't even know it had bread in it). 


Preheat a small frying pan over a medium to high heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Cut your piece of bread into 2cm cubes (crusts removed) and your field mushroom/s (I used chestnut) into 1cm slices and add both to the pan with your chopped bacon (1 piece cut into 2cm pieces). Stir it all around and let everything get a nice color to it.


Beat your eggs (2-3) in a bowl and season with sea salt and pepper. Pour over the bacon, mushroom and bread mixture and move the pan around so they completely cover the base of it. As the eggs begin to set, gently push the set eggs around with a wooden spoon or spatula. Turn the heat off, and keep moving until the raw egg stops moving around. Quickly grate over a tiny bit of cheddar cheese. You want the omelette to look slightly underdone, because when you turn it out it carries on cooking and will be absolutely perfect when you tuck in. 

Worcestershire Asparagus and Mushrooms on Toast

This recipe is from my Jamie's Great Britain cookbook. It is such a yummy side (or dinner even) and I can see all of you guys loving it (especially mom)! I was only making a bit for Tom and I so I made a lot less. I used chestnut mushrooms and didn't make any alterations as it's pretty tasty as is!


Peel and finely slice 4 cloves of garlic. Put a large frying pan on a high heat and add a good lug of olive oil. Whack 4 slices of nice bread into the toaster. Slice 2 handfuls of mushrooms (brushed clean) and 500g of washed asparagus (woody ends snapped off) into bite-sized chunks. Add them to the hot pan with the sliced garlic and toss and fry for around 4 minutes. Finely chop a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley and add most of it to the pan, along with 8 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce and a knob or two of butter. Take the pan off the heat and shake and stir around for 30 seconds, or until the sauce has reduced down. Season to taste, then spoon over the slices of hot toast and top with the rest of the parsley.

Salsafied Chicken and Rice

Salsafied! With a name like that, how can it not be delicious! Mom sent me this recipe and as it was a chilly night I though some good comfort food was in order. It was delicious and got rave reviews from Tom. Lots of the recipe comments suggested adding taco seasoning to the chicken so I did that. I used spicy salsa and added a bit more then suggested. I also put in a can of corn. I think it could be even better with some black beans but I loved it as it was. I made burritos with the mixture and topped them off with sour cream and cilantro(coriander). So quick and tasty!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 (8 ounce) jar salsa
• 2 cups instant rice
• 8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook and stir chicken in hot oil until cooked through and juices run clear, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the broth and salsa and bring to a boil; turn off the heat and stir in the instant rice. Sprinkle Cheddar cheese over the mixture. Cover the skillet and let sit until the rice is tender, about 5 minutes.

Huevos Rancheros

This afternoon I started looking through a Jamie cookbook for dinner inspiration. In "Jamie's America" I found this great recipe for tomato stuffed tortillas. I was planning on making that but when I got into it I changed my mind and made huevos rancheros instead. I've included the tomato stuffed tortilla recipe first because I do still think it looks good. I just changed it a bit so it had egg and spicy refried beans (see my additions below this recipe). PS - I tried to get a better picture but my camera isn't working so I had to use my computer camera....

Jamie’s Recipe:

Tomato sauce

            Can of chopped tomatoes

            2 cloves of garlic

            1 lime

            Salt/pepper

            Olive oil

Tortillas

            3 ripe avocados

            2 limes

            8 corn tortillas

            1 fresh red chili, sliced

            Bunch of coriander

            100g grated mature cheddar

            150ml soured cream (plus extra for serving)

                        Bottle of chili sauce

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Pour some olive oil into a saucepan and place it over a medium heat.

Crush the garlic into the saucepan and fry it for a few minutes until it just starts to color.

Add the tinned tomatoes then squeeze in the juice from one lime.

Simmer the sauce for ten minutes until it starts to thicken then season with salt and pepper.

Peel the avocados then chop and mash the flesh with the juice from one lime and some salt and pepper.

Chop up the coriander leaves and finely slice the stalks.

Spoon a little of the tomato sauce into the bottom of an ovenproof dish (I used two 28cm oval dishes).

Put some of the cheese to one side for the final topping then fill the corn tortillas with the avocado mixture, a sprinkling of chili, cheese and the coriander (stalks and leaves). Roll up the tortillas and place into the baking dish on top of the sauce then pour over any remaining sauce.

Spoon over the sour cream, finish with the cheese and a few slices of chili then place into the oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese turns golden brown. Serve with more sour cream, lime wedges and salad.

My recipe:

I made the red sauce as above but added some jalapeno juice (from the jar) and parsley at the end (I didn’t have cilantro).

Next I heated some spicy refried beans (from the store) and made the avocado mixture as above.

I then put a bit of oil in a frying pan and heated the corn tortilla for about 30 seconds on each side. After warmed, I put the tortilla on a plate and spread some of the refried beans on top. Next I added a bit of shredded cheddar cheese and the egg on top of that. I finished it off by topping with some red sauce, avocado mixture, sliced red chilies, sour cream and parsley.  I only made the recipe for 1 so cut down on all of the quantities. I love breakfast for dinner!

Next Recipe: Wagamama's Spiced Scallops with Spinach & Sweet Chilli Dressing

Pulled Pork

This is so tasty! I used hobgoblin ale (our local Witney) stuff. I added about a tsp paprika, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, and 1/2 - 1/4 tsp cayenne to the rub. I also made the sauce that goes with this and it was tasty but too sweet. Maybe because I added brown sugar to the rub as well. I would cut the sugar in the sauce by half. Of course you can't beat papa's amazing bbq sauce! I cooked it in the oven for the first 45 minutes so it got nice and crispy and then put it in my slow cooker for another 6 hours so it was just falling apart.

Photo: Beer Braised BBQ Pork Butt Recipe

Rated 5 stars out of 5

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Ingredients

For the dry rub:

• 2 tablespoons salt
• About 40 grinds black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground mustard seed
• 12 ounces good ale or dark beer, such as Bass
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 5-pound pork butt (shoulder of the animal)

Directions

Combine rub ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Rub all over pork butt. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour and as long as overnight.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Unwrap pork and place in a roasting pan with sides about 2 inches high. Cook 45 minutes until dark browned and even blackening in places. Remove from oven. Lower oven to 325 degrees F. Pour beer over the top and add chopped garlic around the pork. Cover tightly with heavy duty aluminum foil or twice with regular foil. Poke about 10 holes all over the top of the foil. Cook pork butt 2 1/2 hours longer until so tender that it comes away very easily from center bone.

Place the meat on a plate and pour the pan juice (there will be plenty) into a saucepan. To the pan juices add:

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

Bring to a simmer until reduced by half and thick, about 20 minutes.

While the sauce is boiling down, pull apart the pork with 2 forks. Pour the sauce over the pulled pork and work through until fully absorbed.