All posts filed under: Trying New Things

Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Meze Platter

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Week 10 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. Not every meal needs to be complicated to be delicious. Sometimes you just need to remember about flavours that make you happy. Maybe food that reminds you of home or holidays, maybe something that you ate in a restaurant and always wanted to try to make. That’s exactly what I did this weekend. I went to the market to get bread, olives and some tapenade and then did some dips to go with that. It turned out to be a delicious platter of food. This is what I made to go with the delicious market food: Smoked aubergine mix Hummus My version of tabbouleh Ingredients For the aubergine dip: aubergine brown onion salt oil For the hummus: 1 x 400g can chickpeas 60 ml lemon juice 60 ml tahini 2 tbs olive oil 1 garlic clove 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp salt 45ml water paprika for serving For the tabbouleh: cucumber tomatoes fresh parsley leafs olive oil …

Gochujang Chicken 65

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Week 9 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. For this recipe I used a lot of chicken so it will yield about 4 big portions but I guess that is what happens when you defrost an entire pack of chicken breast and get really excited about a recipe that you wanted to try for a long time! Ingredients (4 portions) For the chicken batter: 600g chicken breast 2 tsp salt 2 tsp chilli powder 2 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp Garam Masala 3 tsp grated ginger 3 tsp grated garlic 6 tbsp plain wheat flour 4 tbsp lemon juice 3 eggs oil for deep frying For frying and coating the chicken at the end: 3 tbsp oil 2 tsp cumin seeds 2 tbs chopped garlic 3 tbsp Gochujang paste 5-6 dried chillies 15-20 curry leafs Method Step 1 – prepare the batter and marinate the chicken Dice the chicken breast into 2 cm cubes and add to a large bowl. The add all the ingredients for …

Chicken & Egg Salad

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Week 8 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. I like doing simple recipes for lunches and this week I did a salad that I wanted to share because it’s so simple but it’s delicious. Especially now when I am working from home all the time, is important to have go to lunch recipes that I can make quickly and which can offer enough variety in my diet. This one is definitely on my go to list. Ingredients chicken breast egg radishes plum tomatoes broccoli balsamic vinegar olive oil salt & pepper butter Method Grill the chicken breast using your favourite method. I picked some chicken breast wit skin for this recipe and grilled it in the oven with a bit of melted butter on top, salt and pepper. Steam the broccoli and boil the eggs. I tried with hard boiled and soft boiled eggs, they both work very well. If you like leek you could also steam some of that, in my opinion broccoli and leak …

Slow cooked Pork Ribs

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Week 7 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. This recipe takes about 7 hours on low temperature in the slow cooker but it’s very easy to prepare, it took me maximum 10 minutes. I have a slow cooker from Russell Hobs with 2 settings and I used setting 1 but I am sure that other slow cookers have similar settings, just use the lowest one for best results. Ingredients (2 portions) 2 packs of pork ribs of approx 600g each (about 4-5 ribs per person) 300g bbq sauce 1 tbs Worcester sauce 2 cloves crushed garlic cayenne spice Method Add the ribs in the slow cooker. Prepare the sauce by mixing the bbq sauce, the Worcester sauce, the garlic and a bit of cayenne spice. Add the sauce on the ribs and coat them by using a brush. Set the slow cooker on low temperature and leave the ribs to cook for about 7 hours. I really enjoy the ribs with just a salad and I …

Gochujang Tofu

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Week 6 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. I have tried for a while now to cook tofu in different ways and this week I decided to use one of the sauces I bought recently – Gochujang. In case you haven’t cooked with it before, it’s a red chilly paste popular in Korean cooking. I like it because it has a good balance of savoury, sweet and spicy. The recipe I tried this week is very simple but it makes a delicious meal. Ingredients 250g tofu 200g rice Gochujang paste Kimchi oil soy sauce mirin ginger garlic salt pepper white sesame seeds Method Step 1 Preheat the oven at 200°C. Start boiling the 200 ml water for the rice. Wash the rice and add it to the pot. It depends a bit on the rice but if I use basmati I boil it for 10 minutes and then I leave it covered to rest for another 10 minutes. Step 2 Cut the tofu in 2cm cubes …

Salmon with Shiitake & Peppers

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Week 5 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. If you like simple dinners than this recipe is definitely for you! It takes maximum 15 minutes to prepare. Ingredients (2 portions) 2 salmon fillets 1 red pepper 1 pack of shiitake peppers (100-150g) 2 medium size potatoes 3 tbs soy sauce 3 tbs sesame oil salt pepper olive oil Method Preheat the oven to 200°C . Cut the potatoes into wedges. Brush the potato wedges with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. Put them in the oven and set the timer to 35 minutes. In the mean time add the salmon fillets to an ovenproof dish. Cut the pepper into slices and add them to the dish, then add the shiitake mushrooms. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Mix the soy sauce and the sesame oil and add to the dish. When the potatoes have been in the oven for 15 minutes, sink the temperature to 160°C and put the fish in …

Green Smoothies

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Week 4 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. Lately I have been trying to minimise food waste as much as possible. In general, I try to minimise waste of any kind but throwing away food is something that I hardly tolerate. Yes, we have everything at our fingertips, from takeaway food to grocery deliveries. But it’s hard to find vegetables with a good shelf life. During the lockdown I tried to organise my groceries by ordering deliveries for staples and go to the local market for fresh ingredients. This way I get to support the local market as well. And even when I organise the food well I still end up with a surplus of vegetables or fruits sometimes. I found a really good way to prevent any fresh vegetables or fruits go to waste, I do smoothies. They make a great breakfast or afternoon snack and they keep well in the fridge for at least one day in a sealed jar. I am going to …

Snow Flakes & Memories

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Week 3 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. But this week is a bit different, I am not writing about something new that I cooked, or tried, I am writing about something new that I experienced. Every morning this winter I have been hoping for either blue skies or snow. Granted that snowing doesn’t happen very often in South West London, one can only hope right? This morning I woke up to the same grey sky that makes every day look the same. The grey is in perfect sync with the monotony of the lockdown and yet it seems like is mocking you every day with it’s passivity. It’s this feeling that you get when you look up, that no sun, moon or stars ever existed. The clouds are not even clouds anymore, they are just a thick blanket that puts the landscape around you in a non flattering light. I have my morning coffee thinking about ways to make today different and I almost miss …

Mirin Marinated Tofu & Lime Rice

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Week 2 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. I like to do very simple recipes for lunch, mostly something fresh and light. The recipe I am writing about this week makes a really good lunch and it was also an opportunity for me to try a new way to cook tofu. This is the first time I used both silken tofu and mirin. Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine that makes a great marinade for tofu. Here is what I tried and what I would improve for the next time. Ingredients (2 portions) 150 basmati rice 1 lime 250g silken tofu 4 tbs mirin 4 tbs soy sauce 4 tbs honey salt pepper cooking oil a knob of butter radishes cucumbers sweet red peppers Method Wash the rice and cook it with a pinch of salt and a knob of butter for 10 minutes. When cooked, let it stand for 10 minutes. In the mean time cut the tofu in 2cm cubes and gently fry …

Tuna Steak with Bulgur & Beetroot

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Week 1 – 2021 This is another post from the series “I tried something new this week”. I started this year with a lot of inspiration! I have been watching a lot of cooking shows lately and my partner and I have decided to buy more food that we never cooked with. Every time we go to the local market we get a vegetable that we never used before. We also started to get ingredients that we are not comfortable cooking with. So we really pushed ourselves lately and is fun! This week we created this recipe and I thought of sharing it with you because it turned out great. We did tuna steaks with a bulgur salad and roasted beetroot and fennel. Ingredients (2 portions) 2 tuna steaks coriander seeds black peppercorns sea salt olive oil 1 lemon 100g bulgur 1/2 red onion a few plum tomatoes mooli radish 3 fresh beetroots 1 fennel parsley Method Step 1. Preheat the oven at 200°C, Peel the beetroot and cut it in wedges. Cut the fennel …