Planning catch-up!

 



 Did I manage it this week then?

 

All but 1 day.... which I think is good going :-)

So what did I plan for the week after?

 

 

Monday - Pasta in tomato sauce (from the freezer - homemade, Jim in Scotland I will be back late so something quick for just me and the kids)

Tuesday - Something with chips....Morgan's choir concert and Jim in Scotland (so will be late back)

Wednesday - Beef & Onion Braise (I will be in Somerset, this is a slow cooker meal that I can put on in the morning and it will be ready when I get back)

Thursday - Spaghetti Bolognaise

Friday - Fresh Salmon Wraps

Saturday - Left free as we may go out

Sunday - Depending on weather, either roast dinner or BBQ.

 

Now I know I am a week behind so at this stage I know if I was successful.... but I'm keeping my lips sealed. Today I will catch up on last weeks meals... be prepared for blog over load!

 



 

 

 



Muu Parlow... or Thai Braised Pork

 

 

I have a lovely Thai  cookbook which is simply called 'Thailand'. It is full of every kind of Thai food you can think of.... Street food, Curries, Snacks, Salads etc...

 

Link to site to view / purchase the Thailand Cookbook

 

So last Saturday as we were having a day around the house I decided to indulge and cook something that requires time, and also something that I thought the children would also eat. After flicking through the book I found 'Muu Parlow', which is a Thai Braised Pork dish, and it takes about 2.5 hrs to cook, and it was one of the nicest smelling dishes I have ever made. However it took a bit of effort to source the ingredients.... it required a Pork Hock  which I discovered is really difficult to get and I ended up ordering one from the local butchers. I did plan to make this a week beforehand but due to this fact had to wait a week (on the positive side its a cheap cut of meat - the whole hock cost £3.99)... also it uses something called Kecap Manis which is a Thai sweet soy sauce. Again could not find that in local stores but did find it to order over the Internet.

 

OK, so once I got all the ingredients together...

 

Time to start cooking. This was another easy one, which I loved! The most complicated bit was at the beginning when you have to blanch and then deep fry the meat before you start. The sauce itself was easy... dry fry the spices, then add stock, meat etc and leave for 2 hours or until meat is falling off the bone.

 







 

Oh and another thing is towards the end you add in hard boiled eggs, which I love. One of my favourite things is curry etc with boiled egg in. To accompany the meal I cooked rice and mange tout.

 

It was absolutely delicious. The sauce the pork was cooked it had a spice I did not expect, and it was just completely moorish! The kids did make a comment that it was spicy, but this was overcome as they both liked the taste, so I just ensured they had meat from the centre of the hock (therefore not coated in the sauce) however they both had an egg each which was covered. The rice and mange tout complimented it lovely.

 

I got the thumbs up from all the family and would make this again.... would I change anything, well yes 1 thing! It recommends everything is done in a wok. So you deep fry in the wok, drain the oil, then make the sauce and add the meat. However I found that my hock did not sit fully in the sauce and therefore was not as falling apart as I would have hoped, also the sauce reduced too much. To rectify this, I think once sauce is made next time I will put everything into the slow cooker, I may also consider getting 2 small hocks rather than 1 large one.

 

Highly recommend this one, but only if you like a bit of spice. Its not mouth burning hot, its about a medium.

 

#thaifood

#pork

Warning.... Gnocchi is messy to make 😄

I had my first attempt at making gnocchi, last week which I was told was simple! Well technically it was, however if your making it with children, believe me not so easy....several smashed eggs and picking shell out of the dough mixture later... We end up with a very soft dough.

Now you need a soft dough, but it's pretty difficult to roll out, and takes a bit of patience. My kids found it hysterical, and loved playing with the squidy dough. Think they got a bit annoyed with mummy being boring and telling them to stop playing and concentrate on making dinner as we've all got to eat this. But in the end to roll it out I used 'a lot'! of flour on the board.

 

Just realised I have not mentioned where I got recipe from....  It's from 'Leon - fast vegetarian' link to Leon website below. Recipe called 'Mitch tonks potato gnocchi.

The recipe called to make a truffle & Parmesan sauce to mix in with the gnocchi. I can not explain just how simple this sauce was. 3 ingredients that you throw in a pan and stir!

You then drain gnocchi when it's finished, and add to sauce making sure it's properly mixed together and serve!

This was a hit, gnocchi was gorgeous and light, and the sauce was lovely and creamy... But there is a but! Unfortunately it's too creamy for our tastes. You go from thinking oh this is yummy, too a bit sickly! However all bowls were cleaned.

Also took about 30-40 minutes but next time should be quicker now I know how to roll the dough out, and hint... Literally a couple of minutes to cook gnocchi so don't drop them in boiling water until you are ready!

I will make the gnocchi again but I think my family are not ones for creamy sauces... If you are then go for it 😊

http://leonrestaurants.co.uk

Oozy mozzerella chicken

It's been a pretty busy week which has resulted in unfortunately me not even having time to sit and write this blog, which people is not good as this blog is one of my relaxation moments. Just me alone with my thoughts, typing, happy little Lesley.

Last Thursday I planned to make Ainsley Harriet's oozy mozzerella chicken which is another recipe out of his meals in minutes book.

I will give it to Ainsley unlike other chefs who have created cookbooks his timings are pretty spot on! So this was all done in about 30 minutes!

Pretty simple dish, basically chicken wrapped around mozzerella and grilled of course there are some herbs thrown in! But as you are probably aware I can not say much due to copywrite law etc.

What I will say is the meal lacked vegetables for me, so I added peas. Also he pairs it with mashed potato with leeks mixed in. I personally don't think this combination worked. Also my husband felt the dish was too dry. By that I don't mean the chicken was dry, but he is not a big potato fan so he wanted something to pour over potatoes. I would make this dish again as everyone loved the chicken, but I had quite a bit of mash left on plates! I think that next time I will use either chips or some form of pasta. Also potentially make either a tomato or white sauce.

Oh and a hint.... I used low fat mozzerella with this and you could not tell the difference!

Joy soy lamb and ginger rice

Yet another good one to report on from last night folks 😊

For myself and Jim (remember its Tuesday so kids eat at the in-laws) I made Joy Soy Lamb with Ginger Rice from the Ainsley Harriet's 'Meals in minutes'. Apologies I can not find a link to the recipe on line but the book is available to buy.

First main point to make is I love this book, so far all the recipes I've made are tasty, secondly the timings are pretty accurate and finally it gives calorie count for each recipe. Which for someone like me following a calorie controlled diet (I use fitbit) it's really handy.

This recipe claimed to be 30 mins with 10 mins prep, and I did the whole thing in 35 minutes. It was a lovely subtle dish, I was worried it would be too overly spiced but it was well balanced and the flavours were wonderful.

Wouldn't alter it, and was a hit with us so I will do it again!

My pizza!

Had a day off today and spent it with my baby, we went shopping... Oh yes I brought shoes! Oh and when I say shoes I don't mean flashy expensive stilettos I mean chunky soled black leather sandals. I'm not a stiletto gal!

Came home and made pizza dough ready for later, there is a recipe I love from ainsley harriets 'friends and family' cook book that is really simple to make but needs to rise for an hour.

My kids love watching the dough magically form... Or in Florence's case, stare at her reflection in the mixer bowl!

After an hour it's all ready to go.

While it's rising I make the tomato sauce ready for the base, I make a simple one, cook garlic in olive oil, add chopped tomatoes and simmer, then add chopped basil. Finally blend until smooth. Then roll out your dough and smooth the sauce on.

This is the bit the kids love. I chop all toppings up beforehand then let the kids just add what they want on. It's then 10 - 15 minutes in oven.

Lovely yummy irregular pizza!

As I said you need about 1.5 hrs so not a quick one but good for getting kids involved and an hour of it you can get on with something else, so a good Saturday meal.

Last minute panic!

Ok, something that does not normally happen to me happened last Thursday. I did my meal plan, ordered my shopping as normal. Then on Thursday got all ingredients out to make mozzerella chicken and - DOH.... No flipping chicken! Yep, somebody (namely me) had forgotten to buy the main ingredient.

Soooo while my husband yelled 'takeaway'! at me I scoured the fridge for inspiration and came up with my old faithful, carbonara! Now most people think of carbonara as creamy however I was taught once by an ex-boyfriends father how to make a really tasty easy dry carbonara. Basically I always ensure the following are in my fridge/cupboard as can be used in various salads or meals etc;

1) pancetta

2) Parmesan

3) Eggs

4) Any form of dry pasta

5) Olive Oil

Basically you cook the pasta, fry the bacon/pancetta in a little olive oil. Beat the eggs then mix with salt & pepper with grated Parmesan. Then tip everything in a pan together and stir until all mixed together and eggs are cooked

It takes 25 minutes tops, and is honestly one dish I know the whole family will clean their plates and have seconds on.

So basically distaster averted!!!

Oh I prefer it with spaghetti or tagliatelle, but Florence wanted bows...