Recipes

Flavoursome rice

Time from start: 30 mins Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients

  • Rice - 300g
  • Turmeric
  • Garlic granules
  • Soy sauce
  • Vegetable/chicken stock
  • Paprika
  • Mushrooms
  • Onions
  • Any other spices you might want - e.g. mild chilli powder.

Instructions

  1. Start boiling rice
  2. Add lots of turmeric
  3. Add a dash of soy sauce.
  4. Crumble in a vegetable and or chicken stock cube.
  5. Let it boil for 5 minutes.
  6. Add garlic granules, paprika and other spices of your choosing.
  7. Let it boil for a further 15 minutes. During this time chop some mushrooms, dice some pepper and fry up some diced onions.
  8. Now add the above to the mixture.
  9. Let boil and reduce for a further 5 minutes.

Pizza (Old style)

Start to finish: 1-1:30 hrs | Yields: 2 large pizza (10-12 inch)

Ingredients

  • 400g strong white bread flour
  • Oil - 3tbsp
  • 7g sachet of yeast
  • 500ml of warm water
  • Plain flour - for surface
  • A dozen or so plum/cherry tomatoes
  • Italian herbs
  • Paprika, hot chilli powder etc for spice in base
  • Tomato puree - 1/4 - 1/2 tube.
  • Salt - optional
  • Peppers, Mushrooms and other toppings for your pizzas
  • Cheese

Instructions

  1. Weigh out flour and add to mixing bowl.
  2. Add yeast and mix.
  3. Add oil.
  4. Measure out 500ml of warm water (lightly boil but allow to cool).
  5. Slowly add water and mix with a wooden spoon. Keep adding water until the mixture forms a clump.
  6. Take clump out and put onto a well floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes.
  7. Put back in bowl and cover bowl with t-towel and leave in warm dry place for 30 mins.
  8. Now we prepare the pizza base. Finely chop the tomatoes and put in a bowl. Mix in some tomato puree until you form a sauce. Add in herbs and spices to your taste and leave in fridge.
  9. Chop and prepare your toppings.
  10. Take dough out, knead three times and then separate into two equal clumps.
  11. Roll each clump into a pizza base shape.
  12. Add your tomato base, and your toppings and then grate cheese.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Start to finish: 30 mins | Yields: 12 cookies

Ingredients

  • 60g butter, diced/li>
  • 150g granulated sugar
  • 60ml sunflower oil
  • 1 medium egg
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 240g plain flower
  • 35g dark chocolate chips
  • Recipe from 'Cooking on a bootstrap'

Instructions

  1. Weigh out butter in small container. Melt for MAX 10 seconds in microwave.
  2. Cream butter and sugar together with fork.
  3. Add oil and egg and mix thoroughly.
  4. Add baking powder, and flower and mix. Add in chocolate chips.
  5. Pre-heat oven 180 fan
  6. Baking trays for 12 reasonable sized cookies. Baking paper.
  7. Golf ball sized balls, flatten ever so slightly.
  8. Cook for 12 mins or under golden around edges.

Bechamel Sauce - for lasagne

Start to finish: ? mins | Yields: 3 portions of lasange

Ingredients

  • 75 grams butter (NOT I can't believe it's not butter)
  • 125 grams plain flour
  • 1/2 litre milk

Instructions

  1. Melt butter in a saucepan.
  2. Melt butter in a saucepan.
  3. Gradually stir in the milk in the saucepan until a smooth sauce is formed.

Cookies / biscuits - chocolate

Start to finish: ? mins | Yields: 16 small biscuit cookies

Ingredients

  • Cocoa powder - 30g
  • Oats - 60
  • White sugar - 140g
  • Self raising flour - 200g
  • Margarine (stork butter) - 230g

Instructions

  1. Cream in butter and sugar.
  2. Work in rest of ingredients
  3. Make just smaller than golf ball shaped and sized balls.
  4. Cook at 160 degrees C - "until done"

Dhal (lentil curry)

Start to finish: 35 mins | Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients

  • Red lentils - 200g
  • Fresh ginger - 4cm piece, cut into 3 slices
  • Tumeric - 1/2 teaspoon
  • Basmati rice - 90g
  • Garlic - two gloves
  • Onion
  • Yellow mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
  • Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
  • Ground coriander (/leaf) - 1 teaspoon
  • 2 green chillies, halved lengthways. Plus chilli to add on top later once served.
  • Lemon juice - 2 tablespoons
  • Fresh coriander leaves - 1 tablespoon

Instructions

    Lentils

  1. Lentils (200g) and 750mls of water in saucepan and bring to boil
  2. Once boiling add ginger and tumeric (1/2 teaspoon). THEN reduce heat.
  3. Simmer for 20 minutes (start on other bits)
  4. Stir occasionally to avoid lentils sticking
  5. 15 minutes in set the rice off.
  6. After 20 minutes remove ginger and start frying as below
  7. Frying pan & rice

  8. Set the rice off (to cook for 10-12 minutes); and:
  9. Cook the onion, two crushed gloves of garlic and mustard seeds over medium heat for 5 minutes.
  10. Add cumin seeds (1 teaspoon), coriander leaf (1 teaspoon) and chillies (two green sliced). Cook for 2 minutes.
  11. Combine

  12. Add onion mixture and stir gently to combine.
  13. Add lemon juice.
  14. Cook for further 5 minutes to reduce as required.

Vegetable curry

Start to finish: 50 mins | Yields: 2 generous servings

Ingredients

  • Onion - diced
  • Ginger - tablespoon finely chopped
  • Garlic - 3 gloves, minced
  • Garam masala - 2 tablespoons
  • Ground coriander - 2 tablespoons
  • Paprika - 1 teaspoon
  • Cayenne pepper - pinch
  • Salt - 1 1/2 tablespoons
  • Tomato puree - 2 tablespoons
  • 2 large carrots - cut into 'chicken chunks'
  • 1/2 - 1 pepper into chunks.
  • Tin of chopped tomatoes
  • Vegetable stock
  • Milk - 250mls (????)
  • Basmati rice - 90gs (serves two)

Instructions

  1. In casserole dish (on the hob) fry the onions, ginger, and garlic with oil. Add garam masala, coriander, paprika, cayenne pepper, and salt.
  2. Cook until onion softened (about 10 minutes)
  3. Add tomato puree, stir to coat the aromatics and cook for 1 minute
  4. Start to prep vegetable stock
  5. Add carrots, and peppers and stir well to coat with spices
  6. Add tomatoes, and vegetable stock. Stir well, bringing up brown bits from bottom
  7. Bring to boil
  8. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until vegetables are just tender (20 -25 minutes)
  9. Start basmati rice cooking (as takes 10-12 minutes)
  10. Stir in milk and simmer uncovered, stirring occasional until thickened (10 - 15 minutes)

Pizza

Start to finish: 35 mins | Yields: two 12" pizzas"

Ingredients

  • Warm water - 250ml
  • Honey - 1 tablespoon
  • (Olive) oil - 1 tablespoon
  • Yeast - 1 tablespoon
  • Salt - 1 teaspoon
  • Garlic powder - 1 teaspoon
  • Italian seasoning (basil, oregano)
  • Plain flour - 1 1/2 cups (375ml)
  • Whole wheat flour - 1 cup (250ml)

Instructions

  1. Put the water, honey, oil and yeast into a boil. Let sit for approx 5 minutes until yeast bubbles a bit
  2. Add all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Mix until soft dough forms and pulls away from side of bowl. Should be soft and smooth. Add more all purpose flour (max 1/4 cup)
  3. Knead dough for 3 minutes
  4. Cover mixture and let it rest for 10 minutes. Start to prepare sauce (see below)
  5. Cover pizza trays with baking/non-stick paper
  6. Roll dough to fit to pizza trays
  7. Add sauce and toppings of your choice
  8. Cook 12-15 mins.
  9. Sauce

  10. Cook tinned tomatoes, chopped tomatoes, italian seasoning, onion powder, spicy seasoning as desired. Reduce to sauce.

Vanilla sponge cake

Start to finish: 65 mins | Yields: 18cm tin cake

Ingredients

  • Margarine or softened butter - 175g
  • Caster sugar - 175g
  • Large eggs - 3
  • Self-raising flour, sifted - 175g
  • Baking powder - 1tsp
  • Vanilla extract - 1tsp
  • Icing sugar for dusting

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease an 18cm round cake tin with a little extra butter or margarine and cut a piece of greaseproof paper or non-stick baking parchment to fit the base of the tin.
  2. Put all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon or a hand-held mixer for 1 minute, or until just combined. It's important not to beat the batter too much - just long enough to make it smooth.
  3. Pour or spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth the top and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 45-50 minutes. The cake is cooked when it looks well risen and golden; the top should spring back when lightly touched with a fingertip. Another test is to insert a skewer into the centre of the cake - it should come out clean.
  4. Let the cake sit in the tin for 5 minutes, then gently run a knife around the edge and turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

American pancakes

Start to finish: 45 mins (incl 30 min cooking) | Yields: 12 american pancakes

Ingredients

  • Self-raising flour - 200g
  • Baking powder - 1 1/2 teaspoon
  • Caster sugar - 1 tablespoon
  • Eggs - 2
  • Melted butter - 30g
  • Milk - 200ml
  • Vegetable oil for cooking

Instructions

  1. Mix 200g self-raising flour, 1 ½ tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp golden caster sugar and a pinch of salt together in a large bowl.
  2. Create a well in the centre with the back of your spoon then add 2 eggs, 30g melted butter and 200ml milk.
  3. Whisk together until smooth, pour into a jug.
  4. Heat a small knob of butter and 1 tsp of oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. When the butter looks frothy, pour in rounds of the batter, approximately 8cm wide. Make sure you don’t put the pancakes too close together as they will spread during cooking. Cook the pancakes on one side for about 1-2 mins or until lots of tiny bubbles start to appear and pop on the surface. Flip the pancakes over and cook for a further minute on the other side. Repeat until all the batter is used up.

Pizza dough

Start to finish: 15 mins | Yields: 2 bases

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup luke warm water
  • 1/2 packet of dried yeast
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon of honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups of plain flower (+ extra for dusting)

Instructions

  1. Mix together 1/4 cup lukewarm water and yeast in a small bowl. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
  2. Combine 1/4 cup water, olive oil, honey, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup flour and mix well. Mix yeast mixture into flour mixture. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough is well combined.
  3. Knead dough on a floured work surface until dough is soft, smooth, and elastic, about 8 minutes. Roll dough into 2 pizza or calzone shapes.

Spaghetti agilo e olio

Start to finish: 45 mins | Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients

  • Spaghetti / linguine
  • Olive oil
  • 4-8 gloves of garlic
  • Crushed chilli flakes

Instructions

  1. Cook spaghetti in water (with salt)
  2. Sauté the garlic - Meanwhile, about 3 minutes after you add the pasta to the boiling water, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the garlic is lightly golden.
  3. Once the pasta is ready to go, use tongs to transfer the pasta immediately to the sauté pan, along with 1/2 cup of the hot starchy pasta water. Toss the pasta continuously until it is evenly coated in the garlic sauce. If the sauce looks a bit too dry, add in another 1/4 cup of the starchy pasta water.
  4. Taste test (add more chilli if needed). Serve.

Pasta-el-paprika (smokey pepper & mushroom pasta)

Start to finish: 30 mins | Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients

  • Pasta (say 150g)
  • Mushrooms
  • Pepper x1
  • Olive oil
  • Cayenne pepper
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Vegetable stock cube
  • Tomato puree
  • Smoked paprika
  • Mozzarella

Instructions

  1. Oven, slice mushroom finely, and a pepper. Drizzle of olive oil in a baking tray. Add a healthy amount of Cayenne Pepper! Put in oven for 20 mins
  2. At same time put the pasta onto boil
  3. Dice onion and garlic.
  4. Fry onio over medium-high heat in a wok
  5. Boil water (200ml)
  6. Once soften add chopped garlic and smoked paprika and cook for a further minute
  7. Dissolve half a stock cube and tomato puree (more than you think) and stir to make tomato stock
  8. Add cooked pepper & mushrooms, together with tomato stock into wok. Add drained pasta
  9. Once reduced a little, add the mozzarella to the pan in chunks and let it melt before serving

Butternut squash biryani (curry)

Start to finish: 25 mins | Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients

  • Hob & oven safe casserole dish
  • Butternut squash - say half chopped into cubes
  • Garlic cloves - x3
  • Tomatoes - say 10 baby, or 2 normal, into wedges
  • Ginger
  • Tumeric - 1/2 teaspoon
  • Garam masala - 2 tablespoons
  • Ground coriander - 2 tablespoons
  • Paprika - 1 teaspoon
  • Cayenne pepper - pinch
  • Tinned tomatoes
  • Basmati rice - 80g
  • Chillis - sliced
  • Naan breads?

Instructions

  1. Prep all items as it comes together quite quickly. Incl weighing out rice
  2. Casserole dish on hob, olive oil and butternut squash cubes over a high heat
  3. Put rice on (normal: bring to boil, reduce to low for 10 mins, then turn off heat for another 10 mins)
  4. Once softened add tomato wedges and garlic
  5. Add diced ginger
  6. Season with tumeric, garam masala, coriander, and paprika
  7. Add tin of tomatoes
  8. Add in sliced chillis
  9. Allow to reduce until rice has been on for around 15 mins.
  10. Add rice - don't worry about draining
  11. Put in oven until relatively reduce
  12. Consider naan breads

Sweet potato thai curry

Start to finish: 50 mins | Yields: 2 with leftover sauce

Ingredients

  • Oven safe dish of a reasonable size
  • Potatoes - recipe says 750g, but do whatever feels right - chop into slices
  • Ginger 5cm, grated
  • Garlic x2 cloves
  • Red chilli x1
  • Coconut milk tin
  • Vegetable stock
  • Rice c. 100g for two people
  • Lime x1
  • Coriander

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven 180 fan
  2. Add potato, ginger, garlic, chilli, coconut milk and stock (500ml boiling).
  3. Sprinkle coriander
  4. Oven for 45 minutes
  5. Set off rice (200ml water, bring to boil, then low heat for 10 minutes, then turn off and leave for 10 mins)
  6. Just before end add lime juice to pan

Gnocchi in a pan

Start to finish: 45 mins | Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients

  • Oven safe dish of a reasonable size
  • Gnocchi - 500g
  • Pepper - 2 large (red/yellow)
  • Tomatoes - 200g halved
  • Olive/oil - generous
  • Garlic x2
  • Chilli flakes
  • Basil
  • Oregano
  • Ricotta (for Jo)

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven 200 fan
  2. Boil full kettle, add to gnocchi in a large bowl. Leave for 2 mins before draining and adding to pan
  3. Add rest of ingredients to pan (apart from ricotta). Ensure stacked (to avoid gnocchi crisping) relatively thick and oily.
  4. Oven for 30 mins

NAME OF RECIPE

Start to finish: 5 mins | Yields: 1 serving

Ingredients

Instructions

NAME OF RECIPE

Start to finish: 5 mins | Yields: 1 serving

Ingredients

Instructions