Marks Mighty Goujons

Marks Mighty Goujons

• 400g chicken fillets
• 25g panko breadcrumbs
• Vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp hot smoked paprika
• Handful of finely grated Parmesan cheese
• Zest of one lemon
• Salt and pepper

Method:

Mix the Dijon mustard, smoked paprika and a little salt and pepper in a bowl.  Place the breadcrumbs onto a plate and mix through the Parmesan cheese and lemon zest.  Press the fillets into the mustard mix and then into the crumbs, ensuring they get a good coating, place onto a plate and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Put enough vegetable oil into a shallow frying pan to cover the base by about half an inch, heat until nice and hot.  Cook the chicken fillets until they are nice and crispy, should take around 15 minutes or so, leave to drain on kitchen towel and then serve.  We had these with chips and dips but they go equally well with a nice crisp salad.  Yet again another quick and easy recipe idea, who said chicken had to be plain and boring!

Lasagne

Lasagne

• 300g fresh lasagne
• 75g finely grated Parmesan
• 50g butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 stick of celery, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 250g pancetta, finely chopped
• 600g mincemeat
• 300ml red wine
• 4 tbsp tomato purée
• 400ml beef stock
• 150ml double cream
• Sea salt and ground black pepper
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning

Bechamel sauce

• 600ml full fat milk
• 60g butter
• 60g plain flour
• Freshly grated black pepper

Method:

First we need to make the ragu (that's the meat sauce).  Heat the oil and butter in a large deep saucepan over a medium heat, add the vegetables and fry until softened.  Add the pancetta and mincemeat and fry until browned off (making sure you break up the mince otherwise you end up with clumps!).  Add the wine and simmer until it is absorbed into the mixture, then add the Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, tomato purée and a little of the stock, stir well, cover and cook over a low heat for 1 1/2 hours, stirring in the remaining stock during this process.  Stir in the cream and cook uncovered for around 10 minutes or so until it is reduced, then set aside.

To make the bechamel sauce, heat the milk until it's just about to boil, then set aside.  Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour over a medium heat until you have a smooth golden roux.  Gradually add the hot milk, stirring all the time, until the sauce is smooth and thick, then stir in a few grinds of black pepper then set aside.

Preheat the oven to 170g (fan assisted).  In a large rectangular baking dish add about a third of the ragu, smooth it out until the base is covered, cover with sheets of lasagne, top with a third of the bechamel sauce and then repeat the layers twice more.  Sprinkle over the Parmesan and bake for around 40 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and browned.  Serve hot on its own or with a nice green salad and garlic bread.  This recipe will feed 6 or with careful portioning you could get 8 servings.

I prefer to use fresh pasta but you can use dry sheets, however they can be a bit crunchy if not covered fully!  Whilst it may seem a long time to cook the mince you will be glad you did as you will end up with a thick glossy ragu which is packed with flavour.  

This dish is perfect for any time of year and is an all time classic, once mastered you won't need another ragu recipe!  If you like to batch cook you can portion up some of the ragu and add some tinned chopped tomatoes and you then have a perfect bolognese sauce.

Ricotta Gnocchi with lemon & sage butter

Ricotta Gnocchi with lemon & sage butter

• 300g ricotta
• 40g finely grated Parmesan
• 2 tbsp grated lemon zest
• 190g plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 50g unsalted butter
• 15 sage leaves
• Couple pinches of salt

Place the ricotta, Parmesan, flour, eggs and 1 tbsp of lemon zest into a bowl, mix thoroughly to form a soft dough.  Place the dough onto a lightly flour dusted surface.  Cut the dough into 2 pieces and roll out each piece into a 40cm rope length and cut into thumb size pieces.  Place the pieces onto a lightly floured tray or plate until ready to cook.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.  Whilst doing this melt your butter in a large frying pan and add the sage and remaining lemon zest, keep an eye on the heat as you don't want to burn the butter.  Add the gnocchi to the pan of water, it will only take around 5 minutes, however no need to time as you will know it's done when the gnocchi floats to the surface.

By the time your gnocchi has cooked the sage should now be crispy.  Drain the gnocchi and add to the frying pan, we basically want to fry it until we get a nice brown crispy edge to it.  Once done, bowl up, drizzle over the remaining butter from the pan and top with the sage leaves.  This recipe should serve four.

Whilst you can eat the gnocchi as is, I served it on a bed of rocket along with some fried chorizo and drizzled some oil from the cooked chorizo over the top of the gnocchi, I think this really adds to the overall dish.  The gnocchi was so easy to make, as this was my first attempt I had made mine a bit on the large size, hence I now suggest a thumb sized piece.  We both really enjoyed this, with the ricotta as opposed to using potato, it made for a lighter dish and I will certainly be making this again.

Chicken enchiladas

Chicken Enchiladas

• 2 chicken breasts (cut into bite sized pieces)
• 4 flour tortillas
• 1 tin of black beans (or kidney or pinto beans, drained and rinsed)
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• Handful of finely chopped coriander
• Good few handfuls of grated cheese
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic pwder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 450ml chicken stock

Method:

To make the sauce, heat the oil in a medium sized saucepan, add the flour and whisk through over the heat for around a minute.  Add the remaining seasonings (don't have your head to near the pan as you will get a hit of the chilli!!) and stir through until combined.  Gradually whisk in the stock, continue to whisk in order to remove any lumps.  Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes until thickened.

Whilst the sauce is thickening, heat some oil in a frying pan and cook the chicken for 10-15 minutes until cooked through.  You can add a few grinds of black pepper to the chicken or even some taco/fajita seasoning, for an extra hit of flavour.

Once the chicken has cooked and the sauce is done, we are now ready to assemble our enchiladas.  Coat each tortilla with some of the enchilada sauce.  Put a line of beans down the middle of the tortilla, top with some of the red onion, chicken and cheese then roll until you have a fat cigar shape which you place into an oven proof dish along with the other enchiladas.  You want a dish that the enchiladas just fit into, that way you ensure they don't open up whilst being cooked.  Drizzle any remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas, top with more cheese and cook in a preheated oven (180 degrees) for around 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is nice and gooey.  Garnish the enchiladas with some chopped coriander and serve.

We had the enchiladas with some cheesy nachos, topped with sour cream and salsa and of course some freshly made guacamole.  Don't be put off by the amount of chilli powder in this recipe, it does even out in the cooking process, trust me!  Also when adding some sour cream that will have a cooling effect.  However if you are a real heat fiend you can always add some chopped jalapenos to the chicken and bean mix to really spice it up.

Whilst I dare say it myself, these are some of the best enchiladas I've had, the sauce is so quick and easy to make and if you have any leftovers it can be stored in the fridge for a few days or if you have made up a batch, freeze whatever is left, but believe me, this sauce wont hang around for too long, especially once your friends and family get to try it!

Sausage balls with a mushroom and blue cheese sauce

Sausage balls with a mushroom and blue cheese sauce

• Pack of 6 quality sausages
• 450ml beef stock
• 250ml double cream
• Large handful of crumbled blue cheese
• 200g button mushrooms, halved
• Handful of chopped chives
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• Large knob of butter
• Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and Pepper
• Vegetable/Rapeseed oil

Method:

Remove the skins from the sausages and divide each sausage into 3 and roll each piece into a small ball.  Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan over a moderate heat and cook the sausage balls, turning every so often until they are evenly browned.  Remove any excess fat, pour in the stock, bring to the boil and let it reduce down slightly.  Add the cream and mustard and season with salt and pepper and cook for a further 20 minutes.  At this stage add a large knob of butter to a medium sized pan and heat until the butter has melted and starts to sizzle, add the mushrooms and give a good stir to ensure the mushrooms get a good coating of butter, season with plenty of black pepper and a good few glugs of Worcestershire sauce stir again and leave to cook on a low to medium heat.

After the sausage balls have been cooking for 20 minutes, remove them from the pan and place onto a warm dish.  Turn the heat up under the frying pan, add the blue cheese and the mushrooms (which should have absorbed the liquid from the pan and be nice and dark), stir through and leave to bubble away away until the sauce thickens.  Prior to serving, add the chopped chives and return the sausage balls to the pan and mix well.

This is my first recipe of the New Year and what a one to start with!  Pretty straightforward which is what I like, packed full of flavour and a good hearty dish to boot.  I served this with a good helping of creamy mashed potato but it would go equally well with pasta, especially as there is plenty of sauce.  I hope you enjoy this as much as we did, let me know what you think.

Sausage balls with a mushroom and blue cheese sauce

Glazed honey and soy chicken

Glazed honey and soy chicken

• 2 chicken breasts (skin on)
• 65 ml soy sauce
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp dry sherry
• 1 garlic clove (minced)
• 1 tbsp finely grated ginger
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped

Method:

Now firstly, this recipe will have so much more flavour if you leave the chicken to marinade overnight.  Stir all the ingredients (excluding the chicken) together in a small bowl.  Place the chicken breasts into a small container, pour in the marinade and coat the chicken thoroughly, cover, place in the fridge and leave overnight.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.  Remove the chicken from the marinade and place skin side up in a small roasting tin.  Bake for around 40 minutes, basting the chicken several times with extra marinade..  Once cooked through, cut the chicken into pieces and plate up.  For this dish I served the chicken with egg fried rice, chunky cucumber wedges and chilli sauce.  Leaving the skin on the chicken ensures it remains moist and the skin also absorbs the intense flavours from the marinade.  You can leave the chicken to marinade for a shorter period if you are stuck for time but I do recommend overnight is best.  Packed full of flavour, this dish will not disappoint.

Sticky pork curry

Sticky pork curry

• 500g cubed pork 
• 3 tbsp light brown soft sugar
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 4 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 6 fresh kaffir lime leaves or 10 dried leaves
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 10 smallish shallots, finely diced
• 25g of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 2 red chillies, trimmed and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp Massaman curry paste
• 1 litre of cold water
• 3 tbsp runny honey
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 spring onions finely sliced
• Handful of plain toasted peanuts 

Method:

Place the pork into a bowl, add the sugar, soy sauce, lemon juice and lime leaves, season with black pepper, stir and then set aside for half an hour.

Heat the oil in a large casserole dish (one with a lid).  Fry the shallots over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes until softened and little browned.  Add the garlic, ginger and chilli, fry for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.  Spoon the curry paste into the pan, mixing well and fry for a further minute.  Stir in the pork and the marinade and cook for 5-10 minutes until the pork is lightly coloured on all sides.

Pour the water into the dish, stir well and bring to a simmer.  Place the lid onto the casserole dish and place into a preheated oven (180 degrees) and leave to cook for a couple of hours.  Carefully remove the dish from the oven (there will still be a fair bit of liquid), remove the lid and place the dish on a medium heat on the hob, you want the curry sauce to bubble and thicken, this could take a further 20-30 minutes,  as the sauce thickens, add the honey.  Keep stirring until the pork is thickly coated and glossy looking, serve with rice and top with the spring onion slices and peanuts.

This recipe is adapted slightly from a Hairy Bikers recipe and feeds two comfortably.  I have to say this recipe is a keeper, so much flavour!  I did have some concerns about the liquid and certainly this would not have turned out as it did in the hour the recipe suggested it should cook for!  This is now one of my new favourite curries, try it, you won't be disappointed.  Whilst we like a bit of heat, you can adjust the level of chilli according to taste.

Panissa Rice

Panissa Rice

• 50g of diced pancetta
• 50g chorizo, cut into small bite size pieces
• 1 large onion
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 litre of beef stock
• 20g fresh rosemary, finely diced
• 300g Arborio risotto rice
• 250ml red wine
• 1 X 400g tin of plum tomatoes
• 1 X 400g tin of Borlotti beans
• Handful of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 12 fine asparagus spears
• 12 slices of grilled pancetta
• Parmesan shavings

Method: 

Place the diced pancetta and chorizo into a cold casserole pan, put it on a medium heat and cook out the fat has rendered out (10 minutes or so), stirring occasionally.  Peel and finely chop the onion and chop the celery into small 1cm chunks.  Stir the veg into the pan and and cook for around 10 minutes until softened, stirring often.  In a separate pan, simmer the stock and rosemary.

Stir the rice into the veg for around two minutes or so, until toasted, then pour in the wine and let it it cook away.  Add the tomatoes, stirring through until they are broken up and combined with the rice and veg.  Start adding the stock, a ladleful at a time, you need to let each ladleful cook away before adding more.  Constantly stir the rice (otherwise it will stick to the pan) for around 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked.  Whilst at this stage, steam your asparagus spears and grill the pancetta until nice and crispy, and set aside.  Drain the beans and stir them into the pan with the last ladleful of stock.  When your spoon stands up, it is done.  Taste and season the rice with black pepper and stir through the chopped parsley.  This recipe serves four. Plate up and top each dish with the asparagus, grilled pancetta and Parmesan shavings.

This recipe is adapted from Jamie Cooks Italy and all I can say is wow, packed full of flavour, I think my tweaks to the original recipe and the addition of the toppings really made this a great bowl of comfort food, perfect for those chilly nights.  

Rafanata

Rafanata

• Handful of rocket salad
• 400g  potatoes
• 2 knobs of butter
• Splash of milk
• 50g pecorino or Parmesan cheese (grated)
• Small piece of freshly grated horseradish
• 2 large eggs
• 50g of smoked pancetta
• 70g coarse stale breadcrumbs
• Salt and pepper

Method:
Peel and chop the potatoes and boil in a pan of salted water for around 15 minutes or until tender.  Drain and leave to steam dry in the pan.  Add a knob butter, splash of milk, horseradish and most of the cheese (reserve some for later).  Crack in the eggs, season and then mash away until you get a nice smooth mash and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Slice the pancetta and place in a cold 18cm non-stick ovenproof frying pan.  Heat the pan over a medium heat and when the pancetta starts to sizzle add the breadcrumbs, toss over the heat until crisp and golden and then mix into the mash.

Press the mash in to the frying pan, smoothing it out.  Fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes, loosen the edges with a spatula then lift slightly and pop the remaining knob of butter into the pan underneath.  Once melted, put a plate on top of the pan, carefully flip over and slip the rafanata back into the pan.  Bake in the oven for around 30 minutes or until golden.  Place the rafanata onto a plate and top with the rocket salad and the remaining grated cheese. 

I served this with a couple of thinly sliced sirloin steaks, rocket and asparagus, however you can eat it with anything you fancy.  Whilst we enjoyed the dish I have to say it looked nothing like the picture in the cookbook, but still very tasty.

Recipe adapted from Jamie Cooks Italy.

Festival of Sussex Gins 2018

Gin, gin and more gin, well Sussex gins to be exact, that was the promise, so did the Brighton GIN Club deliver?  In a word, yes, there were more Sussex based gin distillers than you could shake an empty Copa glass at!

All set for a busy gin festival

Having been to the festival the previous year I knew what to expect and given that this was going to be the largest festival of Sussex gins, I couldn’t wait.  This year the festival was held at the Clare Hall in Haywards Heath, a bigger venue, but rightly so as there was even more gin goodness to sample and buy.

There were 10 gin distillers at this event, which was once again sponsored by Fentimans who were showcasing some new tonic water flavours.

The distillers showcasing their gins this year were:-

• Blackdown Distillery
• Slake Spirits
• Brighton Gin
• Cabin Pressure Spirits
• Mayfield Distilling Company
• Chilgrove Gin Company
• Chichester Harbour Gin
• Generation Distillers
• Harley House Distillery
• Madam Jennifer Distillery

Of the distillers mentioned above a number of them were rather new to the gin scene, some having only started producing gin earlier in the year!  But hey, you can never have too much gin and it is always pleasing to see and taste new gins and as per last year, we were not disappointed.

Getting busy at Festival of Sussex Gins

The day was split into two sessions, an afternoon and an evening session where you had 3 hours to sample the gins, buy the gins and talk about gins to your hearts content.  Now I like to talk, so couple that with a bunch of passionate gin distillers and that 3 hours goes by in next to no time!

We once again got to meet the lovely Sarah from Blackdown who not only brought along her award winning Sussex dry gin, silver birch vodka, silver birch vermouth and elderberry liqueur, but she had new gins flavoured with tea, sage and bay.

Blackdowns range of gins and vodka

 All I can say is Sarah, you are definitely onto winners with all of these gins, they were Fabulous, yes, with a capital F, they were that good!

Thomas from Slake Spirits

The equally lovely Thomas from Slake Spirits did not disappoint, his gin, which is really smooth, and went down equally well in his Slake Gin Fitz cocktail.

Slake Gin Fitz cocktail

Fitz is a British sparkling wine, along the lines of a very good prosecco, but for obvious reasons they can’t call it prosecco and I will  be checking them out that’s for sure.

Brighton Gin and rock!

I must remember next time to sample the Brighton Gin with the pieces of Brighton Rock that Kathy was putting together, it looked rather good!

All in all it was a great way to spend a few hours doing what I love to do best, drink gin!  The new distillers all had great gins with the promise of new blends to come.

As always, Fentimans did not fail to disappoint with their array of mixers including their new offerings of Oriental Yuzo and Pink Rhubarb, all of which can lift the flavour of even the most uninspiring gin, I hasten to add that all the gins on offer were well and truly inspired, there definitely was no uninspiring going on in any shape or form or glass!

Just to say, if any of the fab distillers who made the event the success it was require any specific reviews of their gins, then please do get in touch, I will be more than happy to help you out, cough cough, nudge nudge 😉


Once again good value for money, £20 entry fee, a nice Copa gin glass along with goody bag including some of Fentimans new range, a small price to pay for a few hours of gin heaven.

Me and Jason of The Brighton Gin Club

For those of you new to The Brighton Gin Club, Jo and Jason as well as putting on wonderful gin festivals, also hold numerous other events in and around Brighton, including cheese tasting with gin pairings, charity events, gin tasting, basically anything to do with gin -  you get the picture!
Check them out at www.brightonginclub.com  for details of upcoming events.

In conjunction with one of the distillers from the day and RH Uncovered, we will be having a competition coming soon where one of you fab readers can win a bottle of gin so watch this space for more details.