Week 11 - Plain and Simple Fish Pie

Not so much of a bumper edition this week with only one recipe to report on but due to an incredibly hectic week there was only one night when both Mr Gem and I were in and that was on Monday! I did toy with the idea of cooking something new on Saturday but to be completely honest I really fancied a curry so I made an old favourite instead - it was good but not new so I'll have to keep that to myself I'm afraid. Maybe next years resolution will be to keep a log of all my favourite recipes...who knows?!

I was watching one of the last Something for the Weekend episodes the other week and they made an Asian fish pie and it got me thinking... "what's wrong with a traditional lovely fish pie?" I do love Asian food, its probably one of my favourite things to eat, but sometimes I think TV chefs must feel the pressure of having to come up with something fresh and exciting every week when really I just fancied good old tradition for a change. 

So my Fish Pie - I found this in a recipe book I bought from a charity shop about 2 years ago, the recipe book went on the shelf and stayed there untouched until last Monday when I was looking for a quick and tasty fish pie recipe. The book is called: Fish and Seafood and was originally from Marks and Spencers and you could pick up a copy from amazon and its actually cheaper on amazon than I paid in the charity shop! 

Anyway - a similar fish pie recipe can be found here except mine didn't contain eggs (as I didn't have any) and I also added some peas and sweetcorn to the sauce for a bit of texture. The recipe I was working to also recommended that you poach the salmon in brandy which sounded delicious but again I didn't have any to hand so I just poached all the fish in milk and I didn't feel as if I was missing anything.

It was delicious - fish pie is one of those dishes that I always fancy but never cook but it was everything I wanted in a pie; warming and creamy with the different flavours of fish and just a bit of cheese flavour. Surprisingly the recipe was very generous, the original recipe was for four people so I halved it and it still made three good portions. 

I think if I was to make it again I would definitely add the eggs and try the brandy trick which would add a lovely depth of flavour to the sauce but for a quick Monday night tea it was a winner for me. 

Mr Gem didn't say much about this one as he was dashing out the door to football - however he requested first dibs on the leftovers the next night so it must have been pretty good.

Because I think it could be improved on I'd give this one a 7 out of 10. 

So as promised a rather shorter edition this week but I've already got a roast chicken dinner and coffee and walnut cake lined up for week 12 (I was so excited about the chicken last night I forgot to take a picture so you'll just have to imagine how amazing it looked!) 

Also - I picked up a butternut squash in the supermarket yesterday that I'll need to do something with - any recommendations would be much appreciated!

Happy cooking!

Week 10 - Strawberry Cupcakes, Aubergine Parmigiana and Spicy Trout Fillets

Well... Week 10 is going to be a bumper post with 3 new recipes tried - and more importantly 2 new foods that I've never tried before.

First of all though apologies that this post is late - I usually write them on a Sunday but to be completely frank I was far to hungover yesterday to even consider writing about food. As a result I also ate some terrible things and I'm not at all hopeful about this weeks weigh in...anyway I digress.

This week I was faced with the challenge of what to do with trout fillets, a vegetable that I have never liked and therefore never cooked with and a bit of Sunday baking - so let's jump straight in with the baking, because lets face it, cakes always go down well, whereas aubergine may not!

Strawberry Cupcakes:

A few weeks ago I made the mistake of freezing some fresh strawberries, thinking that they would last longer - however when I defrosted some to have with yoghurt for a healthy breakfast they were awful, really mushy and a bit slimy in texture - so the rest of the punnet stayed in the freezer until I could find something to do with them.

I recently treated myself to a new cookery book - Cakes, Bakes and Cupcakes (other booksellers are available!) and it is amazing - you know you've got a good cookbook when you could eat almost everything in it, anyway I found  recipe for strawberry cupcakes in my new book so decided to give it a whirl. I couldn't find a link to this online so here is the recipe (or at least the ingredients - the method is just how I did it)

200g Fresh Strawberries

200g Caster Sugar

150g Unsalted Butte

3 eggs

200g self raising flours 1/2 tsp baking powder

50 ml Butter milk (I used coconut milk as I didn't have buttermilk)

Put the strawberries and 50g sugar in a bowl, sealed with cling film and place the bowl over a pan of simmering water.

Then make the cakes up mixing the the remaining ingredients together. Separate into cake cases and bake in the oven at 190 degrees for 20 minutes. Meanwhile the strawberries should be melting into a syrup with the sugar.

When the cakes come out of the oven, prick them with a cocktail stick and then drizzle the syrup over them so it soaks through. When the cakes have fully cooled, top them with a butter cream topping - I added some strawberry syrup to my frosting to make it a bit flavoured and give it a bit of colour.

The cakes were so delicious I will definitely be making these again although I may try a few other recipes out of my book first! 

The only thing I would change is the fact that I slipped a bit when adding the syrup to the butter cream and when I tried to ice them it went a bit flat...but I'll know for next time. Definitely a treat for a birthday party - or just a Sunday!

Aubergine Parmigiana:

In last weeks post I mentioned that I had bought an aubergine from the supermarket and was a bit concerned that I neither like aubergine nor know what to do with one... luckily for me, my good friend Amy read my post and suggested I try Aubergine Parmigiana as an easy dish for an aubergine virgin. 

I had a quick look through my books and found a recipe in Jamie's Itay - there is a similar version here. I really enjoyed the process of making this recipe not only because I was using an ingredient I have never used before but the griddling of the aubergine until it was charred felt very Mediterranean and a bit cheffy! 

It's a really simple meal to make, all you need to do is griddle the aubergines until they are charred on both sides, layer it up in an oven dish with the tomato sauce and Parmesan, top with breadcrumbs and bake in the oven, I also popped a few slices of sliced fresh mozzarella on the top whilst it baked. 

I have to admit when I sat down to eat it I was a bit dubious about whether I would like it - but after the first forkful I was converted. The aubergine was lovely and the whole meal was delicious and really filling - so thank you to Amy for the recommendation, I will definitely be making this again - its the perfect midweek meal and so satisfying. 

Mr Gem really enjoyed this meal, you can tell when he really enjoys it as he doesn't say a great deal whilst he's eating it! 

Spiced Trout with Sweet Potato Chips:

My final new dish for this week was spiced trout, this was another random ingredient chosen under the slight haze of a hungover visit to the supermarket.

I have never cooked or eaten trout before so I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, I didn't really want to put it in a stew or a pie or anything as I wanted to actually taste the flavour of the trout. 

I found the recipe on BBC Good Food and whilst it looked simple it looked very tasty - plus it included sweet potato chips, I love sweet potato - I think I'd rather have sweet potato than normal potato most of the time.

To cook the trout I mixed flour with Cajun spices and then coated the fish in the spiced flour. Then I chopped sweet potatoes into chips, coated in olive oil and baked in the oven for 30 minutes until they were just getting a little charred on the edges. When the chips were almost done I fried the trout in hot oil whilst I steamed some spinach. 

The trout was lovely, really crispy skin and with just a hint of the spices which went well with the sweet chips. Mr Gem is a big big fan of crispy skin so he was particularly happy with this meal. 

I'd definitely cook trout again, I quite like trying different fish - especially since we're often told not to have too much cod and salmon due to over fishing and trout is a really nice flavoured fish. 

Anyway - that's all for Week 10 - see you in Week 11!

Week 9 - Malaysian Chicken Broth and Apricot Oat Bars

So I'm writing week 9 as I'm about to enter the 10th week of my 2012 challenge and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. I was wandering round Asda today doing the weekly shop thinking about what I'll be cooking this week and to my surprise I came away from the shop with my usual trolley load plus an aubergine and some trout fillets. I don't even like aubergine and I haven't the first idea of what to do with trout - but I'm going have to find something to do with both of them - although potentially not in the same recipe! By the end of this year I'll have tried so many new foods that I wouldn't have tried before and I just find that so exciting! Anyway I've digressed, you'll have to come back next week to find out what I do with this weeks shopping, but read on to see how I got on in week 9! 

Apricot Oat Bars 

Try as I might I can never find an oat bar or granola bar that is quite how I want it to be. I came pretty close to one that I had on Sunday in Costa Coffee but although it was delicious it was tiny, had over 300 calories in it and I felt guilty ALL day afterwards. 

After a hard days house hunting with Mr Gem I needed to clear my head so headed to the kitchen to do some baking and come up with a recipe for an Oat Bar that I will really enjoy eating and won't cause my waistline to expand too rapidly! 

I couldn't find a recipe online that a) I had all the ingredients for and b) I liked the look of so after a bit of reading around I decided that the best way to make the bars would be to make a cake mix as a base and then add in my own ingredients - so instead of providing a link to somebody else's recipe, for the first time in Kitchen Gems (albeit short) history here is how I made them:

Basic Mixture 

150g Self Raising Flour 

1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

75g Soft Brown Sugar 

150g Porridge Oats 

2 eggs whisked

2 Tbsp Clear Honey

1 Tbsp Butter

Any fruit and nuts you want to use - I used 25g Walnuts, 25g Mixed Raisins and Sultanas, 25g Dried Apricots chopped up and half a banana mashed up. 

Mix the dry ingredients (including the nuts and fruit) together whilst you melt the butter in the saucepan. When all the dry ingredients are well mixed add the melted butter, eggs and honey and mix until all combined. 

Pour into a lined square baking tin and cook on 180 degrees for about 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Done! 

I got 12 bars out of this recipe and they work out at about 150 calories each so as well as being very tasty they are filling and won't break your calorie limit, but the best thing about these is, you can use whatever fruit and nuts you have in the store cupboard, add chocolate, yoghurt etc - they're a really versatile snack. 

Mr Gem was quite fond of these as a snack and all 12 were gone before the week was out. I'd give these a 7.5 out of 10 - give them a whirl, I'd love to hear of any variations on the recipe that work well.

Malaysian Chicken Soup

My second new recipe for this week was a real winner. I found the recipe in Sainsburys free magazine - but I can't find a similar recipe anywhere online. 

For two good sized portions you'll need olive oil for frying, an onion (really thinly sliced) diced red chilli, 2 tsps lemongrass paste, 75g easy cook brown rice, 1/2 tin of light coconut milk, 600ml chicken stock 1 tbsp fish sauce, cooked chicken breast, shredded, 5 spring onions, 75g sugar snap peas cut into thin strips and a lime.

Fry the onions and chilli until softened and then add the lemongrass paste and stir til the onion and chilli are coated in it. Add the rice, stock and coconut milk and bring to the boil, turn down the heat and let simmer for about 20 - 25 mins. Add the chicken, spring onions and sugarsnaps and heat through for another 5 mins. Squeeze half a lime into the sauce and mix. Divide the soup between 2 bowls and serve imediately. 

It was a really fresh and flavoursome soup but with the rice and chicken it was so filling. 

This was a definite winner in the Kitchen Gems household, Mr Gem has already requested it again soon! Its also another meal that is so satisfying without being highly calorific - just 418 calories per serving. I'd give this meal 8.5 out of 10, simple but effective.

Week 8 - Skint Spaghetti, Pancakes and Goulash

The last couple of weeks have been one-recipe weeks, mostly because I've been focusing on getting the blog up and running and I haven't really had the time for looking at new recipes. However now that I am officially live and blogging I thought I'd bring you a bumper Week 8 with no less than three new recipes!

So on the blog for this week will be; an Avocado Spaghetti Sauce, a Hearty Beef Goulash and in recognition of pancake day - Scotch Pancakes!

So, without further ado I'd better crack on otherwise I'll still be writing this post in week 9!

First up this week was Avocado Spaghetti Sauce - and here it is:

 

The recipe for this sauce is something that I developed using a few leftovers in the Kitchen Gem's fridge. Mr Gem and I eat quite a lot of pasta, but its easy to get into a rut and just cook the same dishes every week, so when I had a couple of leftover avocados I thought it would work quite nicely in a pasta sauce.

To make the sauce I blended the two avocados, two cloves of garlic, one chilli, and the juice of one lime, a splash of olive oil and a tablespoon of low fat cream cheese until it made a smooth sauce. The result was a fresh and zingy sauce that was delicious served over some wholewheat spaghetti with roasted vegetables and topped with a little Parmesan. 

This is a really quick and easy dish to make - and because the colour is green you feel like you're getting some goodness. Mr Gem said it was a nice change from the usual pasta sauce and actually really enjoyed it despite being a little unsure at first.

For a quick Monday night dinner I'd give it an easy 7 out of 10 (lets face it - spaghetti sauce is never getting more than a 7 is it?!)

Next up for Week 8 was Scotch Pancakes:

I don't like normal pancakes - I know that this fact makes me seem a bit strange but I never have like them. 

I didn't think it would be fair to deprive Mr Gem of some form of pancake on Shrove Tuesday so I opted for a sweet version that we could have as a pudding rather than a main meal.

I found the recipe in Eat In magazine and it was so easy to make, I would definitely make these again for a treat. The exact recipe I followed doesn't appear to be online but you can find a similar one here.

Basically you need to whisk flour, eggs, milk, sugar and baking powder to make a smooth batter and drop them into a hot frying pan 1 tablespoon at a time - I kept the pan oiled with low fat cooking spray between batches. When bubbles start to pop on the surface of the pancakes flip them over and cook on the other side until they are cooked through.

I did have a teeny tiny kitchen fire when I made the last pancake as my pan got a little bit too hot, but aside from the minor panic and Mr Gem swearing that I'll burn the house down one of these days they were so easy to make and tasted lovely. We had them with vanilla ice cream and honey, but you could also make them with fruit, or nuts depending on your taste.

So because these are my first attempt at pancakes I'm going to mark these a 9 out of 10!

And finally for Week 8 we have a Beef Goulash: 

We don't have stews very often at Kitchen Gems, but every time I make one it reminds me how much I love hearty warming food. I came across the recipe on BBC Good Food whilst I was looking for something else and it looked so lovely I wanted to try it.  Its a longish recipe so I won't bore you with the details and if you want to make it all the details are on the link above.

Its quite an easy recipe to make, and the flavours are delicious. I would add more paprika next time to really lift the flavour. I didn't have quite enough tomato puree to follow the recipe exactly but other than that it was a lovely stew. We ate it with baby new potatoes and greens, but it would go really well with rice or dumplings.

A lovely comforting dish and I'd give it a 7 out of 10. 

I'm now into Week 8 of my New Years Resolution and I can honestly say I'm loving it - I find myself wanting to try something new on an almost daily basis - can't wait for next week! Happy cooking!

Week 7 - Pad Thai

So I've finally caught up and I'm writing this in real time, I suddenly feel a bit apprehensive as if I'm performing to a live audience! 

I've already had some constructive feedback, so especial thanks to Mr Gem who, after seeing my attempt at food-styling for today's recipe, has offered to be my creative director because I (and I quote) 'don't have the eye for it' - but the below images are of my own doing so judge for yourself.

Also I should mention the lovely Sam Brown who told me my content was good but my apostrophes need work - (does apostrophes need an apostrophe?!) so I'll bear that in mind for all my future posts.

Anyway - onto the main event. This week's new dish was Pad Thai, I found the recipe in a Good Housekeeping recipe book that I've never used before so my new years resolution is already paying off!

Fancying my skills as a food stylist (before Mr Gem brought my dreams crashing around my ears) I thought I'd photograph the ingredients as a sort of 'before' shot:

As you can see, noodles, eggs, red chilli, spring onions, sugar snap peas, soy sauce, sweet chilli and peanut butter (random I know but it worked) and then a meat or veg of your choice - I went with prawns. 

The recipe looked to be quite easy but I hit a stumbling block quite early on - peanut butter and sweet chilli was actually a recommended substitute for peanut pesto (which I've never heard of) however the first step was to fry the pesto with the sugar snap peas. Immediately the peanut better started to overheat and I got a bit flustered. However, once I got all the other ingredients in the pan it was fine. 

This recipe couldn't be simpler, all you need to do is put all the ingredients in the wok pretty much at the same time and cook until its heated through - obviously if you're using chicken you'd need to make sure the chicken is cooked through before serving.

The one thing I would change next time would be that on this occasion I used Straight to Wok noodles, however, I discovered they have a tendency to break up in the wok leaving the recipe looking more like rice than noodles! Next time I'd cook regular noodles separately and then add them to the wok cooked. 

Aside from my initial panic with the peanut butter it was a really easy dish to make and actually I was quite surprised to find that it tasted like a real Pad Thai, and it didn't look too bad either!

The only other thing I'd say is that this is a dish that needs to be eaten immediately, Mr Gem was working late so I had to reheat his and he thought it was a bit dry, whilst fresh out of the pan I thought it was delicious! Overall score out of 10 would be a good 8. 

I've found a link online to this recipe here so give it a whirl if you fancy.

Week 6 - Chicken Biryani & Oreo Cheesecakes

I was watching the Hairy Bikers a while back and they made an amazing looking Chicken Biryani, I really wanted to try it so I found a recipe online and gave it a whirl. 

Sadly for the first time in 2012 I was a bit disappointed and this is because the recipe used shortcuts - using a curry paste instead of mixing the spices. I'd kind of thought this when I downloaded the recipe but hoped that something in the cooking process would make it taste like a biryani, but it didn't. It was delicious but aside from the almonds on the top if just tasted like a normal curry that I've made before. I realise that I've not sold this recipe that well but the recipe is here if you want to try it. Like I say it was a nice meal just didn't wow me - but I did take my own picture - no more plagiarism from Kitchen Gems! Here it is in all its glory!

As I was disappointed I can really only give this recipe a 5 out of 10 - I will be on the look out for a better version of this recipe later in the year!

Slightly more successful this week were the Mini Oreo Cheesecakes. These where amazing. So easy to make and so so cute. They'd be perfect for a house party and actually they aren't too fattening only 134 calories each so perfect for a tasty sweet treat!

Unfortunately they tend to dry out in the freezer so I wouldn't recommend freezing them really (they still tasted nice when defrosted but they'd just lost the moist texture). The picture below doesn't really do them justice but they are lovely bite-size morsels of Oreo yumminess.

I found the recipe here if anyone would like to try it. Personally I gave these 8 out of 10 but Mr Gem thought the base needed to be crunchier so would give them a 6 out of 10.

Week 5 - Warm and Cosy Chicken Pie

I am a big lover of pie, I find it so comforting and delicious its a good thing its a bit faffy to make otherwise I would be a pastry beast! My mum makes a mean pie and she makes amazing pastry. Sadly I wasn't blessed with her pastry making genes but eating a good pie instantly comforts me and sends me back to my childhood.

Because of my terrible pastry making - I think I must have hot hands or something - I rarely attempt to make pie but this week the temperature dropped and to be fair I'd been eating a lot of salads and just wanted something really warming and cosy, plus you can buy ready rolled pastry so why not! I came across a recipe for a healthy chicken pie and thought I'd give it a whirl. You can try the recipe out here

I made a few alterations to the recipe to suit my ingredients, and to be honest I was quite upset that the recipe was missing mushrooms as chicken and mushroom really goes well so I chucked a couple of mushrooms in for good measure.

Also because this is a healthy recipe it used filo pastry but I changed this for Puff Pastry and it still came in at under 550 calories per person so still pretty healthy if you ask me. The pie was delicious, really warming and comforting and filling. I made the recipe for two and there was still about a portion left over at the end. Mr Gem really enjoyed it and it was actually a nice change from all the Asian themed food I'd been trying.

I'd give this recipe a 7.5 out of 10, and thats just because pie isn't as flavoursome as some of the other recipes I've done this year!