Why didnt I think of this???

MASSIVE Yorkshire pudding with sausages, chips and gravy! Brilliant!!!

Lunch Feast!!! with left overs....

So, I had a made a huge roast the night before and had some left over Meats, potatoes, Liver (stuffing) and thought wouldn't it be nice to have an array of cold meats and other bits.

I always enjoy creating things from what I have and find in the fridge.

so these were the items I found and this is what I manage to do with them
- half cold roast chicken
- 6 roast potatoes
- some salad leaves
- hand full Cherry tomatoes
- a glug of yogurt (not enough to satisfy your need for something healthy almost a little to much to throw away)
- fresh chicken liver
- fresh thyme
- Octopus :)
- Bread
- cheese
- 3 figs

Cold Left over Chicken
Great as an insert to a sandwich so what I did was simply slice the meat and set on a plate. serve cold and everyone can help themselves really.

Garlic Mayo
for every table spoon of yogurt slab 2 table spoons of mayonnaise. mix well add a pinch of salt and sugar. Crush a small garlic clove and add a pinch at a time and mix well. keep adding the garlic should you wish to make it super garlicky - serve with chicken.. YUM!!!

Chicken Liver Parfait
2 small shallots needs to be diced and in a pan, heat a very generous knob of butter and stir shallots in then add the chicken liver and cook through. at the end add salt, pepper and fresh thyme. at the last second add a dash of cream (optional) you can also add some brandy to give it an additional twang. blitz in a blitzer until smooth and set a ramekin/bowl. pour melted butter on top and set in the fridge to set.

Octopus - Spanish Style
1 x Frozen and clean octopus
Boil frozen octopus in cold running water and salt for at least 45 mins to and hour. once tender remove and set a side to cool. slice octopus into bite size pieces and set a side. slice the roasted potatoes (you can boil your potatoes too. skin on and remove skin once potatoes have cooked) and set on a dish. Place the sliced octopus on the sliced potatoes. dash good quality olive oil and sprinkle with good quality flaky salt and dash some sweet Spanish paprika on the top.

place the salad leaves, tomatoes, cheese in individual platters and set on table.

get everyone over an tuck in. Nothing like finishing up left overs and making it look nothing like a Tupperware party.

xxx

Octopus

In the mood for Octopus. I am going to find and try and will post.

wish me luck!

xxx

I Taught My First Cooking Class :)

So last Thursday I had the privilege of introducing Malaysian cooking with people who have a passion for food and..... it was awesome!!!!

I made my classic Nasi Goreng Kampung (Malaysian Fried Rice) with a cucumber and pineapple salad and we finished the evening with Goreng Pisang (fried Banana Fritters).

To check out the classes visit http://www.spicyroots.com/ and to view pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/cookspicyroots/sets/72157627663845711/show/

Nasi Goreng Kampung and Acar Timun

Malaysian Fried Rice with Cucumber Salad

Steamed Rice

1 x Cup of Jasmine Rice per person

1 ½ cups of water for every cup of rice

Ingredients (for 2 -3 people)

2 x fresh red chillies

1 x fresh birds eye chilli (add more if you wish for it to blow your head off :)

2 x cloves garlic

3 x medium size shallots

½ cm Shrimp paste (hard variety) or a teaspoon of the soft googie variety (belacan) * Very important!

1 x can tuna

6 - 8 tiger prawns (optional)

4 x table spoon vegetable oil

2 x egg

1 x cup of frozen peas

2 x tablespoon light soy sauce

Salt and sugar to taste

Method

Chop red chillies, birds eye chilli (seed and all), garlic and shallots and bruise in a pastel and mortar or blitz with a little water in a blender and set aside. The ingredients should be blended together but not to a pulp like consistency. Some larger bits are perfectly fine. If you not have a blender or a pastel and mortar, you can simply chop the ingredients up into small pieces.

Heat wok on stove until very hot and pour in oil. Oil should be hot immediately, stir in shrimp paste (Belacan) and fry for a few minutes. Once it starts to fall apart add in the blended ingredients of chillies, garlic and shallots and stir fry for at least 5 minutes until brown. Always keep stirring making sure the bottom does not burn and all sides of the ingredients get a chance to brown.

Next add the canned tuna, prawns along with the frozen peas and fry for another couple of minutes.

In the same pan, set to one side the mixture and make a space to crack the egg in. Reduce the heat slightly and add some oil in the space in the wok. Crack the egg and leave for a few seconds, now scramble the egg slightly until a little cooked and mix all the ingredients together. Stir for a minute or so. The aim of the game is to get some chunky bits of egg but to have a silky consistency which give the fried rice its rich taste.

Add the soy sauce, some salt and a little sugar and stir for a few more seconds. Lastly add the rice and stir fry for at least 3 – 4 minute on medium heat.

Taste rice to make sure you have a nice balance of flavours.

Cucumber and Pineapple Salad (for 4 – 6 people)

Ingredients

1 x cucumber

1/2 x pineapple

1 x white onion

1 x fresh red chilli

6 x Lime

Salt and sugar to taste

Method

Cut cucumber in half and scoop up the seeds using a spoon and slice as thinly as possible and place into a bowl. Similarly, cut the pineapple into a similar size of the cucumber and place it into the same bowl as the cucumber. Deseed the chilli and slice and stir in with cucumber and pineapple.

Peel the onion and cut into half and slice thinly and set into the same bowl as the cucumber.

Juice the limes and mix a touch of salt and sugar and taste to make sure you have a nice balance of sour, salty and sweet.

Mix the marinate together with the vegetables and set aside.

Banana Fritters with (bought) Ice Cream (per person)

Ingredients

1 x ripe banana

½ cup flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ cup sparkling cold water

A pinch of salt

Vegetable oil for frying

4 x table spoon honey (optional)

1 x tub of good quality vanilla ice cream

Method

For the Batter, mix together flour, baking powder salt with water until mixture is a gloopy consistency. If you

had too much water, add a little more flour. To check if it is a good consistency, dip finger into batter and

you should have a nice big coat of batter around your finger. Cut your bananas into chunks.Dip Bananas in

batter and fry until slightly brown for about 2 – 3 minutes

Make sure your oil is heated well in a pan. It has to be very hot

Drizzle honey on the top of the fried bananas with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream and serve immediately

enjoy!!! xx