Uncle Ted's Recipes #16: Lemon juice & curd with vanilla and poppy seed cake

 This is a recipe that I thought of from scratch and while it is rudimentary it is simple enough that even the most green of bakers should be able to make it easily.

This is a fairly light cake although it is quite moist and dense so once you have tried it according to this recipe then try playing around with the ingredient amounts.

Ingredients:

350-400g each of both plain and self-raising flour (don't feel afraid to add a little more flour if the mix ends up looking not dry enough)

200-300g lemon curd

5 Large eggs

2 Tablespoons sunflower oil

400g honey instead of sugar

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda or baking powder

lemon juice and grated rind of two lemons

100g poppy seeds

20-30ml vanilla extract

4-6 tablespoons brown muscovado sugar

Method:

Step 1 - Preheat the oven to either 200C fan-forced or 220C double-sided and line a deep baking tray with baking paper that you have crumpled and re-rolled out.

Step 2 - Sift the flour and bicarbonate/baking powder into a large mixing bowl and mix together and then create a well in the middle. On the side, crack the eggs into a bowl or jug and then beat them before adding in the oil and mixing well until the eggs and oil has a tiny bit of a cloudy tint to it

Step 3 - Pour the eggs and oil into the centre of the well in the flour mix and fold it until it is mixed all in. Afterwards, mix in the honey, lemon juice, vanilla extract and 2/3 of the poppy seeds and mix well until all is combined.

Step 4 - Spread half of the cake mix into the baking tray and then spoon in and spread all of the lemon curd on top of this. After the curd has been distributed as evenly as possible, spread on top the rest of the cake mix.

Step 5 - Sprinkle the remaining poppy seeds, grated lemon rind and brown muscovado sugar on top of the cake and then place into the oven for 30 minutes. Check when the cake is cooked by inserting a knife into it and if it comes out as mostly dry or with just a bit of lemon curd on it and no moist cake mix then its nearly cooked.

Step 6 - Leave to cool for 1.5-2.5 hours before serving with lemon and ginger tea or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a glass of white wine.

Uncle Ted's Recipes #15: Saag Paneer with pulses and pre-marinated paneer

Sorry if the lack of updates on this blog has left your appetites for film and video game reviews or recipe posts insufficiently satisfied but here I am again with an old recipe that I have updated a bit during my time spent experimenting with recipes during lockdown.

So here is a recipe I built up for saag paneer with pre-marinated paneer and extra pulses that is suitable for most occasions and is simple enough that it can be adapted to different dietary needs.

Utensils:

• Chopping board
• Sieve/colander
• Garlic crusher
• Large chopping knife
• Small vegetable/herb knife
• Wooden spoon
• Cast iron or stainless steel saucepan or pot with a lid
• Measuring spoons

Ingredients:

• 2 medium white onions
• 6-8 garlic cloves
• 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 400g tinned or frozen spinach
• 400g low-fat coconut milk
• 3-5 tablespoons chilli flakes
• 2 tablespoons Garam Masala
• 2 tablespoons allspice
• 2 tablespoons ground tumeric
• 3 tablespoons curry powder
• 2 tablespoons tikka curry powder
• 1 lemon
• Vegetable oil
• 400-500g diced paneer (preferable), chicken breast or tofu
• 400g kala chana
• 400g green lentils
• 200g chickpeas
• 1 tablespoon cardamom pods
• 1 tablespoon caraway or cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon curry leaves
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds or cloves

Cooking method/process:

1. At least 2 hours before beginning cooking, dice the paneer into a tupperware box and squeeze all of the lemon juice into the box along with grating the lemon rind. Also add in a teaspoon of oil, a few shakes of salt and the tikka curry powder. After mixing all of this into the paneer, put on the lid, wrap in clingfilm and place into the fridge for at least a couple of hours
2. Heat up a few tablespoons of oil in the pan at about 20% heat along with the seeds, pods, chilli flakes and curry leaves along with a handful of shakes of salt before stirring and allowing to lightly simmer for 5 minutes but be VERY CAREFUL to make sure this doesn't burn.
3. Dice up the onions and add them to the pan along with the garlic after it has been crushed before stirring and turning up to 50% heat and allowing to simmer until the onions are moderately soft while keeping close attention to the pan to make sure this mixture doesn't burn. Just before dicing the onions, it would be a good idea to rinse the beans and pulses in a sieve/colander so that they have at least a few minutes to drain.
4. In a mug or bowl, pour a couple of tablespoons of oil before throwing in all of the ground spices aside from the tikka powder with a couple more tablespoons of oil and a few shakes of salt on top before mixing well and setting this curry paste mixture aside for a few minutes.
5. Get the paneer out of the fridge and add it into the saucepan along with the beans and pulses and mix well with a few shakes of salt and allow to cook for 10 minutes at 40% heat.
6. Add the curry paste to the pan and stir well before turning back up to 50% heat and cooking for 10 minutes.
7. Turn the pan up to 75% heat and add in the spinach, coconut milk, tinned tomatoes and a few small shakes of salt before mixing well and adding in boiled water if the whole mix still looks a little dry and allow the mix to cook at this level for 5-10 minutes before turning it right down to 20% heat and allowing it too cook slowly for 1-1.5 hours (keep a careful eye on the pot during this period to make sure it doesn't burn or boil over.

Serving suggestions:

Serve the curry with spinach and sweetcorn or lentil samosas, garlic naan bread, mango chutney and pilau rice with a garnish of a few leaves of coriander on top.

Serve with an ice cold glass of water or bottle of Cobra beer and after you've finished eating, have a warm cup of turmeric tea and a vanilla milkshake.

What to do with leftovers:

At the end of the week, if there is any of the curry left after you've eaten most of it, try heating up the remainder in some vegetable stock water with half a teaspoon of saffron, 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 150g of stewed lentils to make some saag paneer dhal soup.

Another option to use up any leftovers is to mildly heat it up and then place in a slightly warmed up paratha wrap with pickled red cabbage, dry vinaigrette slaw, cucumber and mint rajita and then closing up the wrap and lightly toasting it in sesame seed oil so that it can be closed up as an Indian kind of, sort of burrito.

Uncle Ted's Recipes #14: Hearty but light chicken breasts

 Usually this is a type of cooking I reserve for fish and seafood (mainly salmon, prawns or cod) but I tried it tonight with chicken and it works pretty well for that too. This is a hearty dish good enough for any night of the week that can be served with a wide variety of additions and side dishes/foods but first things first, let's get to the point of cooking the chicken first.

Utensils/tools:

1 small meat-cutting knife

1 medium baking tray & 1 oven

greaseproof paper or high-quality tin foil

Plate (you can choose to eat straight from the oven with your hands but I would not recommend it)

Ingredients:

2 medium skinless chicken breast pieces

20-30ml soya sauce

4 garlic cloves

2 teaspoons pickled ginger

1/4 chilli flakes (optional)

2 bay leaves (optional)

Cooking steps/method of preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 220C double-sided setting.
2. Lay some greaseproof paper or tin foil over the baking tray and place the chicken breasts onto said prepared tray. Use the knife to slice the chicken breasts down lengthways once halfway through and then four times sideways across the original cut a quarter through the chicken meat.
3. Pour the soya sauce all into the cuts made into the chicken but do not worry if it spills over the sides of the chicken pieces and into the parcel of paper/foil you've made on the baking tray.
4. Peel the garlic cloves then use a garlic crusher to crush the garlic over the chicken and then extract all the bits of the crushed garlic and spread over the breast pieces along with the pickled ginger. Alternatively, if you do not have a garlic crusher, get the cloves on a cutting board, crush them with the flat of the blade of a knife (with your hand on the opposite side to stabilize it) and then roughly dice the crushed garlic up.
5. Wrap up the parcel by folding it over the top and twisting either end shut and twisting them upwards.
6. Place the tray into the oven and cook for 25 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and place onto a plate that has been pre-heated for 3-4 minutes and serve

Uncle Ted's Serving recommendations

• Mash potato, ratatouille and roasted kale (this is my favourite way of serving this kind of chicken as it's probably the easiest to do considering roasted kale is easy to make and most supermarkets sell ready-to-microwave mash and tinned ratatouille).
• Brown rice cooked in vegetable stock, chilli flakes and red kidney beans with a side of wilted spinach and kale.
• Served on top of a udon noodle, vegetable broth and pak choi Chinese-style broth soup.
• Slice the chicken up and then serve it on top of a salad of avocado, petite pois, mint, bulgur wheat, cucumber, bean shoots and chives.
• Serve as part of a South-East-Asian mixed grill including kung-pow pork loin, Vietnamese pork belly bibimbap, chicken teriyaki and tempura beef.

Uncle Ted's recipes #13: Fruit & rum fudge cake

Considering that people have been asked to keep going out to the shops to a minimum during the lockdown I made this easy and minimal cake recipe so that people can have something nice to snack on with a cup of tea during these trying times.

Ingredients (makes 8 portions):
500g mix dried fruit
200-350g clear honey
15ml white rum
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
6 eggs
250g rice flour
250g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon (optional)
100-200 diced fudge

Method/cooking process:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 210C double-sided
2. Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl and then stir together before making a well in the middle
3. Beat the eggs in a jug or large mug before pouring into the centre of the well in the flour mix and folding into the mix until it is largely or entirely mixed in
4. Add in the rum and honey and mix normally until it is all mixed in and if it ends up being too liquidly then add in a few more tablespoons of rice flour and fold it in
5. Mix in the fudge and fruit before placing into a deep oven tray that has been lined with greaseproof paper
6. Place into the oven for 27 minutes while double checking at the 20-25 minute mark to make sure the cake isn't burning
7. Remove from the oven once the cake is finished cooking and remove from the pan before folding the paper down on the sides and letting cool for 2 hours
8. Cut up into eighths and serve with a cup of cinnamon tea or hot chocolate

Uncle Ted's Recipies #12: Vegetarian protein-packed curry

Hey guys hope you're all keeping well, washing your hands and staying safe in these trying times what with the COVID-19 crisis going on at the moment.

I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a while but I'm going to try and slowly get back to getting a trickle of content slowly back into this blog at the very least and to start that off I've got a made-up-from-scratch vegetarian curry recipe for you all to enjoy! My idea with this one is that it lasts for a few days at least and gets the most as is possible out of the spices lying around in your cupboard. Hopefully you won't have to get too much extra on top of what you already have lying around your place but in any case, I really hope you all enjoy this one or at least find a good way to adapt it.

UTENSILS:

1 Medium saucepan
1 Lid for the saucepan or at least a china plate that can cover it
1 Large-medium frying pan
1 Medium chopping board
1 Large vegetable cutting knife
1 Wooden spoon
1 Medium-small glass jar
1 Teaspoon
1 Tablespoon
Weighing scales if you're bad with judging weighing amounts by eye (no shame if you are bad at that considering no one is perfect)
1 Standard-sized coffee mug

INGREDIENTS:
Basmati rice
1 Large white onion
400-500g Quorn mince or mixed & pre-soaked red & green lentils or pre-marinated tofu
300-400g Pre-soaked Kala Chana or chickpeas
400g Tinned chopped tomatoes
400g Low-fat coconut milk
6-8 Cloves of garlic
Vegetable or sesame oil
Salt
10-15g Dried chilli flakes
8-10 Cardamom pods
5-7.5g Caraway seeds
5-10g Ground smoked paprika
5-10g Ground gram masala
5-10g Ground allspice
7.5-10g Curry powder
5-10g Ground cumin
5-7.5g Dried coriander
A chilled bottle of Cobra, an icy glass of Sauvignon Blanc or a mug of turmeric tea to drink while cooking (optional but recommended)

METHOD/COOKING/PREPERATION:

1- Mix 2-4 tablespoons of the oil along with all of the paprika, allspice, gram masala, cumin, curry powder & half of the chilli flakes along with 4 pinches of salt in the glass jar before sealing it shut, shaking it vigorously for 30-50 seconds and then checking if most of the mixture is mixed together. If not, use the teaspoon to mix it around, close the jar up again and try shaking it for another few seconds and also consider adding in another teaspoon of oil if it looks a tad dry. Wrap the jar of paste in clingfilm and then set aside in your fridge.

2 - Prep the basmati rice by measuring it out by half a coffee cup per person and then washing the rice in cold water with your hand 3-5 times in the pan. Then set aside and place half the corriander and 6-10 pinches of salt into the water.

3 - Begin heating up a couple of hearty glugs of oil in the frying pan at a medium heat. Once you can feel the heat with your hands from a couple of inches above the pan, throw in the remaining chilli flakes, cardamom pods and caraway seeds and toast for 2.5 mins while occasionally mixing and then add in the rest of the coriander and toast for another 2.5 mins. While this is going on, dice up the onion, while being careful not to do the same to your fingers, and add the onion into the frying pan and mix with 6 pinches of salt after the initial spices have finished toasting.

4 - Let the onion & spices simmer for 5-10 minutes while you prepare the garlic and red peppers. While doing this, feel free to add in another touch of oil in case the pan looks like the mix in it is getting a tad dry. Peel the garlic and crush a couple of times with the flat of the knife before pulling apart with your hands and throwing all of the garlic into the frying pan and stirring it for about 5 minutes now and again. While that is going on, prep the peppers by taking out the green tops, cutting in half, hollowing out the white and seeds and then washing before cutting into 1cm wide strips and throwing into the frying pan before mixing in and letting simmer for 5-10 minutes. At this point, add in the protein be that either lentils, tofu or Quorn.

5 - At this point, start heating up the water & rice saucepan onto boil by whacking the ring it is on to full blast. Once the water gets to the point where it is fully boiling you need to turn it down halfway and place the lid/plate over the top and let it simmer until the rice has fully or 95% absorbed the water. During this time, occasionally check on the rice and if it looks like its getting dry, do a taste test and add in a small bit of boiled water from the kettle. Once it is soft but firm & has absorbed all of the water, remove the rice from the head and keep the lid on until you are ready to serve.

6 - After the red peppers have finished simmering for their 5-10 minutes in the frying pan, throw in the rest of the ingredients including the pre-prepared curry paste in the glass jar in the fridge and mix well. Afterwards, turn the frying pan onto boil and letting the curry sauce boil for approximately 10 minutes to reduce the liquid content a little bit by about 1-2cm. Stir regularly while doing this and then turn down to 10% heat and stir occasionally and gently and don't feel afraid to add a splash of boiled kettle water in case it looks a tad dry. This is so that the curry sauce has enough time to let the flavours mellow together and keep warm while the rice finishes cooking.

7 - Once the rice has finished cooking, dish it up onto a mildly warmed-up plate with about 1-3 ladleful's of the sauce per person. You may want to add more or less depending on how hungry you are of course. I recommend serving this with either a butter or garlic naan bread, some green lentil and/or mix vegetable samosas, mango chutney and a chilled bottle of either Kingfisher or Cobra lager. Garnish the curry with a couple of sprigs of fresh coriander and enjoy!

Uncle Ted's Recipes #11: Porky Power Pasta

Ok so before we get into things I'd like to apologise for not having uploaded anything on this blog in quite some time but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things and produce more content on all of my online platforms. Hopefully this is the start of something great but only time will tell but anyway...on with the recipe!

Today we're going to be taking a look at a recipe that I cooked up (pardon the pun) last week while trying to think of what to do with some leftover breakfast meats that I had left over from some fry up breakfasts that I'd made earlier in the week. I had some sausages and bacon leftover that I couldn't really think of any other days last week where I'd want to have them for breakfast so I decided to incorporate them into a nutritious dinner where their saltiness and meaty textures would be nicely complimented. So here we go with the recipe proper and let me know if you guys have any suggestions to change or add to the recipe in the comments below!

Utensils:
1 large iron or cast iron pot or saucepan
1 medium meat slicing or fillet knife
1 medium vegetable knife
1 large chopping board
1 draining sieve or colander
1 fork
1 teaspoon
1 or 2 baking tray(s)
a roll of tin foil (possibly optional)

Ingredients:
1 diced large brown onion
200-300g spinach already washed and drained
100-200g petite pois peas
2 diced medium vine ripe tomatoes
3-6 rashers smoky back bacon
4-6 pork sausages (either standard pork or possibly pork and sage or Cumberland)
700-750g wholegrain fusilli pasta
200-300g Dijon mustard
vegetable oil
salt
ground smoked paprika
dried basil

Cooking method/Cooking steps:

Step 1 - Starting heating the oven on the grill setting to 250C while filling the pan/pot halfway with water and a couple of medium splashes of oil and start heating to the midway point on the dial.

Step 2 - Cover a baking tray with tin foil and then pierce the sausages 2 or 3 times on each side before placing in the tray and baking for 15-16 minutes while turning over halfway through.

Step 3 - Bring the water to a boil and throw in all of the pasta with a few pinches of salt and basil while giving a stir with the fork. Boil the pasta for 10 minutes and stir every 2 minutes very briefly while it is cooking again with the fork.

Step 4 - About 5-6 minutes before the sausages are finished cooking, cover another baking tray with foil and place the bacon in it to bake in the oven, remove the bacon from the oven at roughly the same time as the sausages. Once the meats are cooked, take them onto a chopping board and dice up with the meat knife and place into a bowl on the side for the time being.

Step 5 - When the pasta is cooked, drain it in the colander in the sink but do not lower the heat on the pan. Instead, place the pan back onto the heat and throw in a few splashes of oil along with the onion, a few pinches of salt and stir frequently while it cooks for 5 minutes. After this point, add in a few teaspoons of smoked paprika and stir to mix before adding in the tomatoes and mixing while cooking for another 5 minutes.

Step 6 - throw all of the spinach into the pan and stir until it is all wilted before adding in another pinch of basil and the diced up meat. Stir to mix before throwing in the pasta and mixing that in as well while also turning the heat down to the lowest possible setting.

Step 7 - throw in all of the mustard into the pan and mix in and then leave to heat up for about 3-4 minutes before adding in and mixing in the peas then leave to heat gently for another 4 or so minutes.

Step 8 - Serve on a gently-warmed plate either as it is or with a very light garnishing on top of parmesan and fresh basil leaves. Recommend washing this dish down with either a glass of sparkling water or a fizzy Eurocentric beer like Stella Artois or San Miguel Fresca.

Uncle Ted's recipes #10: Sublime seafood pasta

Sorry to all you little dearies that I haven't done a recipe in a good while but I recently thought of this recipe from scratch and thought it'd be great to share with you all.

ALERGY WARNINGS: Contains white wine, seafood and dairy.  May also contain nuts in garnishing.

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 3-5):

2 Medium white onions

18.5 cl white wine

250-400g mixed seafood (I used mussels, squid and prawns but feel free to add whatever seafood you fancy)

1.25-2 cups of frozen peas

175-200g fresh leaf spinach

400-500g linguini

11g dried parsley

3 teaspoons mustard

150-200g crème fraiche

3-5 g mixed Mediterranean herbs

a pinch of salt

olive oil

UTENSILS/TOOLS:

1 Large cutting knife

1 Large chopping board

1 sieve or colander

1 or 2 teaspoons

1 very large frying pan

1 large saucepan

1 fork

1 wooden spoon

METHOD/COOKING PROCESS:

1)- Start by filling the saucepan about 2/3 or halfway with cold water,  then add in a small bit of olive oil. Start the water on towards the boil.  

2)- Add some olive oil into the frying pan and turn it onto the lowest heat possible.  Dice up the onions on the board after peeling the skin off then chuck them into the frying pan.  Turn up the heat to about medium or mid-high and mix in a pinch of salt while briefly stirring.  Keep simmering the onions for about 10 mins until softened.

3)- When the onions are softened, add in the white wine and mix.  Then simmer for about 5 mins to pasteurise the alcohol. While this is simmering, wash, rinse and add in the spinach and add into the sauce.  Give the spinach about 5 mins to welt then start stirring it in.

4)-  After adding the spinach and wine, chuck in the crème fraiche and mustard and mix into the sauce. When both have been fully combined, add in the herbs and mix again. After doing this, turn the frying pan back down to either a low or mid-low heat.

5)- Put the pasta/linguini into the saucepan and bring to the boil.  Boil the pasta for 9 minutes and make sure to stir every 2 or 3 minutes that it boils with a fork in order to help prevent the pasta from congealing and sticking together.  After the pasta is boiled, drain it and let it do so for about 2-3 mins over the saucepan off of the hob.

6)-  About 4-5 minutes into the pasta boiling, add both the seafood and peas into the sauce in the frying pan and mix until the ingredients are all combined.  After doing this, turn the hob that the frying pan is off but keep it on the hob for the rest of the time that the pasta is boiling.

7)- When the pasta has finished draining, add it into the frying pan and remove from the hob. Then mix together until the pasta has been partially submerged into the sauce and everything is mixed together.  Be sure to make sure that you have a very large frying pan.

8)- Dish onto mildly warmed plates with a wooden spoon and salad spoon or something similar. 

SERVING SUGGESTION:

Serve along with a glass of pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc and a mildly warm rosemary and sea salt focaccia bread and mixed green leaf salad.

A possible garnish would also be to sprinkle toasted pine nuts on top after serving but only do this if no one has a nut allergy.

Uncle Ted's Recipes #9: Protein-packed vegan curry

Ok I know vegan recipes or even vegetarian ones aren't the most common sight on this blog but this is one cheap and reasonably healthy.  Its good for either keeping in the fridge for yourself for a few days or for a dinner party.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4-6)

6-10 Tablespoons rapeseed oil

4 small, 3 medium or 2 large brown onions

250g fresh leave spinach washed and rinsed

600-800g chickpeas soaked and drained

300-450g green lentils soaked and drained

650g baby potatoes

4-6 teaspoons of chilli flakes

2-4 teaspoons of chilli powder

1-3 teaspoons of cumin seeds

1-3 teaspoons of ground cumin

4 teaspoons of graham masala

5 teaspoons of ground smoked paprika

Thyme or sage leaves

3-5 cloves of garlic

2-4 cups boiled water

Salt

EQUIPMENT/UTENSILS

1 large cutting knife

1 herb knife

1 cutting board

1 or 2 colanders or sieves

1 large or very large cooking pot or stove

1 heat or melting proof mixing spoon

Teaspoons for measuring spices

Ladle for dishing up curry

METHOD/PREPARATION (Time to prepare approximately 15-30 minutes)

 

Step 1: Dice up the potatoes and place them into a strainer and rinse in cold water for a couple of minutes over the sink then let them drain while you do the other initial preparations.

Step 2: Dice up the onions while pouring the oil into the pot and turning the hob onto a low-mid heat.  After a few minutes, hover your hand over the pan and if there is a mild heat coming off of it, then place the herbs except for the salt and thyme or sage into the pan and stir until the spices are mixed together in one mush.

Step 3: Place the potatoes and onions into the pan with a small extra bit of oil and stir until mixed in well with the spices.  Afterwards, begin crushing and dicing up the garlic and then place into the pan and stir again.

Step 4: After rinsing and draining the spinach, place into the pan and let the spinach wilt. then drain and rinse the lentils, chickpeas and thyme or sage then place into the pan then stir moderately.

Step 5: Add in the boiling water and a couple of pinches of salt and then stir.  Also, make sure that the spinach is mostly submerged so that it can wilt some more and get mixed in with the rest of the ingredients.  Afterwards, do a brief taste test to see if the balance of spices and herbs is to your liking and add more of one of the spices if you would like to.  Afterwards, place the lid onto the pot and turn down to a low heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes while you do the washing up.

Step 6: Serve the curry on a bed of either pilau or basmati rice with a coriander naan and served alongside either an icy cold beer such as Cobra or a yoghurt drink and a glass of tap water.

Hope you find plenty of use out of this recipe if you decide to make it like this or use my recipe as a base template to adapt your own curry recipe from.  Please feel free to make suggestions in the comment section below and let me know how you all get on with this nice, cheap and healthy curry recipe!

Uncle Ted's recipes #8: Post-workout pasta (includes prawns)

Again I know I really haven't been uploading a lot recently on this blog but whenever has punctuality been an aspect of my character on any form of social media?  Really the main reason for this being the case is that I haven't been making any new recipes or seen any new films recently but with this inspired dinner I thought up of recently I figured that now was as good a time as any.

I thought up of this healthy and tasty pasta dish recently a few days before I went to the gym as I needed a good dish that would be a great balance of all the essentials one may need after having a good work out and I think I've thought up a right winner as even if you don't work out its a deliciously healthy dish that ticks all boxes (that is if you do not eat fish).

INGREDIENTS (Serves 3-4 big portions):

300-350g king prawns (pre-marinated tofu if you do not eat fish)

175-250g ricotta

2 bunched handfuls fresh spinach leaves

1 large white onion

2 cloves of garlic

350-400g spaghetti (uncooked weight)

4-6 tablespoons white wine

olive oil

salt and pepper

dried basil

UTENSILS:

1 medium saucepan

1 large frying pan

1 vegetable knife

1 wooden spoon

1 fork

1 cutting board

1 colander

METHOD/PROCESS:

1 - Place some cold water into the saucepan to about just over halfway then add in some couple splashes of olive oil and turn onto boil.  Dice up the onion and place in an extremely low heat frying pan with a few splashes of oil in it and add a dash of salt before stirring.

2 - When the water is boiling, put the spaghetti in, make sure it is submerged for the most part then cook for 9 mins while stirring with the fork every 2 or 3 mins while it cooks so as to not let it become all clumped and starchy.

3 - When the onion starts  to soften after 5 mins of frying add in the crushed garlic and simmer for another 5 mins before adding in the white wine and simmer for another 5.

4 - When the spaghetti is cooked, drain it in the colander over a drain or sink then place the colander over the saucepan after the pasta is dried to get as much water drained away.

5 - After the white wine has had a few mins to simmer then add in the prawns and spinach and stir around for about 4-5 mins until the spinach has wilted before lumping the drained spaghetti on top.

6 - using a teaspoon, spoon the ricotta in several bits onto the spaghetti then stir around until most or almost all of the ricotta is nicely mixed in and all of the ingredients have been mixed around in a balanced way.

7 - Serve onto plates alongside toasted pitta with garlic oil and carrot salad with a glass of white wine (I'd recommend something like La Vielle Ferme) or if you don't drink alcohol then something like lemon or blood orange tea.

Hopefully you'll all enjoy this one as I kind of just thought up of it off the top of my head but it really is a winner if you need a perfectly balanced meal and don't have a huge amount of funds or time so give it a shot as you really can't go wrong with it!

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Uncle Ted's recipes #7: Champion chilli con carne

Sorry I haven't been uploading onto this blog recently lads and ladies but unfortunately your uncle Ted has been a bit weighed down by work and hasn't really seen any movies recently.  Hopefully something about pop culture to stimulate the brain will pop up soon but until then we have this healthy and simple recipe I have to impart on you guys for some marvellous chilli con carne.

Make this if you've got a dinner party coming up or if you're a bit low on the monies and have to make something in bulk to last you for the week but either way we're on to some fine dining here and for a low budget to boot.  Don't say I never care about you lot.

Ingredients (serves 4 or makes 4 individual meals):

1x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1x 440 tin or carton of tomato passata

400-500g of minced beef or quorn vegetarian mince

400g tin of red kidney beans

2 x large red peppers

4-5x green and/or red chillies

1 x large yellow or orange pepper

1 x large or 2 x medium of brown onions

2-4x cloves of garlic

1-2x sticks of cinnamon (optional)

olive oil

1 tablespoon chilli or curry powder

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

2x bay leaves

1x handful of parsley

1x bunch of thyme

a couple pinches of salt

Utensils/tools:

1x large saucepan/pot with lid

1x heatproof ladle

1x vegetable cutting board

1x vegetable cutting knife

1x garlic crusher

1x small knife sharp enough for chopping the herbs

1x tablespoon for measuring out the spices

1x wooden spoon for stirring

1x teaspoon for deseeding the chillies

Method:

Step 1: place the saucepan/pot onto the hob and splash in some oil.  skin and dice up the onion and crush up the garlic while heating the pot on the lowest possible heat then chuck in the onions and turn up the heat slightly and simmer with a pinch of salt for 5 mins before adding in the garlic and stirring.

Step 2: chuck in the mince meat or quorn mince depending on your dietary disposition and break the mince up while putting up the heat slightly and stir around with a tiny bit more oil until most if not all, of the mince is browned. 

Step 3: Deseed, wash with cold water then slice up the chillies and peppers and chuck into the pot.  Drain the kidney beans in a colander or sieve then add into the pot along with the cinnamon sticks while occasionally stirring for about 10 mins.

Step 4: Chuck in the passata and chopped tinned tomatoes into the pot and stir then add in the paprika and chilli powder along with another pinch of salt and stir again.  Place the lid back on then turn down to a low heat to simmer while preparing the herbs.

Step 5: Wash the bay leaves and place into the pot as they are.  Wash then dash up the parsley and wring the thyme off its stalks then place both herbs into the chilli con carne and simmer for another 10 mins.

Step 6: Serve the chilli con carne with the ladle onto a bed of either cous cous or brown rice with a side addition of a small dollop of yoghurt (optional of course) and grated cheddar (again, entirely optional) and with a glass of water and a cup of black tea with a slice of lemon.

Like I said above, this is great at dinner parties when you have not too many resources or big ideas of what to make for the main meal.  If you are serving it for the main meal then perhaps serve after a starter of soup or salad and before a light pudding of something like ice cream or light fruit pudding or fruit salad with yoghurt.  Another bit of advice I would give is to perhaps make this the day before you're planning to eat it so that the flavour has a small amount of time to simmer down and mature at which point it will taste marvellous especially with a dollop of yoghurt and brown rice or cous cous.

Again, I apologise for the lacklustre uploading recently but that is the lot of life on this part of the internet I am afraid.  Alas I must leave you all again but hopefully this cheap and healthy and hearty recipe will help all you lot out for a romantic meal, bustling dinner party or busy week and until next time, have fun with whatever you're doing, don't do anything I wouldn't do and until next time I raise my cup to your good health!