SUPER SIMPLE CHICKEN + ROAST VEGGIE SALAD

Happy Tuesday y'all! How was your weekend? Ours was calm, pretty boring on the culinary side of things and filled with tending to a very poorly (food-poisoned) boy. Yep, you remember me mentioning this pub  here - bad, bad, bad! So our dinners mainly consisted of boiled rice & ham, congee & ham and dry toast.

Yesterday was a little better and we decided to be a bit more adventurous - so roast veggie and chicken salad it was. Sometimes it's the simple things that are the yummiest.

Hope you enjoy!

Print this Recipe

SERVES 4
PREPARATION 5mins
COOKS 35-45mins

INGREDIENTS

• 8 chicken thigh fillets, fat trimmed off
• 1 red pepper, de-seeded and sliced into strips
• 1 sweet potato, cut into thin wedges
• 2 carrots, cut into battons
• 2 spring onions, cut into battons
• 1 punnet of chestnut mushrooms, quartered
• 1 garlic clove (crushed)
• 1 small head of red romano lettuce, cut into bite size bits
• 100 g cherry tomatoes, halved
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 3tbsp balsamico
• 1tsp honey
• 1tsp English mustard

PREPARATION METHOD

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200˚C. Season the chicken with plenty of salt and pepper and drizzle with some olive oil and place on a baking tray.
2. Mix together all the veggies and garlic in a large bowl and toss with salt, pepper and a generous glug of olive oil.
3. Place the chicken and veggies in the oven and cook for 35-45 minutes until the chicken is cooked and all juices run clear and the vegetables are soft and started to brown on the edges.
4. In a lidded jar combine the balsamico, mustard, honey, a little salt and pepper and about 3-4 tbsp of olive oil. Close the lid firmly and shake-a-shake-shake until everything is well combined and has started to turn into a thick emulsion.
5. Once everything is cooked, slice the chicken. Place the lettuce and tomatoes on plates, top with the roast veggies, drizzle with the vinaigrette and top with the meat. Done! Simple and healthy. Enjoy!!

WEEKEND WALKS: BOX HILL (well almost)

Do you ever get a wave of wanderlust, when you really, really want to visit new places around the world?

While I am a real homey I very often find myself thinking about how I would like to go to New York or Sydney or San Francisco or Tokyo... the list is endless. And then I realise, guiltily, that I have hardly seen any of the areas that surround me.

Living in a small town in Kent, in the suburbs of London was once not an option for me (yep I wanted to be bang in the centre of the bustling city... at all times) and nowadays I am grateful for the after work calm I return to every evening. But I also take living in such a nice area of England for granted, often forgetting how lovely the countryside around us is.

So with the intention to enjoy the great outdoors a little more, to exercise our 9-5-office-bound-bodies and to explore a little, we grabbed our Guide to the South East of England and ventured to Box Hill in the Surrey Hills.

If you've never been, you should definitely give it a try. Maybe don't walk the whole 8.5k (or more like 12k because we got lost ;)) but follow the Box Hill hike signs. The views are amazing, you end up finding little treasures every now and then and the mix of open fields, hidden mansions, a derelict folly and forests gives you plenty to ooh and aah over.

In the end we got pretty lost and our legs ached so much (yes this walk is mainly uphill) and we were about to starve, so we never actually made it to Box Hill, or more like missed the turning (sad face). But we saw it from below and it was pretty!

Unfortunately the day ended in the world's most awful, overpriced pub lunch ever. Absolute disgrace! (Try and avoid the Stepping Stones if you can)

We might try Richmond next. Do you know any good walking routes in and around London you can recommend?

^ Fed Up

TURKEY + PEANUT "PAD THAI"

Lately I've been in a bit of a "ugh I can't be bothered" mood - that includes tidying, food shopping, paying bills and cooking as well (yes you heard right, I can't be bothered to cook). So we ended up going out a lot or ordering take away and just generally spending too much money where we shouldn't.

Yesterday I was craving something comforting, that didn't take too long to cook and required one pot (yes because the washing up is piling up as well). We all know how much I love a squidgy flat rice noodle - pad thai, ho fun you name it, I love it.

So yesterday I grabbed as many ingredients as possible from the fridge (more stuff that needs using up) threw it all into the wok and the Turkey and Peanut "Pad Thai" was born. Why the inverted commas - well because strictly this isn't a pad thai as described by Wikipedia, but it does almost taste like one.

Here's the recipe and I am off to think about how I can make another "no effort" dinner tonight.

Hope you enjoy!

Print this Recipe

SERVES 6
PREPARATION 10mins
COOKS 25mins

INGREDIENTS

• 300g flat rice noodles, soaked (or the straight to wok packet version)
• 500g turkey mince
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1 bulb of pak choi, chopped
• 8 chestnut mushrooms, chopped
• 150g green beans, roughly chopped
• 2 limes, juiced
• 3tbsp crunchy peanut butter
• 1tbsp fish sauce
• 3tbsp soy sauce (+more to season)
• vegetable oil (rapeseed or canola)
• finely sliced spring onion, lime wedges and sraracha to serve

PREPARATION METHOD

1. Add the oil to a wok. Once hot add the onions and sautee until soft. 
2. Add the garlic and mince and fry some more until the meat is cooked and starts to brown. 
3. Mix in the mushrooms, fish sauce, half the lime juice and soy sauce and cook until the liquid has reduced a little. Add the green beans cook for a few minutes and then add the pak choi.
4. Once the veggies are almost cooked, let down the peanut butter with a little hot water and then add to the wok. Stir everything well, add the noodles and mix some more until everything is well combined and coated. Stir in the rest of the lime juice, taste for seasoning and add some more soy sauce if needed.
5. Top with the sliced spring onion, some sraracha and the lime wedges.

This is comfort food at its best. 

ROAST POTATO, ASPARAGUS + PROSCIUTTO SALAD

My fridge is FULL of opened, half used up stuff that needs eating. I'm a bit like that when it comes to anything - I'll buy a new shampoo and open it before I've used up the old one or start a carton of juice before the opened ones done. Yes, and then the old stuff often gets forgotten and needs to be gotten rid of. Bad, bad habits! And don't you worry, I do get told off for this on a regular basis.

So yesterday we just went through our fridge and veggie cupboard, picked up all half eaten packets and stray potatoes and made an amazingly wonderful warm summer salad.
There were roast potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus, eggs, goats cheese prosciutto and a tangy mustard dressing. I might have to have this again tomorrow...

Dinners like these make me happy. It's all about using up what's in your kitchen and putting together a lovely salad, soup or stew. So before you run to the supermarket to spend money on more ingredients, have a look in your kitchen cupboard first, I am sure there are at least a couple of yummy meals just waiting to be made.


SERVES 2
PREPARATION 10mins
COOKS 30-40mins

INGREDIENTS

• 4 medium size potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 4 small tomatoes, quartered
• 9 stalks of asparagus
• 4 slices of prosciutto crudo (such as parma or serrano)
• 3 tbsp soft goats cheese, crumbled
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1tsp white wine vinegar
• olive oil
• sea salt and pepper to season

PREPARATION METHOD

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190˚C. Place the potatoes on a baking tray and generously season with sea salt and pepper. Drizzle with some olive oil and toss everything so the potatoes are evenly coated. Cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the potatoes are brown and cooked through.
2. After the potatoes have been cooking for 15 minutes, add the tomato quarters to the baking tray and cook for the remaining time.
3. Bring some salty water to the boil. Add the asparagus and eggs (yep both at the same time) and cook for 6-7 minutes until the asparagus is tender, but still firm. 
4. Peel the eggs and quarter.
5. In a small jar combine the mustard, vinegar and a generous amount of olive oil (4-5tbsps) and shake vigorously until you are left with a smooth vinaigrette.
6. Serve the potatoes, topped with the tomatoes, asparagus, eggs, goats cheese and the prosciutto (torn into bite size bits). Drizzle with a bit of the vinaigrette and enjoy with a large glass of Gin and Tonic.  

CRISPY MUSTARD + BASIL CHICKEN, WITH HERBY BROAD BEANS & SWEET POTATO MASH

Happy Thursday all. It's once again been a while. I really need to make this blogging business a more regular occurrence and get organised (which is hard when you are the world's most unorganised person ... ever).

I've got a right old treat for you today. This one was one of those dinners where you plan a meal, go shopping and then realise you are missing half the ingredients. (Did I mention I was unorganised?) So then you go and rummage through your fridge and kitchen cupboards searching for substitutes, all the while thinking - this is going to be a disaster (especially because you've got guests over :-O)

It could have been - a true disaster. Substituting taragon with basil and using cheap golden breadcrumbs from a packet rather than fresh ones isn't a good start. Well and then I didn't have any chips or salad to accompany the chicken and ended up making broad beans with goats cheese and a sweet potato mash. Flavour overload!?

But it was good... like really good... and I am going to shut up about what a disaster it could've been now and share the recipe!

Happy cooking everyone!



SERVES 4
PREPARATION 10-15mins
COOKS 30-40mins

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken:

• 4 chicken breasts
• a handful of basil, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard
• approx. two handfuls of fresh breadcrumbs (or the golden ones from the packet), the amount of this depends on the size of your chicken breasts.
• 1 garlic clove, minced

For the broad beans:

• 200g frozen broad beans
• 125g soft goats cheese
• 125g greek yoghurt
• a handful of your favourite herbs (parsley, chives, dill, mint...) finely chopped

For the sweet potato mash:

• 2 large sweet potatoes, quartered
• 1 large red chilli, finely chopped
• 1 small potato, halved
• 1 lime
• 50g feta, crumbled

• salt and pepper
• olive oil

PREPARATION METHOD

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190˚C. Wrap the chicken in some cling film and bash with a rolling pin or bottom of a jar to flatten, then remove the cling film. 
2. Mix the mustard, basil and minced garlic into a smooth paste and add a drizzle of olive oil. Spread evenly over the chicken breasts, then roll the coated meat in the bread crumbs. I used a small amount of bread crumbs at a time and kept topping up the plate when needed. 
3. Arrange the breaded chicken breasts on a baking tray and drizzle or spray with a little olive oil. Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and all juices run clear.
4. Place the sweet potato and potato into a medium-large microwavable dish. Place half a lime in the middle and cover with cling film (make sure you use microwavable cling film). Microwave on high for 15 minutes. Once done remove the cling film and squeeze any remaining juice from the lime (careful it's hot). 
5. Using a fork work the potatoes mixing them together and crushing them at the same time. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Add the juice of the second lime half, the chilli and the crumbled feta. One last mix and you're ready to go. At this stage you can sprinkle some coriander on top if you wish. 
6. Add the broad beans to a pan of boiling, lightly salted water and cook for 3 minutes until defrosted and warmed through. Drain and cool down with cold water.
7. Whisk together the goats cheese and yoghurt until smooth and fluffy. Add the broad beans (crushing them a little while mixing) and the herbs. Stir everything together thoroughly, season with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

And your ready to dish up. Hope you enjoy!

SPICY AVOCADO, SMOKEY BACON + SOFT BOILED EGGS ON TOAST

I used to never be a big breakfast person... ever. Mornings used to consist of a quick shower, make-up and a large mug of strong coffee, all done in less than 30 minutes. Nowadays I can't do without a good breakfast. I hate mornings, I wander through the house in a half trance and am not completely myself until I reach work.

It takes me ages to wake up and I am grumpy... big time. Bad enough as is, imagine the scenario without a cinnamony bowl of porridge or a couple of crumpets - disaster.

Without breakfast my happiness levels would be, well, pretty low - and that's why I particularly look forward to the weekends, because I have the time to go wild ;)

Last weekend we had spicy avocado and smokey maple bacon topped with a soft boiled egg on granary toast. That, teamed with a lovely coffee and some sunshine - heaven!

What's your favourite breakfast treat?








SERVES 2
PREPARATION 5mins
COOKS 10mins

INGREDIENTES

• 1 ripe avocado, stone removed and peeled
• 1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped (you could also use coriander)
• 1 tsp tabasco
• 1 lime, juice
• a handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 4 large eggs
• 4 rashers smokey bacon
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 4 slices granary toast
• salt and pepper
• butter (optional)
• olive oil

PREPARATION METHOD

1. Place the eggs in a saucepan, cover them with cold water by about 1cm and then place them on a high heat. As soon as they reach boiling point, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer (if you are using an electric hob I recommend you move the pan to a different ring) and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
2. While the eggs are cooking, mash the avocado with a fork, add the parsley, tabasco and lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
3. Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan. Once hot add the bacon, drizzle with the maple syrup and fry until brown and crispy.
4. Butter the hot toast, spread the avocado evenly, top with the smokey bacon. Peel the eggs and place on top of your toast, cracking them open a little to let the yolk ooze (what a word!) over everything. Top with the quartered tomatoes, add some cracked black pepper and a bit of sea salt and you're ready to go.

Happy breakfasting y'all! 

MUSHROOM + FETA SALAD WITH A BASIL VINAIGRETTE

Mushrooms are waaaaay underrated. I know at least a handful of people who “hate” mushrooms, because they are slimy and taste funny and are just yucky. Firstly, hate is a strong word and secondly, how can you hate all mushrooms if they are all so different… Oyster versus Portobello… worlds apart.

When I was a kid our local Italian made these garlicky grilled Oyster mushrooms, served alongside some warm crusty bread - my always go to starter. I love a Portobello mushroom and halloumi burger and a hearty sausage ragú would be nothing without some finely chopped chestnut mushrooms, not to mention chanterelles with eggy parpadelle. I guess you get the picture.

To add to the veggie challenge and to be a bit healthy, we made a lovely mushroom and feta salad, with rocket and a balsamico and basil vinaigrette. This was amazingly good and will definitely be made again ;)

Enjoy!







SERVES 2-3
PREPARATION 5mins
COOKS 15mins

INGREDIENTS

• Three handfuls rocket
• 250g oyster mushrooms, cut into bite size chunks
• 250g shiitake mushrooms, cut into bite size chunks
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 150g feta, crumbled
• a handful of basil
• 3tbsp olive oil
• 3tbsp balsamico
• salt and pepper to season
• olive oil

PREPARATION METHOD

1. Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the shallots and fry until soft and starting to brown. 
2. Wack up the heat to high and add the mushrooms. Cook for a bout 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Once they are brown and just before they start to release water take them off the heat. Stir in the crushed garlic and season with salt and pepper.
3. Place the basil, olive oil and balsamico into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Whizz with a stick blender until liquid and all bits have been blended.
4. Distribute the rocket between 2-3 plates, top with the mushrooms, crumble the feta over everything and finish off with a generous drizzle of the basil dressing.

Enjoy with crusty bread or just on its own. (I had it alongside a sneaky Gin and Tonic and it went down a treat.)

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

A few weekends ago we took advantage of the holidays and went on a long overdue trip to Kirchheim. Yep, I finally decided to take Mat to the little town, in the rural South of Germany, where I grew up. We are talking major culture shock.

In Kirchheim (aka Church Home) the old houses are wonky and come straight out of a Brothers Grimm picture book, the new ones are built to perfection and could feature on Grand Designs, absolute efficiency is a constant life goal, everyone knows everyone and the old ice cream parlor is now a bar. There was a lot of pointing and reminiscing and my friend Anette and I remembered all the silly things we used to get up to as teenagers.

Life over there is so different to what I am used to now. Hiking for miles and miles and then marveling at the view from the mountains is a weekly occurrence.  Drinking beer and eating sausages and pretzels for breakfast is ok but crossing the road where you're not meant to absolutely isn't. People speak their mind no matter what and don't care if they end up insulting you.

In general life just seems a little more old-fashioned and traditional. You go to the weekly farmers market for your meat, veg and cheese and local butchers and bakeries are no expensive rarity. While I wouldn't give up living in London for anything in the world, I do miss the Schwabenländle, the mountains, pretty houses and its beautiful, overly correct oddities. After all, in a very nostalgic way, it is still home.

Early morning airport breakfast.

Snowy mountain/forest walks.

Views and dangerous drops.

Saturday morning market visit.

Weisswurstfrühstück (yep that's one word) - Sausages, pretzels and beer for brekkie.

Homemade Carpaccio (divine!!)

Geeky visit to the Urweltmuseum Hauff (one of the world's largest fossil collections)

Home time. Thanks BA for the yummy G&T.