Roast Pork Loin - no crackling

For when the bit of pork is skinless

Dry rub: Mix together equal quantities of dried thyme, paprika and garlic salt (I used large tsp of each for 2lb pork loin)

Rub all over the meat. Sear on all sides.
Put in foil lined roasting tray (not too big)


Mix Honey, soy sauce, dijon mustard, crushed garlic, olive oil. Use some to toss parsnips in (or other vegetables). Brush the rest on the top of the meat.

Cook meat in 180C. 30 minutes prior to the end of cooking time, take out. Put the parsnips under the meat and cook for 30 minutes. (Roast potatoes with rosemary go in at this time as well)
Remove the meat and leave to rest whilst the parsnips (and potatoes) finish cooking.

Turkey and Spinach Curry

Another good one for left over turkey.

Gently fry in a couple of tablespoons of oil :
6 whole cloves
10 green cardamom pods (bashed)
1 cinnamon stick broken in half
2 green chillis quartered lengthways
Then add 2 finely chopped medium onions, four crushed cloves of garlic and 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger and cook until the onions are just turning golden.

Mix together 1 tsp each of ground cumin, ground coriander, ground turmeric and garam masala. Add to the pan with half tsp of salt and 1 tbsp tomato puree. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes.

Stir in 200g Greek yogurt, 100g baby spinach and a handful of chopped coriander leaves. Gently cook until the spinach has wilted.

Pick out the whole spices (as many as you can find).
Season with a dash of lemon juice and serve with rice, toasted flaked almonds and extra coriander leaves.

Chickpea, sweet potato and kale curry

Kale could be replaced with spinach - we had lots of kale!

Mix together:
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
0.5 tsp fenugreek seeds
0.5 tsp cayenne pepper
0.5 tsp sea salt

In a pan cook 1 small onion finely chopped until transparent in 1tsp oil (coconut if available). Add 1 medium sized sweet potato diced and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the spice mix and cook for 30 seconds. Add 1.5 tbsp minced garlic and fresh ginger mix and cook for a further 30 seconds.
Stir in a 400ml can of chopped tomatoes, 400 ml full fat coconut milk and 300g can of chickpeas including the liquid. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes until the sweet potato is tender. Stir in 100g of chopped fresh kale (if not all stems removed then add 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time).
Remove from heat.

Serve with rice or naan bread

Turkey Stroganoff and Garlic Mushroom Pasta

Two separate recipes which work well together when one has mixture of meat eaters and vegetarians (or someone doesn't like turkey nor creamy sauces) etc. 

Garlic mushroom recipe is one that I cooked when at Uni when entertaining friends.

Serve each with tagliatelle - the Stroganoff on top of a pile and the rest mixed in with the Garlic Mushrooms.

Turkey Stroganoff - serves 4

300g sliced mushrooms (combination of button and chestnut mushrooms)

Dry fry over a medium heat, tossing frequently

Add 2 tbsp butter (I used the butter from the top of the turkey) and two finely chopped medium onions and sauté until onions are transparent.

Add: 

- 350g cooked turkey chopped into bite sized peieces

- 125ml turkey stock or, even better, left over turkey gravy

- 1tbsp fresh thyme or 1tsp dried thyme

- Large pinch grated nutmeg

- salt and pepper

Combine and heat through. 

Take off the heat and add 250ml greek yoghurt (or sour cream or creme fraiche). Add small amount of pasta cooking water to thin if required.

Taste and season further if required (it does need more salt than you think).

Garlic Mushroom sauce for pasta - serves 2

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan. Add 300g sliced mushrooms (at least combination of button and chestnut mushrooms) and fry for about 10 minutes until excess liquid has evaporated. Tip onto a plate.

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in the pan and add 2 finely sliced garlic cloves and fry gently until just turning golden. Tip the mushrooms back into the pan, add zest of half a lemon, handful of grated Parmesan and toss together with pasta for two (150g uncooked weight if making this by itself) and 3 tbsp of the pasta cooking water to heat through. 

Season with salt, pepper and a few drops of lemon juice. Serve sprinkled with handful of chopped parsley and more grated parmesan.

Rib of beef

Three ribs weighing 4.5kg

Ensure meat is at room temperature.
Heat oven to 240C
Crumble two beef stock cubes (oxo or similar). Rub into each side of the meat.
Sear meat on all sides in hot frying pan (or baking tray if solid enough). Put on baking tray with ribs facing upwards.
Roast for 20 minutes then reduce temperature to 170C.
Cook for maximum of 30 minutes per kilo (include the initial roasting time).  Checking with a digital thermometer for a reading of just above 40C gives a very good amount of rare beef.  

Rest for at least 30 minutes (as long as the roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings take to make!)

Take off the bone before carving.

Ham and cheese croissants

For Boxing Day breakfast I was considering making Croque Monsieur. However, two croissants were left over from Christmas Day so I went searching for ham and cheese stuffed croissant recipes. This one is worth getting additional croissants for!

Heat oven to 180C

Slice each croissant length ways to make a pocket (as in do not slice all the way through). 

For each croissant, insert slice of gruyere, then slice of ham, followed by another slice of cheese. 
Mix together dijon mustard and running honey and brush on top of the croissants. Then sprinkle with poppy seeds. Put on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 6/7 minutes until the cheese has melted. 

Apple, chestnut and bacon stuffing

The turkey this year was cooked following the John Torode recipe 
The stuffing is based on John's recipe with minor tweaks.

Chop 2 medium sized onions and 6 rashers streaky bacon. Fry them in a splash of oil until the onion is translucent. Take off the heat and leave to cool (assuming preparing ahead of time)
Add 10 torn small leaves of sage (or 5 large) and salt and pepper
Chop 360g (two packs) of vacuum packed cooked chestnuts. Aim for mix of finely and roughly chopped. Stir into the onion and bacon mix along with 400g pork sausage meat. 

Soak 100g fresh breadcrumbs in 250ml water until the water is absorbed. Add the mix above along with 3 Granny Smith apples, unpeeled and grated. Beat the mixture with the aim to incorporate air. 

Put in a greased ovenproof dish with dimensions close to 23cm x 16cm. Do not press the mixture down. Put five sage leaves on top and bake in 200C oven for 40 minutes until crispy on top.

Remove any overcooked sage prior to serving.