Recipe - Mikey's Lazy Sausage Bake

This is a very simple recipe that still gives you lots back. There's not much prep and it sort of cooks itself.

You can just serve it in the tray you cooked it in and let everyone serve themselves so you don't even have to go for that extra effort.

The point in this recipe that I am a bit ambivalent with is the potatoes. Parboiling them takes a little bit extra time but you won't end up with any hard potato centres that way.

If you want to avoid that problem totally, just serve the sausage bake with some mashed potatoes instead.

As always, I go for a mixture of sausages - sort of a sausage roulette.

Ingredients
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into smaller pieces
3 red onions, finely sliced
4 plum tomatoes, thickly sliced
Peeled garlic cloves, to taste
Olive oil
Fresh rosemary sprigs
Dried oregano
Salt
Pepper
8 pork sausages, well pricked

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 200c.

Par-boil the potatoes in some salted water for 2 - 3 minutes. Drain and allow to let some steam off.

Put the potatoes, onions, garlic and tomato slices in a deep baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and mix it up a bit. Scatter with the herbs and season well. Put the sausages on top.

Cook in the oven for about an hour, stirring the veg and rotating the sausages every now and then.

Enjoy!

Review/Christmas present idea: Interflora Christmas Hampers

When I first was asked if I was interested in sampling and reviewing one of Interfloras Christmas hampers I was a bit hesitant. The reason for that was that it wouldn't be much use if I was to review one of them since I'm allergic to most flowers that are considered to be traditional Christmas flowers.

I did not have to worry though, this nice hamper does not have a flower near it. If you want flowers from them you should have a look at their Christmas flowers instead.

This hamper makes a very nice present, especially for someone you won't be able to see in person over Christmas. They'll get it delivered straigt to home in a very safe and quick fashion.

The hamper I got to sample contains the following:

- Healthy Ideas Luxury Fruit & Nut Mix
- The Old Chapel Bakery Luxury Hand Made Mince Pies
- Maxwell & Franks Iced Fruit Cake
- Franks Luxury Biscuits Choc Chunk & Orange Mini Oat Biscuits
- Elizabeth Shaw Amaretto Flutes
- Kitchen Recipe Hand Made Vanilla Fudge
- Cotes de Luberon Blanc Appellation Luberon Controlee 2008
- Cotes de Luberon Rouge Appellation Luberon Controlee 2008

I haven't tried the white wine yet but since the rest of the stuff tasted really nice, I have no doubts that it will be well tasty too.

So, if you need a tasty Christmas hamper delivered for Christmas you could do much worse than with one of these.

Extra bonus tip: If you want some nice decorations for your table, have a look at thelastdetail.co.uk.

Recipe - Kicked up Meatballs

This recipe is a bit of a twist on the Kicked up Wings one I posted the other week.I guess these ones could be called Buffalo Meatballs.

No smorgasbord worth its salt in Sweden would be without meatballs. Around Christmas time the smorgasbord used to rule, might still do after all I know, the Christmas dinners that companies put on for their employees.

After what I can gather we're apparently getting close to Christmas again so this could be a nice thing to add to your planned buffet of good food. It will also be a nice surprise with the kick it gives you. Just imagine grannys face when she feels all that spicy love you've put into it.

As always when you make Swedish meatballs, try to get a 50/50 ratio of pork and beef mince.

Just a little tip. These little monsters do get quite schhhhticky, as Steve McClaren would say, so it could be a good idea to serve them with toothpicks if you go for a proper buffet way of serving.

Serve them hot or cold, they rock either way.

Ingredients (makes about 30 meatballs)
Meatballs
250g pork mince
250g meat mince
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
1 egg, lightly beaten
Salt
Pepper
Breadcrumbs, if needed

Coating
50g butter, melted
1tbsp runny honey
Lots of Frank's Red Hot Sauce

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180c.

Gently mix the mince, garlic, onion and egg together. Season well. If the mixture is a bit too wet, mix in some breadcrumbs.

Roll meatballs of about 2.5 diameter and put them on the grill of a roasting pan.

Cook the meatballs in then oven for about 25 minutes, turning them half way through.

Mix the butter, honey and hot sauce in a bowl. Pour in the meatballs and make sure to coat them all evenly. Either serve them directly, piping hot or let them cool down.

Enjoy!

Recipe - Swedish style Potato Pancake

I'm sure that there are some other nations out there that will claim this as 'theirs' but to me this is a very Swedish dish.

Given the cheap ingredients and the filling nature of it I'd hazard a guess that this is something that was invented by the working classes. It's not a very elegant dish but it's quick to cook and it does fill you up. Perfect peasont food in other words ;)

This time I served it with some smoked salmon and creme fraiche but there is quite a few things that goes nicely with this dish. Why not try it with some thick slices of pan fried bacon and lingonberry jam? You could even just have it on its own.

Just make sure to season the 'batter' well - it needs it.

Ingredients (serves about 4)
4 - 5 potatoes, about 400g
3 eggs
600ml milk
250ml all purpose flour
Salt
Pepper
3 tomatoes, thinly sliced
140g smoked streaky bacon
A couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 250c.

Peel and grate the potatoes on the coarsest side of a box-grater. Put the grated potatoes in a colander and rinse well with cold water. Squeeze out the excess liquid. (Wrapping the potatoes in a tea towel and squeezing works very well.)

Whisk together the eggs with half of the milk, add the flour and whisk until you got a lump free batter. Stir in the rest of the milk, the potatoes and season well. Pour the batter into a buttered 30cm x 20cm roasting pan. Cook in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven. Put the sliced tomatoes, bacon slices and rosemary sprigs on top of the pancake. Pop it back into the oven for another 10 minutes or so.

Remove from the oven, cut into portion sizes and serve up.

Enjoy!

Recipe - Vietnamese style beef Pho from the slow cooker

This is another slow cooker recipe that I found in some newspaper magazine which has been freestyled and evolved through the years.

I'm sure this is very 'westernized' and don't bear much resemblance with the real deal. I'm afraid that I've never been to Vietnam so I don't have anything to measure it against, but I like it and the people who have tried it liked it too. That is good enough for me.

This dish works extra well right now since the weather outside is generally cold, wet and nasty. It's a proper winter warmer. Best of all, it takes very little preparation and it can be ready for when you get home from work.

I've probably bored you enough now, so time to head over to the recipe.

Ingredients (serves 4)
500g braising steak, cut into thin strips
1 - 2 red chilies, sliced
1/2 thumb sized fresh root ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp whole cloves
1.3 litres beef stock (as good quality as possible)
4 nests of thin egg noodles
100g bean sprouts
Spring onions, finely sliced
A handful of coriander, roughly chopped
A handful of mint, roughly chopped
Juice from a lime
1 tbsp Nam pla (fish sauce)

Method
Chuck the beef strips into the slow cooker. Cover with the chilies, ginger, garlic, cloves and beef stock. Make sure that no beef is sticking up over the surface. Cook on low for 8 - 10 hours.

When the slow cooker is getting close to the end of the run, prepare the noodles. Once prepared, divide them up between 4 bowls. Pop some bean sprouts, spring onions, coriander and mint into each bowl.

Stir in the lime juice and Nam pla into the slow cooker. Divide beef into the bowls and finish off with some of the hot stock into each bowl.

Enjoy!

Pytt-i-Panna from the leftovers...

I really don't like eating the same dish two days in a row so when I had a pork chop and some potatoes left from the day before I had to come up with something.

Pytt-i-Panna, or hash, was the simplest thing I could think of. Dice up the pork and potatoes as well as some onion. Pop some butter and olive oil in a pan and add the onion once the butter has melted. Fry for a couple of minutes and then add the rest. Season well. Keep frying on a medium to high heat until heated well through and the potatoes starts to crispen up. Serve with a fried egg and some pickled beetroot.

Enjoy!

Recipe - Pork Chops with Jack Daniels and Apple Sauce

This is a recipe that originates in a great little cookbook, Dollars to Donuts, that I more or less found by mistake. I was lazily browsing around Amazon when I spotted it in one of those 'other customers who bought this' listings. Since it was more than fairly priced I decided to get a copy. Something that was a good decision.

The book is full of down to earth and sensible recipes that won't cost you an arm and a leg to cook. Almost all recipes can be freestyled, often with a note on how to cook them differently or different sides that goes well with them.

All in all a book that I highly recommend. You can find it here on Amazon UK and Amazon US. There's a also a site/blog for the book here MyD2D.

When I came across the following recipe, slightly changed in my version, in the book I remembered that I hadn't had pork chops for ages so it had to be tried.

I really liked it and my normal charity case (read: leftover recipient) praised it highly too. Give it a go, and why not see if you can track down a copy of the book too.

I served this with pan fried salad potatoes but I think it would go very well with mashed potatoes too. Creamed spinach on the side would probably raise it yet another level.

Ingredients (serves 2 - 4)
4 pork chops
250 ml apple juice
120ml Jack Daniels (divided 2 x 60 ml)
60 ml cider vinegar
4 tsp Dijon Mustard
2 tsp Lemon juice
1 tsp dried sage
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (more if you want a bigger kick)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
1 Granny Smith apple, cored, halved and thinly sliced
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced

Method
Whisk together the apple juice, 60 ml of JD, vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, sage, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pour the marinade into a measuring jug. Pop the pork chops into a large freezer bag and pour half of the marinade on top, mixing well. Marinade the pork chops in the fridge for at least 30 minutes but preferably over night. Cover the remaining marinade in the measuring jug with some clingfilm and refrigerate until it is time to cook.

Pre-heat the oven to 120c. Remove the pork chops from the plastic bag and pat them dry, you can now get rid of the bag and its liquids. Make two or three vertical cuts in the fat on each pork chop to stop them from curling up when fried.

Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Fry the pork chops for about 3 - 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown and cooked all the way through. Put the chops on a oven-safe platter, cover with some tin foil and keep them in the oven until it's time to serve.

In the meantime, add the onion and apple to the pan and cook whilst stirring until they both start to brown, something that will take about 8 minutes or so. Pour in the marinade from the measuring jug and add another 60 ml of JD. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium and cook for another 3 - 4 minutes or until the sauce has reduced a little bit.

Serve the chops with the sauce on top.

Enjoy!

Recipe - Kicked up Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dip

Before you even start on me, no I'm not sponsored by Frank's RedHot Sauces even though I mention them quite often. I just think they rock. Hard. That sorted, let's get on with the normal business.

I'm quite a big fan of chicken wings. There's a couple of reasons for this. The spicyness, you eat it with your fingers and it is easy to make are just some of them.

Normally I'd cook them in my deep fat fryer but I just couldn't be arsed to change the oil this time. Instead I choose to cook them in oven, something that works fairly well too. The big difference, at least in my book, is that you lose some of the crispiness.

As you can see there are no measurements for this recipe, well besides the creme fraiche. Just freestyle it, use what you think will work and adjust it next time if it didn't.

When it comes to the blue cheese you can go for whatever rocks your boat. I'm quite fond of what the Lesser Swedes (or Danish as some calls them) produces so I quite often use that.

Enough waffling, let's get over to the recipe.

Ingredients
Dip
200ml creme fraiche
Blue cheese, crumbled
Freshly ground pepper

Wings
Chicken wings, rinsed and patted dry
Butter
Frank's RedHot Sauce
Salt

Method
Mix the creme fraiche and the blue cheese. Season with pepper. The dip is now done.

Pre-heat the oven to 180c.

Melt the butter in a pan, pour into a large-ish mixing bowl. Pour Frank's RedHot Sauce into the butter to suit your taste. Toss the wings in the butter mixture.

Put the wings on a baking sheet lined with tin foil and season with some salt. Cook in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until cooked through and nicely tanned.

Serve with the blue cheese dip and some more Frank's on the side if you so wish.

Enjoy!

Recipe - Pastel de Papas

I bet that quite a large majority of you reading this just went Pastel de what? To be honest, so would I have done up until yesterday.

This is yet another example of me trying to recreate something I've seen on the t'interweb or read about. I was going through the weekends harvest in my RSS reader when I came across a restaurant review from Austin. In this review there was a shot of a dish called Pastel de Papas. That was it, the recipe had to be found and the dish had to be tried.

After some googling and reading I found out some facts about the dish. Apparently it is known as the Argentinean Shepherds Pie. Given the freestyle nature of a normal Shepherds Pie I could not find two recipes that were the same for Pastor de Papas. Something I liked since that gave me a good opportunity to amalgamate the things I liked from the recipes and freestyle it to suit my taste.

As always, freestyle it. If you want to add something - do it. If you want to remove something - do it. I'm pretty sure that I'll get an email from a certain someone going: "It looks really good, if you just removed the eggs" as soon as the recipe has been read. Not a problem, just remove them when you cook it yourself.

I normally make a very creamy mash but for something like this I think I did the right thing by keeping the mash quite firm. As for the serving, I made mine in portion forms but you could make it in one larger oven proof dish. That would make it into more of a family style meal.

While you guys read the recipe I'll be busy planning the next unknown thing I'll try my hand at...

Ingredients (serves 2 - 4)
Filling
Olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 - 4 cloves of garlic, finely diced
500g minced beef
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Ground cumin
2 tsp Oregano
60 ml red wine
60 ml raisins, soaking in hot water
2 eggs, hard boiled and sliced or chopped
1 200g can of spicy green olives stuffed with pimento, drained and quartered

Mashed potatoes
6 large potatoes, peeled and cut into same sized chunks
Milk or cream, to taste
Unsalted butter, to taste
Salt
Pepper

Egg stop
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp water

Method
Heat the olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the onion, pepper and garlic. Let this cook for about a minute and then add the minced beef. Cook whilst stirring for another minute. Stir in the paprika, cumin and oregano. Keep cooking, stirring now and then, until the beef is cooked and almost all liquid has disappeared. Add the wine and cook whilst stirring until the wine has evaporated. Remove from the heat and let it cool.

Bring water to a boil in a large pan. Add the potatoes and let them cook until soft, test with a knife - don't overcook them. Drain and mash (preferably using a ricer). Add in butter and milk/cream until you get a quite nice and firm consistency. Season well.

Heat the oven to 180c.

While you are waiting for the oven it's time to layer up the ingredients. In a ovensafe dish (or 2 - 4 smaller ones) start by putting in the mince. Layer with the raisins, eggs and olives. Top with the mash. Make the egg stop by whisking together the yolk and water. Brush the mash with the egg stop.

Put it into the oven for about 30 - 40 minutes, or until the mash topping is nice and golden.

Enjoy!

Recipe - Blackened-ish Chicken Breasts with Pineapple and Ginger Salsa served with Sweet Potato Wedges

I better admit to it straight away. The star of this recipe, the salsa, is a stolen idea. Yes, you read me right - I have stolen someone else idea and used it in one of my own recipes. Shocking, I bet you that doesn't happen often in the world of food blogging/recipe writing. :)

To be fair, I must admit that neither the chicken nor the sweet potato wedges are very original ideas either. Bad Mikey. :(

Last Sunday me and Solo tested a local restaurant, The Fish Restaurant & Bar, in Sutton Courtenay. The entire meal was very competent but the one item that really stood out was this salsa. It was served with the halibut I had and really made the halibut taste extra good.

As soon as I tasted it I started thinking of how to make it and what to serve it with and this is my first attempt. I know that I took the easy option out, if you want extra flavour - core a fresh pineapple.

Ingredients (serves 4)
Pineapple and Ginger Salsa
1 425g can of pineapple rings, drained
1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into 3 -4 smaller pieces
Fresh Coriander, torn
A pinch of salt

Sweet potato wedges
4 - 6 sweet potatoes
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Blackened-ish chicken
Olive oil
4 skinless chicken breasts
Dry-rub (you could use something like pre-made cajun spice)

Method
Pineapple and Ginger Salsa
Pop the ginger pieces in your food processor and run it for 30 - 45 seconds. Add the pineapple rings and let it run until you got a fairly smooth mix and the ginger has broken down quite completely. Transfer to a bowl, stir in coriander to taste. Add a pinch of salt. Put some cling film on top and let the flavours mix.

If you do this well ahead, let the bowl sit in the fridge. Remove it some time before serving so that the salsa reaches room temperature before serving.

Sweet potato wedges
Preheat the oven to 200c.

Rinse and scrup the wedges well. Cut each potato in half lenghtwise. Cut each half into three equal sized wedges. Put the wedges on a tin foil lined baking tray. Drizzle with the oil and season well.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 25 - 30 minutes, or until nicely golden.

Blackened-ish chicken
Rub the chicken well with the spices. Let this stand for at least 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan on a medium to high heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 7 - 9 minutes on each side, or until fully cooked.

Let the chicken rest for 5 - 10 minute until slicing it and serving it with the salsa and sweet potato wedges.

Enjoy!