What to cook March
Simple recipes, tips and great food... Now, wrap your tongue around these step-by-step recipes for the perfect spring time dinner party...with an edgy kick! Home-Made Tomato Soup and Croutons (serves 4) - 1 kg ripe cherry tomatoes on the vine, preferably both yellow and red - 4 large tomatoes - 1 fresh red chilli - 4 cloves of garlic -2 small red onions - 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar - Fresh basil Croutons: - 1 loaf ciabatta bread - Extra virgin olive oil. Waitrose star ingredient: Waitrose creme fraiche, (200ml) 75p.
1. Preheat your oven to gas Mark 7. 2.Pull your cherry tomatoes from the vine whilst leaving the green tops still on. 3. Quarter the larger tomatoes, then put all of your tomatoes into a roasting tray. 4. Drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil and season with sea salt and crushed black pepper. 5. Halve and deseed your red chilli and add to the tray of ingredients. 6. Crush 4 garlic cloves into the mix and toss everything with a wooden spoon or ladle. Place the tray on the top shelf of the oven for 15 minutes. 7. Chop onions and place into
a saucepan with olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Cool on medium heat until softened and most of the oil has been cooked away. 8. Stir in 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar to your onions, let it cook away and then lower heat. 9. Remove the tray of tomatoes from the oven and add to your pan of onions. Take another roasting tray and rip the loaf of ciabatta bread into roughly 8 equal sized chunks. Cover these in olive oil and a pinch of salt then place the tray at the bottom shelf of the oven for around 10 minutes or until golden brown. 10. In two batches, pour the vegetables from your pan into a liquidizer. Add most of your basil, place the lid onto your liquidizer and process to your desired thickness. 11. Pour your soup into a pan or serving bowl. 12. As a delicious garnish which helps emphasise the flavour of your soup, add a dollop of crème fraiche, the remaining basil and a drizzle of olive oil on top of your soup.
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(serves 4)
Thai-Style green chicken curry
- 8 chicken thighs with skin on and bone left in. - 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds - 2 large tablespoons of honey. - 2cm piece of fresh ginger - 2 fresh red chillies - fresh coriander - 4 cloves of garlic - 1 stick of lemongrass - small bunch of spring onions - Sesame oil - 300ml chicken stock - 200g green beans - 1 400ml tin of coconut milk - lime juice - soy sauce
1.Heat two large frying pans on a medium heat. 2. Place chicken thighs in large frying pan, skin side down and drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil. 3. Add salt and pepper and cook on high heat, turning every few minutes for roughly 20 minutes. 4. Put greaseproof paper on top of the chicken and place the smaller pan on top in order to 18 WAITROSE.COM MARCH 2011
squash the chicken flat. (The heat from the smaller pan on top will ensure that the chicken is cooked equally on both sides, making it extra crispy.)
9. Add 2 tablespoons of curry paste from the food processor to the chicken and use as a glaze. Smear this over the chicken and cook until it appears sticky.
- Place the peeled ginger into a food processor with the chillies and coriander. Crush in 4 unpeeled garlic cloves. - Halve your lemongrass and discard the outer leaves. Trim the spring onions and add all together in the food processor. - Add the sesame and olive oils to the mix and blitz into a paste.
- Tip the rest of your curry paste into the empty pan and stir in your chicken stock. Rim the green beans and add to the mixture. - Increase the heat of the pan and stir in coconut milk. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and leave to cook until creamy.
5. Remove the greaseproof paper and top pan from the chicken and place the pan back onto a medium heat. - Drain the fat from the chicken and turn chicken skin side up. 6. Add 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds to the empty pan and leave to toast until a golden brown colour. 7. Pour these into a small bowl and remove the pan from the heat. 8. Carefully drain the fat from the chicken again and reduce the heat.
- Add 2 tablespoons of honey to the chicken and toss it in the pan, placing it once again skin side down. - Add lime juice and soy sauce to your curry sauce to taste. - Serve poured over the cooked chicken and serve as desired. This recipe goes great with Sharwood’s ready to serve egg noodles.
What to cook March
And for dessert... Pimms Eton Mess
(serves 4) - 400g strawberries, - 1 heaped teaspoon gold castor sugar - 1 blood orange - A splash of Pimms - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract - 250g low fat yoghurt or crème fraiche - 1 8-pack of meringue nests 1. Slice the strawberries and put them into a bowl together with 1 heaped tablespoon of castor sugar. 2. Grate the zest of your orange into the mixture and squeeze in the juice from half. 3. Add in 2 teaspoons of your vanilla extract and mix everything together using a whisk or fork. 4. Add in one splash of pimms and mix the ingredients together again. 5.Put 2 dollops of your crème fraiche onto a platter or serving dish, spreading it out into the edges while distributing your pudding mix evenly throughout. 6.Next, crumble in ½ of your meringue nests and mix the ingredients together again. 7.Crumble the remainder of your meringue nests over your dessert and it is ready to serve!
On the side...
Piri-Piri dressed potatoes
- 1 medium potato - 2 sweet potatoes - ½ lemon - 1 fresh red chilli - Fresh coriander - 50g feta cheese - Peri Peri marinade 1. Wash your potatoes and sweet potatoes and half them lengthways. 2. Place into a microwavesafe bowl with the ½ of lemon, cover with Clingfilm and place into a microwave for around 10 minutes. 3. Finely chop your red chilli and most of your coriander and mix them together. Add the feta cheese and continue mixing the seasoning together. 4.Remove your potatoes from
(serves 4 as a side)
the microwave and drizzle in peri peri marinade before cooking again for 5 minutes. 5.Check your potatoes are cooked through and use tongs to squeeze your ½ of lemon over them. Add mixture from chopping board and mix together for an edgy kick to your mid-day snack or sides at lunch.
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