My Cocky, The Tattoo and Cooking With[out] Gas!

For Christmas my very generous Sis In Law gave all us girls tickets to go to last night's final performance of the 2010 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.  In the 6 years I've lived in Edinburgh I've been fortunate enough to see the tattoo every year, apart from my first year when I was a poorly paid temp!  My Grandad, who is proudly known as Cocky in my family (its a long story but lets just say its all my big brother's fault!) was a Scot's Guard and an absolute giant of a man, if he hadn't been my Cocky he probably would of frightened the wits out of me!  Every year when the tattoo came on the TV at home we had to watch it, he asked questions later so there was no pretending you had lest he catch you out with a trick question!  He passed away about 10 years ago and I can honestly say that dealing with his 'departure' from my life was very difficult. 

Though he was born and bred in Cambuslang (you can just imagine his accent - I loved it!  And because i had grown up with his broad Scottish accent as a norm, I used to have to translate Taggart to all my friends at school!) I feel quite a connection with him now I also live in Scotland.  Visiting Edinburgh Castle is almost like visiting with him, that's were the Scot's Guard memorial is and know he would be fiercely proud of it.  And even though I hated watching the tattoo on TV every year as a kid, I will continue to make every effort to attend each year.  As much as I go in the memory of my Cocky, I also go because its actually really good fun, I actually enjoy it!  And in case you are wondering, I scream every bit as loud when they shout out for all the Aussies to make themselves known as I do for the Scots ;0)

Enough of the sentimental rantings (he would be most embarrassed!) and back to the reason for this post!  In the lead up to last night's performance we were all going to go out for dinner first and then wander up to the castle.  But being festival time the tables in restaurants are at a premium and as a general rule you pay over the odds for the food and drink even if you are willing to squeeze a meal in around the restaurants timetable.  So I offered to have a barbie.  Yep, you guessed it.  I got half way through cooking the barbie and the gas ran out.  Plan B was to fire up the range cooker and it all worked out in the end, Hubby and I will be feasting from the leftovers for the rest of the week.

Here is the menu;
Chicken with Chorizo and Mozzarella
Sausages
Chicken and Smoky Bacon Burgers
Gourmet Ranch Burgers (recipe follows)
Prawns with lime, chilli and coriander (recipe follows)
Mozzarella and Basil Bread
Sweetcorn with Smoked Paprika Butter (I actually managed to find sweetcorn with the husks still on!)
Mozzarella, Beetroot and Rocket Salad
I cheated and bought coleslaw and Miss SP made a very yummy potato for us all too!

And for dessert .....
Mark Hix's Iced Berries with Hot White Chocolate Sauce

Now ... here's the thing ... I forgot to take photo's of the food!  That's why there are photo's of the Tattoo on today's post instead ;0)

Gourmet Ranch Burgers
450g quality standard beef mince
1 small onion, peeled and grated
1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely crushed
5ml English mustard (optional)
60ml BBQ sauce
1-2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 tbsp sunflower oil

In a bowl mix all the ingredients together and season with salt and freshly milled black pepper. Using slightly damp hands shape the mixture into 4 10cm burgers, then cover and chill for 30 mins.

Brush each burger with a little olive oil and BBQ for 6-8 mins on both sides until thoroughly cooked or juices are completely clear.

Serve in bread rolls with salads.

Serves 4
Olive July 07

Prawns with lime, chilli and coriander
24 (1kg) medium uncooked king prawns
2 limes, halved
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 bunch (350g) watercress (110g trimmed)
Chilli coriander dressing
2 tbsp peanut oil
2 tbsp lime juice
1 long red chilli, seeded, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp finely chopped
Fresh coriander
Sea salt, to taste

To make the chilli coriander dressing, whisk all ingredients in a small bowl until combined.

Remove heads and legs from prawns, leaving tail and back shell intact. Split the prawns along the underside to open out flat, leaving shells on.

Cook lime halves on a heated, oiled grill plate (or grill or barbecue) until browned lightly; remove. Brush prawns with oil; cook prawns on same grill plate until browned and cooked through.

Serve prawns with watercress. Drizzle with Chilli Coriander Dressing and serve with limes.

Serves 4
The Australian Women's Weekly, Feb 07

Sunday Night is Barbie Night

The last few weeks have seen us firing up the barbie for Sunday dinner.  Hubby is quite happy to be served sausages and Chicken with Chorizo and Mozzarella but for me variety is the spice of life, so I try to make one new recipe every week.  Due to ill health my cooking adventures suffered a little bit of a set back last week so I attempted to make up for it with last weeks barbie, trying a couple of new recipes.  I am pleased to say they were very successful and will become regular features of our future barbecues!

Mozzarella and Basil Bread

150g butter , really soft
2 x 125g balls mozzarella , cut into little dice
2 garlic cloves , crushed
A small handful basil , chopped
2 baguettes
 
Mix the butter, mozzarella, garlic and basil and season well. Cut diagonal slices into, but not all the way through, the bread. Put a bit of cheesy butter in each slit, double wrap in foil and BBQ until the bread is golden and crisp and cheese melted.
 

 
You could also do this in a 220C/fan 200C/gas 7 oven for 25 minutes if you have no space on the BBQ.
 
Serves 8
Good Food Mag Website
 
Next time I think I'll add all the ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and blitz for a few seconds.  The lumpy bumpy nature of the chopped mozzarella made it difficult to spread, and this meant the foil stuck to the melted mozzarella, making unwrapping it a bit tricky!
 
Smokey Sweet Potato Wedges
 

 
4 large sweet potatoes , skin on, cut into long wedges
olive oil
2-3 tsp salt flakes
3 tsp smoked paprika
 
Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Toss the wedges in olive oil and arrange on a baking tray. Cook for 30 minutes until tender.
 
Mix the salt and paprika and sprinkle over to serve.
 
Serves 6
Good Food Mag Website
 
Sweetcorn with Smoked Paprika Butter
 

 
6 sweetcorn cobs
175g butter , softened
1 heaped tsp smoked paprika
lemon wedges, to serve
 
Pull any thick outer leaves off the corn cobs, fold back the rest of the leaves and pull out the silky threads. Mix together the butter and smoked paprika and smear onto the sweetcorn. Sprinkle with sea salt, fold the leaves back over and wrap well in foil. Barbecue for about 20 minutes until tender. Open it carefully so you don't spill any buttery juices. Serve with lemon wedges.
 

 
Serves 6
Good Food Mag Website
 
* Try to get your sweetcorn with the leaves still attached, otherwise use an extra sheet of foil when barbecuing.  (I couldn't find any sweetcorn with the leaves on last weekend, this week all I've spotted in the shops is sweetcorn still in their husks!)
 

I've reproduced the recipes here in their original quantities, for just the two of us though we cut down on the amounts (least we end up like the sides of houses)!

No barbie is complete without ...

... 3 of my no-fail-prepare-ahead-BBQ-must-haves!

Being an Aussie I guess there is a certain affinity between myself and my beloved barbie.  When I visited the Webber stand at the Taste of Edinburgh early last month, they laughed when they found out I use my Webber even when there is snow on the ground!  Can't understand why, food cooked on the barbie tastes great no matter what the weather does ... and I guess living in the UK for the last 9 years has changed my perception of 'the perfect weather for a barbecue' too!

With 'summer' drawing to a close there is no better time to share some of our favourite BBQ 'condiments'.

BBQ Sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
85g/3 oz brown sugar
3 tbsp malt vingar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp tomato puree


Heat oil in a saucepan and add the onion. Cook over a gentle heat 4-5 mins, until softened. Add remaining ingredients, season and mix. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 mins until thickened. For a smooth sauce simply whiz the mixture in a food processor or with a hand blender for a few seconds.


Makes 450ml


Once you've got the basic sauce it can be used to spice up anything from ribs to burgers and beans;
Spicy Spare Ribs
Put 12 pork spare ribs in a large plastic bag and tip in one quarter of the BBQ sauce. Seal the bag and shake to coat the ribs in the sauce. Leave in the fridge overnight, then allow to come to room temp before BBQ’ing the next day.
Tangy Turkey Burgers
Add a chopped onion and a few tbsp of BBQ sauce to 450g turkey mince and shape into 4 large or 8 small burgers. Cook on the BBQ or under the grill, then serve in buns with sliced tomatoes and salad leaves.
Spiced up Beans
Stir a few tbsp of the BBQ sauce into your baked beans and serve with sausages and a fluffy jacket potato.


* Sauce keeps in fridge for 2 weeks

If you only make one of these recipes please let it be this one.  Even non Jack drinkers fall in love with it!


Bourbon-Basting Sauce
1 small onion, chopped
Oil for frying
200ml bourbon whiskey (Jack Daniel’s or Wild Turkey)
100g dark soft brown sugar
100ml tomato ketchup
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp Dijon mustard
16 pork spare ribs, about 2kg (although we use this sauce on everything but ribs!  Try chicken or even large field mushrooms, but our preferred way is on sausages)

Cook the onion in 2 tbsp oil in a large pan until very soft, about 10 mins. Add the remaining ingredients (except the pork) and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 mins, until the alcohol has evaporated. Put in a food processor and whiz until smooth. Set aside half the sauce.

Bourbon Basted Bangers

Season the ribs. BBQ over medium-hot coals for 10 mins each side. If the ribs have a reasonable amount of fat, push the coals to the side of the BBQ as the dripping fat will cause flaming. The ribs may take longer to cook if you do this as the heat is indirect. Brush the ribs with some of the sauce then turn and BBQ for 5 mins, repeat about 3-4 times until the ribs are tender and cooked through, with a sticky coating. Serve with the reserved sauce.

Serves 4
Olive, June 07

BBQ’d Corn with Coriander and Chilli Butter
120g unsalted butter, softened

2 small red chillies, seeds removed, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp chopped coriander

4 corn cobs

Olive oil, to brush

Mix together the butter, chilli, garlic and coriander.  Cook corn in boiling salted water, until just tender.  Cool slightly, then cut cobs into pieces.  Brush with oil and BBQ until lightly charred.  Heat butter mixture in a pan on the side of the BBQ until melted.  Place corn on a platter, pour over butter and serve.

Serves 4

Delicious, Oct 11

My last piece of advice, what ever you do, don't forget the Hot Chilli Sauce and plenty of ice cold drinks.

Chicken and Smoky Bacon Burgers

In between downpours on Sunday we managed to get the barbie fired up for dinner.  This was the first time I have made these burgers but I can guarantee they will be regular features from now on. 

Chicken and Smoky Bacon Burgers
4 skinless chicken breasts, roughly chopped
4 rashers smoked streaky bacon, roughly chopped
1 medium egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp ready made red pesto
A large handful of flat leaf parsley
Olive oil, for dressing
4 burger buns, split
4 tbsp garlic mayo
2 ripe plum tomatoes, sliced
8 lettuce leaves
½ small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced into rings

Whiz the chicken, bacon, egg, pesto, parsley and some seasoning in a food processor until chopped and combined. Tip on to a board and, with damp hands, form into 4 balls, the flatten into burgers. Cover and chill for 30 mins.

Rub a little oil over the burgers then fry, griddle or BBQ for 5-6 mins on each side until golden and cooked through. Toast the buns then spread each bottom bun half with garlic mayo, top with a burger, a few tomato slices, lettuce leaves, onion rings and the bun tops.

Serves 4
Sainsbury’s Mag, Aug 09

We had these 'Aussie' style, with thick slices of bread toasted on the barbie, lettuce (except I didn't have any so we used spinach instead!), sliced tomatoes, beetroot and a fried egg.  Admittedly it was a 'deconstructed' Aussie style burger, there was no way anybody was going to be able to take a proper bite of these burgers if everything was layered one on top of the other.  The chicken burgers are 'man' sized and can easily be made smaller for those of us with a more dainty disposition! Owing to the size of them, I cooked them for much longer than the time stated in the recipe, about 25 to 30 mins - salmonella is nobodies friend!

Light Brioche Burger Buns

This is a post I have been meaning to share for ages!  There is actually quite a queue of waiting posts forming ;0(

Anyhoo, moving swiftly on, this is a recipe I found over on Foodqawker and had to try it straight away. So far it is the best home made burger bun recipe I've come across, although my roll shaping technique will hopefully improve following on from the Bread Making course I attended last weekend with Jac from Tinned Tomatoes (yes ... that is another post I am still to write up!  Sigh).  I found the dough quite wet and difficult to shape into rolls as directed in the recipe so resorted to just 'dolloping' the mixture onto the baking sheets.  Shaped to perfection or not, the result is lovely light and tasty bread rolls, the perfect size to house a burger or snag straight from the barbie.  Wish I had a photo of them in all their glory stuffed to the gunnel's with all our barbie fare but I am afraid we all devoured them before I even stopped to think about the camera!

Light Brioche Burger Buns

50ml warm milk (40-45C)

250ml warm water (40-45C)

1 sachet (7g) active dry yeast

40g caster sugar

1 large egg

445g strong bread flour

70g plain flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

40g unsalted butter, at room temp

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tbsp water

1 tsp sesame seeds

Combine milk, water, yeast and sugar and stir well. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, or until the top is foamy. In a small bowl, lightly beat the large egg.

In the large work bowl of a mixer, stir together both flours and salt. Cut in butter until crumbs form. Add the egg and yeast mixture to the flour. Mix together with the dough hook attachment on low. Once combined, increase the speed to medium until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes (or you can knead by hand, in which case it will take you 8-10 mins). The finished dough will be slightly sticky (do not add additional flour).

Transfer the dough to a clean work area and form into a ball. Place the dough in a greased bowl, seam side down, turn once to coat the dough in the oil entirely. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free location until doubled in size, between 1-2 hours.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a clean work area. Punch the dough down, then let rest for about 5 minutes. Divide the dough equally into 10 sections and shape each into a ball. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the dough balls to the baking sheet, spacing them about 5cm apart. Cover with plastic wrap coated with cooking spray. Let rise for an additional 1-2 hours until doubled in size.

Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 200C.  Bake rolls for 7 mins. 

In a small bowl, beat together the egg with 1 tbsp water. Brush the egg wash on top of each bun. Sprinkle the buns with sesame seeds. Bake (remember to turn the baking sheets when returning the roll's to the oven to ensure even baking), until tops are golden brown, about 8-10 mins more. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Makes 10 Burger Buns

Stolen from Pass The Sushi

Salmon with Lime Creme Fraiche

I'm off to the Taste of Edinburgh today - yippee!!!!  Can't wait but I thought I had better catch up on all my unread blogs and catch up on my own too.  I made these last weekend alongside the Chicken and Chorizo skewers, Hubby doesn't eat fish (unless it is in batter!) so I had lots leftover for quick meals after the gym and to take to work for lunch!  It was just as nice cold as it was fresh from the barbie.

Salmon with Lime Creme Fraiche
150g creme friache
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp finely grated lime rind
3 tsp lime juice
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
4 x 200g salmon fillets
finely chopped fresh chives and lime wedges for serving

Combine creme fraiche, mustard, zest, juice and chives in a small bowl.

Cook salmon on  a heated, oiled grill plate (or grill or BBQ) until browned on both sides and cooked as desired.

Top salmon with some creme fraiche, sprinkle with extra chives and serve with lime wedges, if desired.

Serves 4
Australian Women's Weekly, Feb 07

My pictures don't really do it justice - I was too keen to dig in than to make the perfect photo setting!  The great thing about this recipe is it doesn't need to be made on a barbie, it can be made year round on a grill as well and it is pretty healthy too provided you use the low fat version of the creme fraiche.

Now I need to shower, straighten my hair, make cupcakes for sis in laws garden party tomorrow and then I'm off to find some yummy food ;0)

Happy Friday everyone!

Chicken and Chorizo Skewers

As promised, here are the best skewers (in my humble opinion!) ever to come off a barbecue!

Chicken and Chorizo Skewers
8 (about 600g) chicken thigh fillets, cut into 2cm pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp ground oregano
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp brown sugar
4 chorizo sausages, thinly sliced diagonally
Crusty bread rolls, split, to serve
Mixed salad leaves, to serve

Combine chicken, oil, garlic, oregano, paprika, lemon juice and sugar in a bowl.  Place in the fridge for 2 hours to marinate.

Evenly thread the chicken, alternating with chorizo, among the skewers.

Heat a char-grill pan or BBQ on high.  Add the skewers and cook, turning, for 6-8 mins or until chicken is cooked through.  Remove from heat and place in bread rolls with mixed salad leaves if desired.

Serves 6 (approx 18 skewers)
Australian Notebook, Oct 07

So yummy are these that I actually forgot to take photos of them before we scoffed them.  Oops!  Guess I'll just need to make some more ...

Turkey Chilli Burgers

Barbie season has well and truly arrived here in Edinburgh.  This makes me so happy ;0)
Short sleeves, bright blue skies, Bumble Bees and Barbies - not sure that life could get any better.

To celebrate the change of weather the most recent ash cloud seems to have brought with it we've been having a few barbies of late, be prepared to see a few savoury meals appearing while the warm weather is with us, all cooked on the webber of course.  A couple of years ago I pretty much lived off these burgers.  Living in a flat in Craigmillar space was tight and there was definitely no space for a barbecue so I used to make these on the George Foreman.  Once we moved to the Waterfront I've been spoilt and can now have a webber on the balcony (still not a backyard which I long for but we'll get there one day ~ baby steps!) and I've decided that these burgers taste even better when cooked in the great outdoors.

Turkey Chilli Burgers
500g minced turkey
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or coriander
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
olive oil, for brushing
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Burger buns, rocket and tomato slices, to serve

Mix together the minced turkey, garlic, chilli, herbs, worcestershire sauce and plenty of salt and pepper.  Shape the mixture into 4 even sized burgers, then brush lightly with the oil.  Preheat the grill to medium.

Grill for 5 mins on each side - or cook on a medium to hot barbie - until well browned and cooked through.  Serve in burger buns with rocket and juicy sliced tomatoes.

Makes 4
Ainsley Harriot (I think it was 'Low Fat Meals In Minutes')

These burgers come with a couple of added bonus.  Firstly, because turkey mince is used they are pretty healthy ~ if you are counting points like me then these are only 3.5 points per burger.  And the other bonus is a pretty selfish one, Hubby doesn't like Turkey so it means that I can have them all to myself!  Not all in one sitting mind because that would defeat the purpose of counting the points of course!

Wishing you all short sleeves, bright blue skies, Bumble Bees (except if you are Lucie, then I wish you no bumbles at all!) and Barbies where ever you are ;0)

Random Recipe Challenge ~ Botham Burgers

Firstly I feel I need to apologise for my lack of blogging lately.  Not only has finding the time to post my antics hard to come by, but visiting blogs and catching up on all the gossip with my friends has also been difficult.  Sorry!  To add insult to injury, blogger is just not playing fair and has thrown a complete tantrum over photos which is why they have been few and far between on the posts I have completed!!  My picasa work around is quickly wearing thin too as I am now nearing the full storage limit and the increase the limit means handing over cold hard cash!  And now my email has decided to join the club too ...

Pressing on to more important matters, the time is drawing near to get my post completed for Dom's Random Recipe challenge this month, which he very cleverly decided should come from the first cookbook that started all our collections off.  I decided to settle on the first cookbook I got in the UK ... if I went for the proper first cookbook I would have had to ask my Mum to send it over, a classy kids book with cartoon pictures of a cat and a dog let loose in the kitchen complete with chef's hats!  Can't seem to recall any of the recipes!

So, the first cookbook in my UK collection came courtesy of my big brother.  It was part of a birthday gift I received in my first year in the UK and contained a lovely hat, scarf and glove set from Accessorise (which I still use by the way!  My big brother knows me so well!) and a copy of Jamie Oliver's new book "The Return Of The Naked Chef".  To this day I still don't know what on earth possessed him to buy me a cookbook, my love of food didn't develop for another few years but clearly he knew something I didn't.

Following along with the 'what on earth possessed' theme was the choice of recipe from the book for the challenge.  The day after the challenge was set Hubby and I were talking about having a barbie, Hubby was lamenting his recent love lose of the classic burger just as I should flick to the page with the Botham Burger ... I'm pretty sure you can guess the rest!

Jamie Oliver's Botham Burger
1kg minced beef, preferably organic
2 medium red onions, finely chopped
2 eggs
1-2 handfuls of fresh breadcrumbs
1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
1 small pinch cumin seeds, crushed
1 heaped tsp dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 230C.  Mix and scrunch all the ingredients together.  Use the breadcrumbs as required to bind the mixture.  Divide into 4, then gently and lightly mould and pack each burger together into a smallish cricket ball sized shapes.  Place in the oven and roast for 25 mins, which should leave the middle slightly pink and the outsides nice and crispy.  Serve with regular burger style sides!

Makes 4
Jamie Oliver's 'The Return Of The Naked Chef'

The above is how Jamie makes them.  I make them pretty much the same, apart from the burgers are flattened to ensure even cooking (Hubby doesn't like pink in his meat!) and we cook them on the barbie for roughly the same amount of time.  I have now made this recipe twice more, Hubby is totally addicted and last weekend we took them along to a barbie with friends and everyone raved about them, so there is some strong testimony from some finicky eaters!  The biggest thumbs up seems to come from the 'Chilli-Cheese' Burger, where these are cooked with a healthy layer of homemade hot chilli sauce and topped with slices of cheese which are then left on the barbie (with the hood down!) to molten lava stage.

BBQ Banquet

I reckon if all my main meals could be cooked on a barbie that I would enjoy cooking as much as I do baking.  I don't know what it is about cooking outdoors, especially in this wonderful weather that has greeted the start of British summer time!  It was very chilly standing on the balcony last night flipping burgers!  It seems that we are developing a bit of a Good Friday barbie tradition though, I remember flat sitting for sis-in-law a couple of years ago and trying to make a decent barbie on her terrace with one of those disposable BBQ's you can get from M&S.  It was an interesting experience!  When we moved into our new flat with a balcony I knew I had to get a proper BBQ and my webber arrived just in time for moving day and its not failed us yet!

In addition to the usual burger and snags (that's Aussie slang for sausages!) we also had Chicken with Chorizo and Mozzarella.  We also had Jacket Sweet Potato and a very yummy Soy Glazed Tuna for me!

Soy Glazed Tuna Steaks
50ml soy sauce

4 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
½ tsp sesame oil
4 tuna steaks

Put the soy sauce and brown sugar in a small saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the garlic and sesame oil, remove from the heat and cool. Cover the tuna steaks with the marinade and leave for 1 hour.

BBQ the tuna steaks for 1 min each side for rare, 2 for medium, basting constantly with the marinade, until charred and sticky on the outside.

* This marinade can also be used with salmon or white fish.

Serves 4

Not sure where I got this one from, I've had the recipe for a few years now!

Barbecue Baked Sweet Potatoes

4 small ish sweet potatoes

4 tsp olive oil

salt

4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

4 sprigs of thyme

Rub each potato with a little oil and salt, then lay a sliced clove of garlic and a sprig of thyme over the top.  Wrap each potato in a double layer of foil.

As soon as the barbecue coals are glowing red, put the potatoes directly on them. Cook for 15 mins, turn with tongs, then cook for 15 mins more. Remove one, unwrap and check it is cooked through.

Once these are cooked you can also peel back the top of the foil from each potato, split open and top with a spoonful of yogurt and a few spring onion slices which is very nice but we didn't worry about that last night.

Serves 4

Adapted from BBC Good Food

Of course the biggest joy I get from cooking a barbie is making way too much food and having to eat it cold for lunch the next day ;0)

Sunday Dinner - Our Way

We don't often have Sunday dinner in our house, there may only be two of us but trying to find something that pleases us both can be quite a challenge. I was a vegetarian for a good few years before I met Hubby but found that I quickly needed to adjust my eating habits if I didn't want to end up making two separate dishes each meal time ... but I still won't eat red meat (long story!) and to some extent neither will Hubby unless its in the form of a burger, a sausage or sausage rolls lol. He also won't eat turkey or duck or fish and chicken on the bone is a definite no go zone. Starting to get an idea of the challenge? Maybe that's why baking sweets and puddings and desserts is such a joy for me.

Today's Sunday dinner is a bit of a revelation though, so much so that Hubby has asked for it again next Sunday. It consists of Chicken with Chorizo and Mozzarella, this recipe originally started life as a Donna Hay recipe but I think it may have been tweaked beyond recognition now. During summer we have this every time the barbie is fired up. And to serve along side were Dijon Roasted New Potatoes and Garlic Fine Beans.

Chicken with Chorizo and Mozzarella

4 chicken steaks (I couldn't get any steaks today so resorted to flatten chicken breasts ~ very therapeutic)

1 ball mozzarella, sliced

50g thinly sliced chorizo

Dried mixed herbs (tonight I used oregano in its place to tie in with the rest of the meal)

Salt and Pepper

Heat a griddle pan or fire up the barbie. Sprinkle mixed herbs over one side of each of the steaks and season. Place herb side down on the grill and leave for approx 2 mins. Before turning over, coat with more herbs and seasoning. Once turned place 2 to 3 chorizo slices on top of the steak and layer this 1 or 2 slices of mozzarella. I then cover with the lid of the barbie and cook until the mozzarella starts to ooze and the meat is cooked through.

Serves 4

Dijon Roasted New Potatoes

Cooking spray

1 tbsp olive oil

2 level tbsp dijon mustard

3/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp dried oregano (original recipe states thyme)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

700g new potatoes, quartered (I found some 2nd crop Jersey Royals at the shops today and used them to make this)

Coat a 23 x 34cm (9 x 13") baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat oven to 220C. Whisk together oil, mustard, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add potatoes and stir until they are coated.

Transfer potatoes to the baking dish and roast for 15 mins. Stir and roast for another 15 mins, or until tender (mine took between another 10 to 15 mins on top of this).

Serves 4

Adapted from WW

These were very moreish and will be making them again just as soon as I have the excuse to, Hubby wanted to eat the whole lot himself!

Garlic Fine Beans

Cooking spray

180 - 200g fine green beans

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 shallot, finely chopped

Mist frying pan with cooking spray. Add garlic and shallot and cook over medium heat for 1 min before adding beans. Stir fry until beans are a wonderful vibrant green and the garlic and shallots cooked through and fragrant.

Serves 4

Only thing missing from this meal was room for dessert ;0)

Mustard and Onion Relish

Not a lot new to report from the kitchen recently I'm afraid. Its not that I haven't been in the kitchen, just not cooking or baking anything new or exciting. But Saturday was one of my dearest friends birthday's and as she is all the way over in Australia I promised her we would celebrate her special day with a BBQ ... barking I know! Not even a minus degree temperature deterred Hubby and I from standing on the balcony of our flat barbecuing snags (sausages!) and some Chicken Steaks. We had our usual green beans and spinach salad on the side and some of this very yummy Mustard and Onion Relish which is a regular feature at our BBQ's in the summer.

Mustard and Onion Relish

2 tbsp veg oil (or fry lite)

3 onions, peeled and sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

3 tbsp muscovado sugar

4 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp wholegrain mustard

Salt and black pepper

Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onions until golden brown and softened.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 min, then add the sugar, vinegar and mustard.

Bring to the boil and cook for 2-3 mins until syrupy. Season to taste. Serve hot or cold with sausages, burgers, chicken or steak.

Serves 8

Tesco Summer Food Mag 2007