Scrambled Eggs (but more exciting)

I love creating yumminess from random things in the fridge. This morning I wanted something a little bit more exciting that just plain ole scrambled eggs on toast, so came up with this:




Ingredients:

Serves 2

4-5 free range eggs
handful of cheese (I used extra mature Canadian cheddar, but I'm betting that gruyère or parmesan would work well too.)
handful of chopped chives
2 tomatoes, quartered
Dash of milk
Small knob of butter
salt and pepper

1) Put the milk and butter in a non-stick pan and heat until butter has melted. Turn the heat to low.

2) Beat the eggs and pour into pan. Add cheese, chives, salt and pepper and stir well. Add tomatoes and continue to stir until eggs are cooked.

Serve on fresh wholemeal toast with a steaming hot cup of coffee.

Home Fries

Ever since my last visit to the States I've been craving home fries. So tasty, so versatile! I like to have them for brunch with bacon and eggs.

Cook your potatoes by baking them in the microwave, wrapped in kitchen paper. As soon as they're cool enough to handle you can dice them.



Ingredients

1-2 tablespoons of oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
3 or 4 small cooked potatoes, diced (I use whatever I have in the cupboard, but waxy ones work best)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add onions and pepper. Fry for 5-10 minutes or until soft. Then add your potatoes and fry until brown. Season with salt and/or pepper.

That's it!

Vegetable Chilli

I'm not sure how this one came about - I think Ross had the idea a few years ago and it's been tweaked a lot! Cocoa powder may seem like an odd ingredient, but it works a treat, trust me!



{picture coming soon!}



Ingredients

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1-2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1-2 sticks of celery, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 courgette, chopped
500g of creamed tomatoes
2-3 tablespoons of tomato puree
200g (½ a tin) of red kidney beans in chilli sauce
2 teaspoons of cocoa powder
2 teaspoons of mild chilli powder
1 teaspoon of cumin
salt and pepper to taste


1) Heat oil in a large saucepan and cook onions, garlic, celery and carrots for 5-10 minutes. Add remainder of vegetables and cook for a further 5-10 minutes.

2) Add tomato puree, creamed tomatoes and kidney beans. Stir well. Add a bit of water if necessary.

3) Add cocoa powder, mild chilli powder, cumin, salt and pepper, stir well, and leave to simmer for approx. 45 minutes - 1 hour or until the veg is cooked through and soft.

That's it!

Serve with rice, crusty bread or cornbread (my favourite!).

Stuffed Jacket Potatoes

This great way of jazzing up jacket potatoes is a variation of a recipe I have 'borrowed' from my Mum, thanks Mum! You can prepare them in advance to reheat when you're ready, they're lovely eaten cold and make a great supper. You could even use them to add a bit of variety to your lunchbox. Make up your own fillings based on what you fancy or what you've got laying around, these ones have got smoked ham, olives, sundried tomatoes and pesto in them, tuna and spring onion is rather tasty too. Omit the meat and they make a great vegetarian dish.

Ingredients: (for 2-4 people)

4 medium baking potatoes
1 tablespoon milk
1 egg, beaten
2 slices smoked ham, roughly chopped
a few sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped
a handful of olives, stones removed, roughly chopped
1-2 teaspoons pesto
Cheese, slices or grated (for topping, use whatever you have/fancy)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 200°C

1 - Wash potatoes, prick skins with a fork and sprinkle with salt. Place directly on oven shelf and bake for 1 hour.

2 - Once cooked, cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the middles into a mixing bowl and sit the skins to one side

3 - Combine the beaten egg and the milk and add to the mixing bowl. Mash with a fork.

4 - Add all of the remaining ingredients except the cheese and stir. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

5 - Spoon the mixture back into the skins and arrange in a roasting tin or oven dish.



6 - Cover the tops with cheese and bake at 200°C for 20-30 minutes.

7 - Once the cheese has browned they are ready to serve, great with homemade baked beans and a side salad.

Homemade Baked Beans

Here's a quick, relatively simple, versatile and tasty recipe for homemade baked beans. To be honest I'd better confess that it is a reworking of a recipe I first discovered at my local Waitrose supermarket but I've decided to put it on here because it has become a trusty favourite in the Booglers household. It's great as a topping for jacket potatoes, makes a wonderful beans on toast and even works cold as part of a salad. It can be made in advance and reheated when required, if anything the flavour improves if this is done. It works very well as a vegetarian dish if you omit the bacon or replace it with vegetarian bacon. Oh yes, some chopped or sliced chorizo in it is rather good too!

Ingredients:

1 400g tin of haricot beans, drained and rinsed
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
1 or 2 rashers of bacon, smoked or unsmoked, roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed/finely chopped
1/2 of a red pepper
1 small chilli (with or without seeds, adjust according to taste)
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 of a teaspooon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 tablespoons olives (optional)
1 tablespoon tomato purée
2 teaspoons brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

1 - Pour the olive oil into a large frying pan or deep-sided saucepan and over a medium heat fry the bacon for a minute or two. Next add the onion, pepper, celery, garlic and chilli and continue frying for 4 -5 minutes, stirring regularly until the onion starts to turn a golden brown colour.

2 - Add a tablespoon or two of water to the pan to help with the softening of the onion, pepper etc. Continue to fry until the water has been absorbed or has evaporated.

3 - Add the sweet and the smoked paprikas, the cayenne pepper and the olives and stir for 1 minute.

4 - Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato purée and sugar, bring to the boil and then stir in the beans. Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5 - Stir in the chopped parsley and check seasoning (at this point I usually add 1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt and a generous load of pepper). It is now ready to serve or can be left to cool to be reheated or eaten cold later on.

Reggae Chicken

This is a dish that Ross and I created with Reggae Reggae sauce.

{Picture coming soon!}

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, cut into bitesized pieces
1 red pepper, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 sweet potato, diced
A large glug of Reggae Reggae sauce
Coriander to taste

1. Par-boil sweet potato for 5-6 minutes, drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat large frying pan and add chicken. Fry for 10 minutes.
3. Add pepper, onion and sweet potato and cook until vegetables are soft. Add a glug of Reggae Reggae sauce (however much you like) and coriander and stir.

Serve with rice or crusty bread.

Couscous and Roasted Vegetables

I fancied something a bit different for lunch so combined leftover veg with a little trick I learned from Rob...





Ingredients:

1 red onion, sliced
1 yellow pepper, sliced
1 aubergine, diced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
250g couscous
300ml of boiling water
¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon of paprika
¼ teaspoon of cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 190°C

1. Place onion, pepper and aubergine onto a baking tray. Mix olive oil and garlic, then pour over the vegetables. Get your hands in there and give it a good mix - you want the veg to be completely covered by the oil and garlic.

2. Place in oven and roast for 30 minutes, turning veg halfway through to ensure even cooking.

3. Meanwhile, add the boiling water to the couscous in a large bowl. Then add cayenne pepper, paprika and cumin, salt and pepper, stir and then leave the couscous to absorb the water for a few minutes.

4. Once the couscous is ready, fluff it up with a fork and add your roasted vegetables. Stir well.

Can be eaten hot or cold.