Thai spiced turkey burgers w/green coriander salad + sweet potato chips

Was going to make a stew with dumplings this evening but it didn't quite happen. Alas, there was football on bbc tonight. Not having sky tv and being an extreme football fan any chance to watch football on tv especially a local team is not a chance to be missed. And so stew was sidelined in favour of burgers and beer! Here is my alternative recipe for tv burger dinner which is slightly healthier than regular beef burger + chips but oh so full of delicious flavours...

serves 2 beer glugging gluttons but generally 4

ingredients burgers:
500g of turkey mince
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 heaped tsp red thai curry paste
juice of 1/2 a lime
handful of coriander. roughly chopped
1 egg yolk (optional)
ingredients chips:
2 large sweet potatoes, skin on + sliced into wedges
olive oil
 ingredients salad:
1 packet of rocket
juice of 1/2 a lemon
olive oil
handful of chives, roughly chopped
handful of coriander

how to:
Put a pot of salted water on a high heat and add sweet potato. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 mins until just off soft. Drain.
Meanwhile pre-heat the over to 200C.
Season the potatoes and add a glug of olive oil to the pot. Put the lid on and shake to cover the potatoes. season with salt and pepper.
Put the potatoes in a baking tray in a thin layer and put in oven. Bake until starting to brown (20-30mins), tossing half way through.
Place the turkey mince, onion, chopped coriander, lime juice, thai paste and egg yolk into a bowl and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
Put rocket into a large salad bowl and add chives and coriander.
Squeeze over lemon juice and a splash of olive oil. Toss well.
Divide turkey mixture into 4 and form into burgers.
Put a gridle pan on a high heat until smoking and put burgers on. Cook for 7-8 mins on each side.
Split four sesame seed rolls and place in oven to toast.
Serve burgers on the rolls with some coriander salad and the chunky sweet potato chips on the side.
I like my burger with some tomato and chilli chutney(will be making for christmas pressies so will post recipe soon) and occasionally i like to add a slice of gouda and melt in oven on the roll.
enjoy....

Warm salad of seared steak w/watercress, potato + stilton

Finally got the camera on the go so this evening we have recipe with photos. Didn't finish until late again this evening so decided to continue in the same vain as last week and opted for a quick yet tasty and just filling enough for a 9pm late dinner munch - more getting on for supper at that time of night really. A quick stop at morissons on the way home (which was lovely and quiet with one lone bag of watercress in the salad aisle) for the ingredients and got cooking. Half and hour later and we were nibbling away on this...



serves 2 ample evening appetites

ingredients:
2 thin steaks
1 bag of watercress
400g baby potatoes, chopped in half
handful of chives, half chopped and half whole
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
handful of cherry tomatoes, skins pierced
50g danish blue, crumbled
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp green peppercorns in brine

how to:
put a pot of salted water on a high heat and add the potatoes. Bring to the boil and turn heat down to a simmer.
put a griddle pan/frying pan on a high heat and add the cherry tomatoes. cook until skins blacken slightly.
place the watercress, chives, red onion and green peppercorns into a large salad bowl.
remove tomatoes and set aside. put pan back on high heat.
put steaks in frying pan and cook for a minute on each side (medium/rare).
remove steaks from pan and set aside to rest.
place lemon juice, olive oil and stilton on a cup and stir into a thick dressing. season with pepper to taste.
meanwhile drain the potatoes and add to frying pan. cook until browning and crisping up on outside.
remove from pan and add to watercress in salad bowl.
slice steak and add to salad bowl.
pour over the dressing and toss well.
and serve....

Spaghetti w/bacon, mushroom, basil + creme fraiche

This evenings dinner was a bit of a 'lets see what we have left in the fridge' affair. Too lazy to brave the supermarket at the weekend however from our last trip there was some smokey bacon and creme fraiche from last week still left over (not one for use by once opened dates, taste test was fine). So here is a simple recipe for a quick and tasty monday evening dinner...

serves 2 hungry pasta lovers

ingredients:
200g spaghetti
5 rashers of smoked back bacon, cut into 4m pieces
1/2 pack of mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, halved and sliced
handful of cherry tomatoes
1 clove garlic, grated
juice of half a lemon
2 heaped tbsp reduced fat creme fraiche
handful of basil leaves, chopped

how to:
place the bacon in a pot on a medium heat, put the lid on a cook for five minutes.
once cooked remove bacon from pot, leaving juice behind.
put the spaghetti on to cook as directed on the packet.
Add the onions, mushrooms and tomatoes to the pot still containing the juice from the bacon, cover and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes or until onions are soft. Remove from heat.
Drain the spaghetti.
Add the onions mix to the spaghetti along with the bacon.
Stir in the creme fraiche.
sprinkle over the grated garlic and add the lemon juice and basil. Stir until combined.
Serve with lots of freshly ground black pepper.
enjoy...

'the eyes eat first'

Finally managed to locate the batteries for my camera so now i can get snapping some shots of the recipes in action...

Autumnal salad of bacon, potatoes + beetroot w/zesty mustard dressing

Well it has been freezing cold here and raining with the occasional hail shower. Last night i didn't finish work until late but fancied something tasty which could utilise the beetroot and creme fraiche (bought to replace sour cream for tuesdays fajitas) i had left over. After a bit of thought i popped into the supermarket on the way home and got some spinach, parsley and bacon. headed back with a growl in my stomach, and twenty minutes later this is what i came up with...

serves 2 hungry people

salad ingredients:

1 packet of streaky bacon

2 eggs

3 handfuls of baby potatoes, halved

1 packet of baby leaf spinach

1 vacuum pack of beetroot, or cooked fresh if available, roughly cut

½ red onion, thinly sliced

dressing ingredients:

2 tbsp crème fraiche

1tsp whole grain mustard

3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Juice of ½ a lemon

Splash of olive oil

how to:

Place the potatoes in a pot filled with salted water and cook until just off soft.

While the potatoes are cooking put a frying pan on a high heat.

Cut streaky bacon into 4cm lengths and place in frying pan.

Cook on high heat, stirring occasionally, until crispy (about 1o mins).

Meanwhile, place spinach in a large salad bowl.

Add the onion and beetroot.

To make the dressing put all ingredients in a mug and beat with fork to combine.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and adjust with more lemon juice if needed.

Once bacon is crispy remove from pan and set aside.

Put pan back on heat.

Remove the potatoes from water with a slotted spoon and place in frying pan.

Season with fresh black pepper and cook until crisping up on the outside.

Poach eggs in water left over from cooking potatoes.

Once potatoes are cooked add them to the salad bowl along with the bacon.

Pour over the dressing and toss well.

Place poached eggs on top and serve…