Tasty Chicken Stroganoff

Stroganoff has become a popular dish throughout the world, especially in English style pubs. It has its origins in 19th century Russia with the first recipe showing up Elena Molokhovet's classic Russian cookbook A Gift to Young Housewives. It was lightly floured cubes of beef cooked with bouillon, mustard and finished with sour cream. It evolved from there, things were added to it like onions and mushrooms, different meats were used or sometimes even just vegetables.

My version uses chicken and just came about because I was hungry at work and decided upon something different for a change.

So to make enough for yourself and 3 others you will need:-

1 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken breast, cut into strips
1 large onion, sliced
4-6 mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp tomato purée
150ml chicken stock
2 tbsp sour cream
paprika and parsley for decorating

Start by heating a pan over medium heat, then add olive oil. Sauté chicken strips and onions until the onions are soft but not browned. Add the mushrooms and garlic, sauté them for about a minute. Stir in the mustard and tomato and cook out for another minute. Pour in the stock and simmer until reduced by about half. Fold in the sour cream to finish and serve with either rice or pasta. It also goes great with garlic bread.

Manx Bonnags

Today I'm deciding to go all patriotic and give you an iconic Manx recipe. I made these for a cultural night held at my my Branch (the Mormon word for a local congregation). So what is a bonnag? Originally they started out as something like a unleavened barley bread but has now traditionally become a cake like bread. The word was first seen in written form in 1805 and is probably originated from the Irish or Scottish word for cake. Today it is mainly made with dried fruit in it, individual portions and with normal milk.

These went down a treat at the event with none coming home with me.

This will make around 6-8 individual bonnags:-

250ml Butter milk (or full fat milk and 2tbsp lemon juice)
380g plain flour, plus extra if needed
225g caster sugar
100g butter, softened
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2tsp salt
2tsp mixed spice
1/2 vanilla essence

Preheat your oven to 175C and put some baking paper on a oven tray.

Mix together the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, salt and mixed spice together in a bowl. Now add the butter and rub together with your fingers until they resemble breadcrumbs.

In another bowl mix together the butter milk (or lemon juice and milk) and vanilla essence.

Make a well in your flour mix and pour the milk mix in. Stir with a spatula. Mix until there is no dry patches. The dough should be moist and a little sticky but not overly wet, if it is, then add some more flour.

Dust your fingers with some flour and take a handful of your dough. Shape it into a rough ball and place on your baking paper. Repeat until you have no dough left.

Place into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Serve with butter or jam and cream. Treat your guests to a spot of afternoon 'cakes'

And in closing.... a picture of my in traditional Manx hunting tartan giving my presentation.

Simple Salad Nicoise

Sometimes my meals come from what I have in my cupboards and fridge, other times I just get an idea and I have to make it before it leaves me alone. This Salad Nicoise was one of the latter. It just came into my head during a morning work shift that all I wanted to eat for dinner was a Salad Nicoise, now I'm not a salad person at all. When I finished my shift, I cycled home passed the supermarket, bought the ingredients and arrived home to tell my wife what we were having for dinner.

Salad Nicoise, like all things with Nicoise attached to them, come from the region around Nice (In France). The typical ingredients in these dishes are garlic, anchovies, tomatoes, olive and French beans (also known as Green beans) and some kind of fish. This salad also has dozens of variations, some places use only fresh, seared tuna, others tinned, some will add cook vegetables, others won't, some won't even use lettuce. All are still Salad Nicoise and all taste fantastic.

This is my take upon this classic Southern French salad, so for 4 people you will need:-

1 medium sized Iceberg lettuce, washed and shredded
2 tins of Tuna chucks, drained
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 yellow pepper, sliced
8 new potatoes, boiled, cooled and cut into fours
4 eggs, cooked, peeled and cut into fours
6tbsp olive oil
2tbsp red wine vinegar
1tbsp Dijon mustard
1tsp salt
1tsp pepper

Start with making the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Leave to one side to infuse.

On your plates lay the lettcue first and the start adding the other ingredients. Leave the Tuna till last but besides that it does not really matter what order you have them in or how they look. Finish by topping it with the tuna and drizzling that dressing over it, about 2 tablespoons will do but you can always add more if you want.

That's it, very simple. The whole thing from start to finish shouldn't take more than 30 minutes including cooking of the potatoes and eggs.

So no more excuses about salads not being tasty.

Corned Beef Hash

Corned Beef Hash has been part of British home cooking since the early 20th century. It became very popular during the second world war, mainly because rationing made it hard to get fresh meat. This dish comes in many different varieties from frying cubes of corned beef with par boiled cubes of potato to cooking the beef with onions and layering mash on top. The one Hash I remember from my childhood was one where the corned beef was fried, added to some mash potato, salted and buttered and then topped with cheese. It was almost always served with baked beans, fried onions and bread. It was a family favourite. This version is a casserole that is simple, can be made up before hand (up to a day) and  nutritious.

So for this you will want to have:-

340g Corned beef (1 tin)
400g Potatoes (Maris Pipers or King Edwards work best)
75g Butter, melted
100ml double cream, warm
salt and pepper
75g Cheese, grated (I used a mix of Edam and Cheddar)

Optionals: Baked beans and one medium onion

So start off by rough cutting your potatoes and putting them into a pan of water to boil. I like to keep the skin on them as this is where most of the nutrients are held. A trick to getting the right mashed potato is not to over boil, so around 20 minutes, where they are soft but not breaking up.

While your potatoes are boiling take the corned beef out of the tin and slice. In a frying pan, add a teaspoon of oil and heat. Add your corned beef slices and brown on both sides. Take out and put to one side. You can use the same pan now to fry your onions if you are choosing to add onions.

Drain your potatoes and add back to the pan. Add the corned beef, cream, butter and seasoning and mash. I like to mash mine until they are all mixed together, not really caring if there are chunks.

If you are making for cooking later, let cool down and put into the fridge. About an hour before you want to serve, preheat oven to 175'C and put the hash inside. Cook for 20 minutes and then add the cheese. Turn up to 225'C and leave for another 15-20 minutes and the cheese has browned.

If wanting to make right away, preheat oven to 225'C, top with cheese and cook for 15-20 minutes and the cheese has browned.

Serve with your baked beans and onions if you want. Then watch as all the contents disappear into the mouths of your family and guests.

Mars Bar 'Cake'

Sometimes you just need something sweet, something you know is unhealthy but just makes you feel good. This is one of mine. It is so simple that you can make it with the children.

For a nice trays worth of these delicious things you will need:-
6 mars bars (or their cheaper equivalent)
2 cupfuls of rice krispies (or their cheaper equivalent)
200g milk chocolate


First melt your mars bars in a bowl suspended over boiling water. Then add the rice krispies and mix until all coated. Put into a greased pyrex tray and put to one side. Then melt the chocolate and add to the top. Put in fridge and leave to cool. Cut and serve,

Such a simple recipe, such delicious taste.

Pulled Pork with Sweet potato mash and cream cheese BBQ sauce

So this last Sunday (24th) I had off from work and so volunteered to make the whole family a dinner for after Church. We also had guests staying with us until that Sunday so I needed a meal that I could do very simply. So I decided on Pulled Pork because it was something I could put into the oven and leave overnight and not worry about it. I also really felt like sweet potato mash as I felt it would really compliment it and the BBQ sauce, well that is just because pulled pork tastes best with BBQ based sauces.

For enough to serve 5 people you will need;-
about 2kg of Pork Shoulder (you can also use collar, leg or any other cheap cut)
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

250g Potatoes, peeled and chopped
250g Sweet Potatoes, peeled and chopped
50g butter
25ml full fat milk
salt and pepper

1 tbsp Cream Cheese
2 tbsp Hickory BBQ Sauce
250ml thick cream
salt and pepper

First Preheat your oven to 250oC, then rub the oil and spices into your pork shoulder and put into a cooking bag (or in a slow cooker). Put into the oven for 20 minutes and reduce to 75oC. Leave for 12-15 hours (yes, that's right). Take out of oven and leave standing for 20 minutes.

Whilst the meat is standing. Put your potatoes and sweet potatoes in some salted water and boil until soft. Using a masher (or electric whisk) turn into mash and stir in your butter and taste. Correct seasoning as needed. Cover and leave to one side.

In a small pan mix together the cream cheese, BBQ sauce and thick cream. Heat on medium and combined together until warm. Taste and season.

Now take your pork out of the bag, save the juices. Shred the pork using forks or your hands, add some of the juices (I added about 1/4 of the bag) and mix into the pork. Save the rest of the juices to make a gravy at a later time.

Serve all together with some salad and bread and watch it all disappear in minutes. This was so sucessful I have been asked to do it for my Mother in Law's birthday in a couple of weeks time.

Summer Spiced Carrot Soup

So I had some carrots in my fridge and was thinking to myself "what should I do with them?" This carried on during my work shift and then it came to me - "why not make carrot and coriander soup", the voice in my head proclaimed. I thought it was a good idea as it is one of my favourite soups. So I was determined to make this after I finished my work shift at 2300 as a way to calm down. My fridge also revealed fresh ginger, some potatoes and garlic, so it all came together and I created this awesome soup.

This is not only a refreshing summer soup but can be a warming winter comfort for those dark nights. It is also entirely vegan friendly (except when I add a swirl of cream but you don't have to do that) and packed full of vitamins and minerals to give you a healthy boost to your system. It is so simple and cheap to make and lasts for a week in the fridge (if it gets that far).

So to make this nutritional soup you will want to have:-

1 tbsp vegetable oil
500g carrots, washed and chopped
1 small onion, rough chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 medium potato, washed and chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
2 tsp ground coriander
1.5 litre vegetable stock
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper
(Cream to finish, if you want)

First heat up the oil in a large pan, then you want to sauté your carrots, onion, garlic and ginger until soft. Add the potato, coriander, sugar and some seasoning (I used 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper) stir and cook out for about a minute.

Add your vegetable stock and bring up to a boil. Reduce this to a simmer until the carrots are tender, this takes about 20 minutes.

Using a stick blender whizz it all up until smooth and add the nutmeg and correct the seasoning to taste.

Serve with a swirl of cream if you like or nicely crisped croûtons for that added gourmet feel.