Special cauliflower cheese

Ingredients:


1 large cauliflower 
50g butter
40g plain flour
500ml semi-skimmed milk
1/2tsp English mustard
1/4 level tsp cayenne pepper
75g extra mature Cheddar cheese, grated
75g Gruyère, grated
25g Parmesan, grated 
40g white bread (slightly stale), made into crumbs
1 level tbsp seasame seeds
1 level tbsp sunflower seeds


Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Break the cauliflower into large florets. Add to a large pan of fast boiling water, return to the boil, then cover and simmer for 10mins. Drain.
Melt the butter, remove from the heat and stir in the flour. Cook over a low heat for 1 minute, stirring.
Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the milk. Heat again until simmering, whisking constantly. Add the mustard and cayenne and simmer for 1 minute.
Take off the heat. Set aside 25g Cheddar, then add the rest of the cheeses and stir until melted.
Put the the cauliflower in an oven proof dish, then pour over the sauce. Mix the reserved cheese with the breadcrumbs and seeds. Sprinkle over the cauliflower and bake for 10-15mins


Serves 4


Per serving:
Calories - 500
Fat - 32.7g
Sat Fat - 18g
One of your 5 a day.

Steak Wellington

Steak Wellington


Ingredients:


50g mushrooms, chopped
1 level tsp oil
1 level tsp butter
300g Beef Fillet steak
50g Brussels Pate with Garlic
250g ready to roll puff pastry
Flour, for rolling out
1 medium egg, beaten
New potatoes with chopped parsley, courgette and carrot ribbons, to serve




Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Heat the butter and oil in a non stick frying pan. Add the mushroom, then gently fry over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they have shrunk and all the juices run out. Continue to cook until all the juices have evaporated. Tip into a bowl to cool.
Cut the steak into 2 even sized pieces. Heat the pan, add the steak and cook for a few seconds on each side to brown the outside- the meat should still be raw. Put on a plate and leave to cool.
Mix the pate with the cold mushrooms. Spread on top of the steaks. Cut the pastry in half and roll out to the thickness of a £1 coin. Place a piece of steak, pate-side down, in the centre of each half.
Dampen the edges of the pastry with a pastry brush, then fold over to enclose the steaks in neat parcels. Place the parcels on a baking sheet with the folds underneath. Brush with beaten egg, then bake for 18-20 minutes until golden. Serve with new potatoes sprinkled with chopped parsley, and carrot and courgette ribbons.


Serves: 2
Ready in: 50mins
Calories per serving: 880
Fat per serving: 49.9g

Shortbread Kisses

After whetting your appetites with all those pictures of lovely food here is a recipe to make some 'Shortbread Kisses'






Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Put 50g salted butter (at room temprature), a few drops of vanilla extract and 25g caster sugar in a bowl and mix with a spoon until evenly blended.
Add 75g plain flour and 1 level tbsp cornflour and mix with a spoon to make a dough. Bring the dough together with your finger tips, but try to handle it as little as possible. Shape into a flat cake, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 15 mins - no longer or it will be too hard to roll out.
Lay a large sheet of cling film on a work surface. Unwrap the dough and put on top, then cover with another sheet of clingfilm. Roll out the thickness of a £1 coin. Remove the top sheet of clingilm.
Cut out pairs of shapes using cookie cutters and place onto the prepared baking trays, leaving a small gap between each biscuit. Gather up the leftover dough and roll out again to make more biscuits. You'll make more biscuits than you will need for this dessert but they'll keep for up to a week in an airtight container.
Bake for 10-12mins until lightly tinged at the edges. Leave on the baking trays for 10mins, then carefully lift them off an put onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Just before serving, whip 75ml double cream until it just holds its shape. Take 8 biscuits and sandwich together with 2tbsp strawberry preserve and the cream. Sprinkle with a little caster sugar and serve with strawberries and blueberries


Per serving:
388 calories
30.7g fat
19.1g sat fat

Some of the best food of my life

I think I can safely say that while I was on my holiday I had some of the best food in my life and the sandwich and the ribs are by far the best sandwich and the best ribs I've ever had by far!!

Cheat's moussaka

Ingredients:


400g new potatoes
1tbsp olive oil
1 large onion finely chopped
500g extra lean steak mince
400 can chopped tomatoes with garlic
3tbsp tomato ketchup
1 level tsp dried oregano
1tsp ground cinnamon
1 lamb or beef stock cube
1 aubergine, cut into 1cm cubes
4 level tsp cornflour
400g Greek style yoghurt
2 medium eggs
25g Parmesan, grated


Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5. Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain, slice and keep warm.
Heat the oil in a pan and gently fry the onion, stirring often. Add the mince, stirring to break up the clumps, until browned.
Add the tomatoes, tomato ketchup, oregano and cinnamon, then crumble in the stock cube. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the aubergine, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Mix 2 level tsp cornflour with 1tbsp water and stir in. Heat until thickened.
Put in an ovenproof dish. Cover with the potatoes.
Stir the rest of the cornflour into the yoghurt, add the eggs and lightly beat to evenly mix. Season, pour on top of the potato and sprinkle with Parmesan.
Bake for 20 minutes, until the topping is just set and golden,




Ready in: 1hr
Serves: 4
2 of your 5 a day
Calories per serving: 560
Fat per serving: 28.9g

Minty Guacamole

Buy...


Avocado
Red Onion
Fresh British mint
Lime


Try...


... slicing an avocado in half, then remove the stone and scoop all the flesh into a bowl. Mash well and add 1 tablespoon finely sliced red onion, 2 finely chopped sprigs of fresh mint and the juice of half a lime. Mix all the ingredients together and season with a little salt for a fresh twist on a dip that's a great way to start a barbecue.


Why not try... serving this creamy guacamole with mini toasted pittas or toasted bread - great for a barbeque or picnic.


Per serving*:
107 cals
7.4g fat
1g total sugars


* one serving is based on 36g avocado, 4g red onion, 3g fresh mint, 1/8 lime and 16g bread.

Spicy cauliflower fritters

Sorry it has been a while since I last posted, have been rather busy whilst feeling rather rubbish. Anyway here is a recipe for some spicy cauliflower fritters. I hope you enjoy :)


Ingredients:


1 cauliflower
2cm piece fresh root ginger, grated
1/2tsp crushed dried chillies
3tbsp sunflower oil, plus extra for deep frying
1tbsp lime juice
1tbsp sweet chilli sauce
200g self-raising flour, plus extra for coating
1 level tsp ground cumin
1 level tsp ground turmeric
1 level tsp ground coriander
Pinch of salt
300-350ml beer


For the sweet and sour dipping sauce
4tbsp tomato ketchup
3tbsp sweet chilli sauce
3tbsp mango chutney
2tbsp lime juice


Break the cauliflower into 2cm florets - they all need to be about the same size so that they cook evenly.
Whisk together the ginger, chillies, 3tbsp oil, lime juice and chilli sauce. In a bowl, gently mix the florets in the marinade. Put them in a freezer bag and seal. Leave to marinate for an hour, turning the pieces occasionally to ensure they are all coated.
To make the batter, sift the flour, cumin, turmeric and coriander and salt into a bowl. Gradually whisk in 300ml beer. It should be the consistency of double cream. Add the extra beer if necessary to thin it.
Drain the marinade from the cauliflower. Dip the florets in flour to lightly coat.
Half fill a deep fryer or a large saucepan with oil and heat to 180C or until a cube of bread dropped into the oil browns in 60 seconds
Dip the florets into the batter a few at a time and fry for 4-5 mins until crisp. When cooked, drain on triple-thickness kitchen paper and keep warm while you cook the next batch.
Mix the dipping sauce ingredients together and serve with the fritters.


Serves 4


Per serving
Calorie - 488
Fat - 21.2g
Sat Fat - 2.7g
One of your 5 a day