Scallops and mashed potatoes

This is a simple, light dinner and a good way of sneaking some vegetables into your daily diet.

Scallops and mashed potatoes

For two people:

200g potatoes

a knob of butter and a dribble of milk

100g lardons

one leek, sliced into thin rounds

one chopped onion

100g scallops (fresh or frozen)

Peel and chop the potatoes into chunks, and boil them until they are tender enough to mash. In the meantime, fry the lardons, with the onions and the leeks over a medium heat, until the vegetables soften. The fat from the lardons should be enough to lubricate the pan, so you don't need to use oil. 

Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the water off them, add the butter and the dribble of milk and mash them. Add your vegetables and the lardons (keep the residual fat in the pan for cooking the scallops in a moment), with a little salt and pepper and mix them well.

In your frying pan again, fry the scallops for about 3 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes on the second.

Switch your grill on. Put your cooked scallops into an individual, shallow dish and cover with the mashed potatoes. Pop these under the hot grill until the top crisps up, so about 3-4 minutes.

If you don’t have leeks, you could add some carrots or other vegetable to the potatoes. If you have some cheese lingering in the fridge you could also add that to the mash. 

Quinoa and chicken yummy simpleness

I admit that have been very busy over the past few weeks and as a result, have been falling back on tried n tested recipes, many of which are already in this blog. However, I tried these two for dinner during the week. They are both from Domini Kemp in the Irish Times from over the summer and were simple, tasty and fast, which is exactly what you need when you’re short on time and everything else. I’m loving Domini’s recipes the more and more I try them as they are always good and most importantly, they work every time. Thanks Domini!

Quinoa and spiced chicken, from Domini Kemp

Quinoa salad 

Serves 4

200g quinoa

Few tbsp olive oil

Black sesame seeds or nigella seeds

Bunch coriander, finely chopped

Salt and pepper

2 preserved lemons, finely chopped or juice and zest of 1-2 lemons

Cook the quinoa in boiling water according to the pack instructions and then drain it and rinse until cold. Let it drain really well, otherwise it tastes too soggy. Simply toss with the rest of the ingredients and season to taste.

Lemon spiced chicken with chickpeas 

Good glug of olive oil

1 onion, peeled and diced

4 skinless chicken breasts, diced into bite-sized chunks

Salt and pepper

½ a cinnamon stick (approx 8cm)

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

Zest and juice of 2 lemons

2 tins chickpeas (approximately 400g) drained and rinsed

350ml chicken stock

1 x 250g bag baby spinach

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan with a lid and saute the onion until it is soft. Add the chicken, turn up the heat and season it well. When you’re starting to get good colour on the chicken, add the spices and continue to cook and get even more colour on the chicken. After another few minutes, add the lemon juice and zest. Then add the chickpeas and stock. Mix well, put the lid on and simmer very gently for about 12-15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning then add the spinach just before serving and let it wilt.

You can add water or stock if you would like it to be a bit more soupy or stew-like. Likewise you can simmer it without a lid if you prefer something dryer. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick before serving.

Pork and fennel tray roast with lemon and coriander

I’ve made this three times now, and this is the first time I’ve been quick enough to get a photo before it’s devoured! It’s really simple, and the kind of dish you can pretty much prepare, pop in the oven and leave there while you potter around. From fridge to table, it takes an hour.

Roast pork and fennel with lemon and coriander

The recipe comes from the May 2012 edition of delicious magazine.

For four people:

2 large red-skinned potatoes cut into chunks (new potatoes are in, so I used 3-4 per person)

2 fennel bulbs, sliced into eights

3 red onions, quartered

Olive oil

2 pork fillets (I used 600g), trimmed and cut into 8

Paste

2 preserved lemons, rinsed and dried and cut into pieces

A dribble of olive oil

Garlic cloves (I love garlic, so I use lots)

Chili – whatever amount you like, either flakes, dried or fresh

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

1 tablespoon of honey

chopped coriander

Heat your oven to 180°.

Put the potatoes and fennel into a pot of salted water, bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes. Drain well and put into a roasting tin together with the onions and the olive oil. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

While all that’s going on, either blitz all the paste ingredients in a blender or chop up finely and mix together (second option = less washing up). I always add a crumbled stock cube too, and of course a little salt and pepper.

Rub the paste all over the pork pieces and leave aside.

When your veg have hit the 20 minute mark in the oven, tumble the pork pieces on top and return the lot to the oven for another 20-25 minutes, until the pork is cooked through and the vegetables are soft.

As I’d some parsnips in the fridge this week I used these too. I just boiled them with the potatoes and fennel first. Yum.

Photos are en route (probably tonight).

Friday favourites – falafels

I love falafels, in every shape and form. On Friday, I made a variation of the classic recipe, using sweet potatoes.

Sweet potato falafels, with a bit of haloumi in the background

First of all, find your sweet potatoes. Confusingly, these are not kept with the potatoes in my local ‘supermarché’, nor even with the vegetables. When I eventually asked the friendly f&v section guy, he took me over to the exotic fruits!

The original recipe (from Delicious magazine) says to cook the sweet potatoes in the microwave. Instead I peeled the spuds and boiled them until they were soft – just less than 20 minutes. It also uses a packet of seasoned Parmesan cheese, which is readily available from a certain supermarket chain on the Islands, but of course not here. I omitted this altogether and just rolled the falafels in a little extra flour.

I used:

350g sweet potatoes (cos that's how much is in a packet)

one 400g tin of chickpeas

2 tablespoons of flour

zest of one lemon

seasoning

1 teaspoon each of paprika, cumin and ground corriander

To serve: haloumi cheese, pita breads, yogurt dressing (Greek yogurt, grated cucumber, fresh mint, salt and pepper), salad, chopped tomatoes.

I tipped all the ingredients into a bowl and mashed until broken down but not pureed. I then rolled these into about 15 balls and rolled these in a little extra flour. As everything is already cooked, all you need to do is colour them and heat through in a little oil in a frying pan, which takes about 6 minutes. You can also grill them.

Another of my favourite things is fried haloumi cheese (the only places I’ve seen this for sale is at the market on Pl Dumon in Wolwe St Pierre – there is a Greek Cypriot stall on the road leading away from the place, towards the ring, and in the Delhaize in Braine l’Alleud). I fry this without oil, with a sprinkling of rosemary and chilli until brown on both sides – it takes about 4 minutes in all.