Teriyaki salmon sushi bowl

Love sushi? I definitely do, and was looking for something a bit different for an easy meal for one. What can I say...wow! This meal brought me straight back to blogging after almost a year away! I will certainly be making this again, for my boyfriend, for friends....maybe for every meal!!

This also works well with a variety of ingredients, I was missing sesame seeds and spring onions from the original recipe, so if you are missing some of these ingredients just swap them for an alternative.

Ingredients (for one):

125g sushi rice

Rice vinegar 

One salmon fillet (skin on or off)

Teriyaki sauce

100g spinach

Avocado

Sesame oil

Sushi ginger

Sushi nori (one sheet) 

Sesame or poppy seeds

Method:

1. Cook the sushi rice - rinse the rice under cold water then put in a pan with a 1:1 ratio of rice to water. Bring to the boil then immediately turn down to a simmer for 15 minutes. Once the timer is up, take off the heat and leave undisturbed for 10 more minutes. Finally, stir in a tablespoon of rice vinegar. 

2. Bake the salmon - place the salmon on a baking tray and drizzle over the teriyaki sauce. Bake for 15-20minutes at 180-200 degrees until cooked through.

3. Toast the nori - cut up the sheet into small cubes and place in a large fry saucepan over a high heat for 2 minutes 

4. Cook the spinach - heat a splash of sesame oil in a pan, then add the spinach cover and leave over a low heat for 5 minutes. 

5. Assemble the bowl - put the spinach and rice into the bottom of the bowl. Lay the salmon fillet on top and lay the avocado and nori around the edges. Drizzle with teriyaki, sprinkle the sesame/poppy seeds on top and garnish with a tablespoon of sushi ginger.

Enjoy!

Hot cross buns...a full day investment!

Anyone who tells you that baking hot cross buns is easy isn't technically lying. Nor is the recipe which states they take 30 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes in the oven. What both of these neglect to tell you though is the three separate hours of proving also involved! Turning what seems like simple activity into a full day event! 

If you do have a day spare though (for example...a handly-placed good Friday bank holiday!) I reckon hot cross buns are one of those things you should attempt at least once in your life. Especially if you, like me, want to try everything. I promise they turn out (at least a little) better than buying them from a shop! 

So with a combination of hot cross buns and a slightly less traditional Easter Persian meze (!) to cook, I collated everything I could possibly need and squirrelled myself away into the kitchen for the day...

I used Paul Hollywood's recipe from the bbc, available here: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2066661/hot-cross-buns 

Ingredients 

For the buns

• 300ml full-fat milk, plus 2 tbsp more
• 50g butter
• 500g strong bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 75g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 7g sachet fast-action or easy-blend yeast
• 1 egg, beaten
• 75g sultanas
• 50g mixed peel
• zest 1 orange
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the cross

• 75g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

For the glaze

• 3 tbsp apricot jam

Method

1. Bring the milk to the boil, then remove from the heat and add the butter. Leave to cool until it reaches hand temperature. Put the flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Pour in the warm milk and butter mixture, then add the egg. Using a wooden spoon, mix well, then bring everything together with your hands until you have a sticky dough.
2. Tip on to a lightly floured surface and knead by holding the dough with one hand and stretching it with the heal of the other hand, then folding it back on itself. Repeat for 5 mins until smooth and elastic. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hr or until doubled in size and a finger pressed into it leaves a dent.
3. With the dough still in the bowl, tip in the sultanas, mixed peel, orange zest, apple and cinnamon. Knead into the dough, making sure everything is well distributed. Leave to rise for 1 hr more, or until doubled in size, again covered by some well-oiled cling film to stop the dough getting a crust.
4. Divide the dough into 15 even pieces (about 75g per piece). Roll each piece into a smooth ball on a lightly floured work surface. Arrange the buns on one or two baking trays lined with parchment, leaving enough space for the dough to expand. Cover (but don’t wrap) with more oiled cling film, or a clean tea towel, then set aside to prove for 1 hr more.
5. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Mix the flour with about 5 tbsp water to make the paste for the cross – add the water 1 tbsp at a time, so you add just enough for a thick paste. Spoon into a piping bag with a small nozzle. Pipe a line along each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create crosses. Bake for 20 mins on the middle shelf of the oven, until golden brown.
6. Gently heat the apricot jam to melt, then sieve to get rid of any chunks. While the jam is still warm, brush over the top of the warm buns and leave to cool.

"You really can't speak ANY Spanish?!"

Asked the taxi driver, astonished. This is after my attempts to ask "can you take me to the airport please?" failed comically with the last 5 taxis! Apparantly mainland Nicaragua isn't so touristy that English has filtered down to the majority. 

I may not have sampled much of the language in my week in Nicaragua but as you can bet I managed to sample a fair bit of the food! My culinary highlights include fried plantain, barracuda, breadfruit and freshly baked coconut bread 😊🍴

In addition to my lack of Spanish, I also shocked most people with my ratio of travel time to holiday time - 16 hour journey for a one week holiday! Add on two stop overs in the concrete jungle of Managua (the least visitor friendly capital city in Central America...), an extra hour and a half flight and 30 minute panga ride and it was a beast of a journey..

But once you reach the chilled out paradise which is Little Corn Island, it all becomes obvious why you made the trip. A week of hammocks, beer, beaches, rum, sun, coffee and snorkelling was a beautiful break from reality 😊

We stayed at the three brothers hostel, on the livelier west coast of the island - it was basic and had the worst stocked kitchen possible, but was a great spot and perfect for what we needed :) we scrambled around the south coast of the island and consistently got lost on every walk and stroll we embarked on, despite the island being small enough to walk around in less than an hour. But hey, where's the fun in staying on the path?! 

I got through a lot of firsts in my week trip...first time in Central America, doing (speedy!) stop overs, snorkelling and seeing sharks(!). 

I also tried loads of new food, no great surprise! - including two new fruits (my ambition is to try every fruit there is!) - plantain and breadfruit. Plantain is best served fried, and works well both sweet (with sugar) and savoury (with salt). Breadfruit was reminiscent of sweet potato wedges, but apparantly you can wait for the fruit to ripen further and squeeze out all of the sweet  flesh....sounds pretty mushy to me but is meant to taste great! I did decline the Noni fruit however, one whiff was enough to bring back memories of durian and put me off!

The classic Central American dish of Gallo pinto (dry rice and beans), as well as the coconut rice and juicy beans dish, was also delicious - which is good as there's almost no escaping rice as its served for breakfast lunch and dinner! 

Just in case I wasn't full enough on carbs already...there's a little bakery near the North of the island where a shy and beautiful women baked bread every day. In just a week I managed to sample almost all of her offerings: coconut bread (my absolute favourite, which I ate every day!), banana bread, ginger bread, cinnamon buns and cheese patties. Well worth a visit. Or several.

Before I finish my rambles I have to mention the fish. The fish so good even my vegetarian best friend succumbed and relished it! Trigger fish, king fish, barracuda and crayfish tails (which they call lobster) are just a few on offer. We are whole fish (beautiful if you can be bothered to pick out the bones) and fillets in curry, garlic or mushroom sauce. 

If you ever make the trip I recommend the lighthouse, tranquilios, Rosas and a tiny little house on the way to north beach...but I am pretty sure almost everywhere serves amazing food! 

Stock up on beer, rum and coconut bread and head to the north beach. Have fun in paradise, Oh! and send me a postcard.

C xx

Elma - Leamington's hidden Turkish house

As most couples have, we've got into the habit of eating out at weekends. Somehow the thought of cooking, a joyful task Monday-Thursday, seems mundane on those two days of freedom known as the weekend! Plus the cocktails aren't as good in my kitchen 👍🍸

So needless to say, we have visited most of the culinary spots of Leamington over the last two years of living here. However, while browsing through the suggestions of trip advisor I spotted a restaurant I didn't think I'd seen before..Elma. A Mediterranean Turkish restaurant in the centre of Leamington - perfect, I booked a table for two immediately! 

When we arrived I realised I had been before, two years ago when the restaurant had a different name (which I can no longer remember!), and potentially  under different ownership.. It was good then, albeit very quiet, but now it is fantastic.

We arrived to a mood-lit stained glass scene, with smartly dressed staff to take our coats. Despite this formality, Elma retained a friendly as opposed to pretentious feel - there was no 'tasting of the wine'- thank god as I can't cope with the embarrassment! We took our seats at our table, albeit not the best (but we did book last minute!).

With a bottle of wine (not as pricey as in other places given the quality) quickly quenching our thirst we tucked into our fish platter for starter...generous piles of calamari and prawns were followed by salmon, bread, dips (including the vibrant beetroot dip!) and more. A good start! After that Joe had the mixed grill, with a lamb steak that even I liked (and I don't usually like lamb..) while I had the sea bass - I never can resist sea bass on a menu! Once again, it was a good choice (though I wasn't sure the sauce was the best match) and fulfilled my attempts to be be healthy with a side of rice rather than chips. If you're into chips though, Joe did of course have a sample (complaining that he never gets to have tem at home..!) and confirmed them chunky and delicious. We resisted puddings (opting instead for more alcohol in the form of cocktails instead!) so I can't comment on them...but that'll give me a handy excuse to revisit soon 🍴

Overall...as my first score for my first restaurant review...I think I'll have to go with an impressive 8.5/10 - I'm already looking forward to returning. 

C 

Nutty quinoa salad

Ever have a craving for peanut butter and also want to be able to kid yourself your being healthy (ie. not just eating the peanut butter straight from the jar with a spoon.....yeah don't pretend you've never done it!!)

Anyway...here's a pretty scrummy salad with peanut sauce and cashews, vaguely inspired by Thai food which is one of my favourite cuisines :)

Ingredients:

50g quinoa

One small carrot

A handful each of broad beans, and chopped tomatoes, cucumber and celery

A slice of red cabbage, chopped

One tbsp of peanut butter

A squeeze of honey

One tbsp of lemon juice

Aha ful of cashew nuts

Recipe:

1. Rinse the quinoa in cold water then boil for 15-20mins

2. Mix the peanut butter and honey and microwave for 10 seconds, then mix in the lemon juice and season to taste

3. Chop the salad vegetables and place in a bowl with the cashew nuts

4. Once cooked, drain the quinoa and add to the bowl - mix thoroughly 

5. Plate up a portion of salad and top with the peanutty sauce. Enjoy!

Chorizo and butter bean hot pot with flatbread

This was my speedy 'grabbing stuff from the cupboard before rushing out for the evening' dinner. I wasn't planning on blogging it, but it was too tasty not to share! 

Ingredients:

Half a can of butter beans, drained

Half a can of plum tomatoes

50g chorizo, roughly chopped 

Half an onion, chopped

One egg

Flatbread mix (see previous post on flatbreads!)

Seasonings

Recipe:

1. Heat oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onions, then add in the chorizo and cook until it's crispy and letting off oils 

2. Add the plum tomatoes and crush slightly, season to taste

3. Add the butter beans and cook for 5 mins

4. Boil water in a small pan then reduce to a simmer and swirl the water slightly (add a drop of vinegar if you need to) then poach the egg for 3 mins

5. Roll out a lemon-sized handful of dough and cook in a frying pan over a high heat for 2 mins on each side until brown spots appear

6. Serve up the butter bean and chorizo in a bowl, topped with the egg and with the flatbread on the side for dipping :)

Cajun chicken with salsa

So my housemate has gone away for a week and left me to attempt 'cooking for one' for the first time in months...this has led to me eating essentially enough for two people for the past few times! However, tonight I managed to cook a one person sized portion and my celebrations were doubly exciting as it was also fabbbbbbulous!!

Ingredients:

One chicken breast

One small sweet potato and carrott

Half an avocado 

A handful of cherry tomatoes

50g sweet corn

Balsamic vinegar

Cajun spice mix

Seasonings

Recipe:

1. Season the chicken breat with the Cajun spices and pound with a rolling pin to flatten it

2. Chop the sweet potato and carrott into small chunks and boil for 10 mins, then mash with seasonings and milk

3. Heat a griddle pan and then cook the chicken on a high heat, 2 mins each side

4. Chop all of the salsa ingredients and place in a bowl, season and dress with balsamic vinegar 

5. Serve by placing the mash onto a plate and place the chicken on top and the salsa around the edge