Chicken and Leek Mashed Potato-Topped Pie

My good friend popped over for dinner the other day and I decided to make a pie. I didn't have any puff pastry in the house and I'm pretty useless at making homemade pastry, so I decided to top my pie with mashed potato instead. 

I found a recipe for a chicken and leek pie on allrecipes.co.uk (link: http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/627/chicken-and-leek-pie.aspx) however as I started following it, a couple of the ingredients listed weren't actually included in the instructions. So I ended up doing a bit of improvisation, and despite being worried it may not work out it turned out to be tasty in the end - and my friend said he enjoyed it too (hopefully he just wasn't being polite!)

Recipe - Chicken and Leek Mashed Potato-Topped Pie
Serves 2

Ingredients:

Olive oil
2 skinless chicken breasts
4 leeks, chopped
Large knob of butter
1 tbsp plain flour
250ml chicken stock
250ml milk
Salt and pepper (seasoning)
3 large potatoes, peel and chopped
Dash of milk and knob of butter (for mash)

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C.
• Cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks. 
• Put a glug of olive oil into a frying pan and cook chicken chunks until browned. Set these aside.
• Add a little more olive oil into the same pan and add 3 of the leeks. Saute on a medium heat until softened. Set these aside with the chicken.
• In a big pan melt a large knob of butter and add a tablespoon of flour and mix to form a smooth paste. Gradually add the milk to create a thickened sauce.
• Add the chicken, leeks and stock to the pan with the sauce and stir all together.
• Cover and simmer for 10-15  minutes. The sauce should reduce slightly.
  
• Season the mixture with some salt and pepper and pour into a pie dish. Leave to cool whilst you cook the potatoes.
  
• Add the chopped potatoes to a pan with plenty of water to cover them. Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
• Add a little milk and butter and mash the potatoes. I softened one more leek by cooking it in butter and added this to the mash.
  
• Top the pie mixture with the mashed potato and spread evenly over the top.
  
• Place in the oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes - till the pie is piping hot throughout. 

This is my idea of great comfort food!
  

Lisa x

Tweet

Homemade Oreo Cookie Ice Cream

For christmas a couple of years ago my uncle bought me a Kenwood IM200 ice cream maker, and since this week started with some nice sunny weather I decided to get it out for the first time this year and make some ice cream. When I first got the machine I wasn't particularly adventureous, mostly making fruity frozen yogurts, but after finding a recipe for Oreo ice cream online I wanted to give it a try. I'm a massive lover of Haggen-Dazs Cookies & Cream, and this was just as good!

I followed the recipe provided by 'The Purple Foodie', which can be found here:
http://purplefoodie.com/oreo-cookie-ice-cream/

The idea is to make a good quality vanilla custard to churn into ice cream, adding in some chopped up Oreos at the very end.

Making my vanilla custard...

The churning process...

My chopped Oreos (I used 8 cookies)... 

The end result...

 

Lisa x
Tweet

Roasted Pepper and Tomato Soup Recipe

On Monday I wrote about my busy morning of soup-making. After preparing my soups (and having some for lunch!) I first wrote about the celery and potato soup I made - the recipe for this can be found here: http://foodloverlondon.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/celery-and-potato-soup-recipe.html

Today I will continue by telling you about my recipe for the roasted pepper and tomato soup that I also made on Monday and enjoyed for my lunch yesterday. I only wanted to use up what I had in the house, so finished off the red and orange peppers I had left over following the BBQ my friends and I had at the weekend. I didn't actually have any fresh tomatoes, but had plenty of tins of plum tomatoes so I decided to try using those - and the soup turned out great. This soup was so straightforward to make but had lots of flavour!

Recipe - Roasted Pepper and Tomato Soup
Serves 4

Ingredients:

Olive oil
1 red pepper
1 orange or yellow pepper
1 onion (I used a red onion)
2 x 400g tins of plum or chopped tomatoes
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Dollop of creme fraiche (optional)
A few roughly torn basil leaves (to garnish)

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C.
• Chop the peppers into strips, ensuring the stalk and seeds have been removed first.
• Peel and roughly chop the onion into chunks.
• Place the onion and peppers into a roasting tin with a couple of glugs of olive oil and roast for 20-25 minutes. I love the smell of roasting veggies!
  
• Once roasted, tip the vegetables into a large pan, add the 2 tins of tomatoes and 500ml of stock (I used chicken stock). Bring to the boil, then pop the lid on the pan and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Blend the soup until completely smooth - I used a hand-held stick blender as I find this the easiest & most straightforward method. Season the soup to taste.
  
• Serve with a little creme fraiche stirred through if desired, and a little torn basil to garnish.

I actually found this my favourite of the two soups, and have divided the leftovers (of both soups) into individual portions in tupperware boxes and frozen to re-heat in the microwave for future meals.

Lisa x



Tweet

Celery and Potato Soup Recipe

My friends and I were determined to make the most of the sun this bank holiday and decided to throw a BBQ yesterday, while the sunshine lasted! A group of us all gathered at my friend Flo's house in sunny Surrey, each of us bringing some food which we had quickly negotiated in advance. I was in charge of bringing crisps, dips and veg sticks, (or the 'crudité' as my mum would say!).

I popped into Sainsbury's in the morning and bought some carrots, celery and red & orange peppers and took a big tupperware box full of veg as there were 18 mouths to feed. But I went a bit overboard with the amounts purchased and afterwards I realised I still had quite a lot left over... and when I have lots of veg I love to make soup! I'll have some for my lunch, then freeze the rest to eat in future (when I'm lazy and want something healthy but can't be bothered to prepare anything).

So I actually made a couple of batches of soup this morning with some of the leftover veg, the first being a celery and potato soup to use up the remainder of the celery. Very healthy and delicious!

Recipe - Celery and Potato Soup

Ingredients:

Large knob of butter
1 leek, chopped
6 celery stalks, chopped
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped 
800ml chicken or vegetable stock (I used vegetable bouillon)
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper to season

Method:

• Roughly chop the leek, celery and potatoes (they don't need to be perfect as they will be blended later). 
• Melt the knob of butter in a large pan and add the chopped leek and celery. Cook on a medium heat until softened; about 5-10minutes.
• Add the potatoes, stock and the bay leaf. Bring to the boil, and then reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Keep the lid on the pan during this time.
  
• Remember to remove the bay leaf before blending!
• Remove the soup from the heat and blend it - I used a stick blender as I find this the most straightforward method. You can buy stick/hand blenders in Argos for about £10 and they are great for blending soups.
  
• Reheat the soup for a few minutes if necessary and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• I didn't have any croutons, and so garnished my soup with a few crispy bacon bits.
   
  

So this was the first soup I made and enjoyed for my lunch today. The second soup I cooked was a roasted pepper and tomato soup which I will be heating up for my lunch tomorrow! More on that to come...


Lisa x



Tweet

Spinach, Leek and Feta Puff Pastry Tart Recipe

Earlier this week I made some asparagus and parmesan tarts (find the recipe here: http://foodloverlondon.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/british-asparagus-season-asparagus.html) and today I decided to use up the other half of my ready-rolled puff pastry to make another tart for my lunch - a spinach, leek and feta tart. Instead of following a recipe for this one, I used a bit of improvisation and (in my opinion!) the end result was actually very nice. I was a bit pressed for time, so instead of doing 2 separate tarts I made one big one with the remaining pastry and then cut it in half to share with my brother who is currently visiting. He's a bit of a fuss-pot with his veggies, so was surprised that he seemed so keen to try it, and he seemed to enjoy it as much as I did - shocker!

Recipe - Spinach, Leek and Feta Tarts
Serves 2

Ingredients:

Olive oil 

150g frozen spinach

1 leek, thinly chopped

1 egg

Half a pack of ready-rolled puff pastry (I used half a pack of Sainsbury's 375g puff pastry)

60g feta, cut into cubes

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• Place the puff pastry onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Score a line into the pastry to make a thin border around the outside. 
• Defrost the spinach and drain away any excess water. 
• Pour a couple of glugs of olive oil into a non-stick frying pan. Add the leeks and spinach and cook on a medium heat until softened.
  
• Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the beaten egg.
• Pour the mixture onto the pastry and spread within the borders made previously.
• Sprinkle over the cubes of feta.
  
• Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry has puffed up and is golden brown.
• The finished result...
  

I then cut this in half and shared it with my brother, with a bit of extra salad on the side.

Lisa x

Tweet

Pippa Middleton's Spicy Bean-Stuffed Peppers

Despite all the negative reviews and critism Pippa Middleton has received for her book 'Celebrate' (described as 'a comprehensive seasonal guide to simple and creative entertaining'), when I saw it for sale in my local WHSmith for dirt cheap (around £5 if I remember correctly) I couldn't resist buying myself a copy - mostly out of curiosity.

In the introduction, Pippa writes that the book was designed to be a 'useful and practical journey into British-themed occasions and I hope it offers welcome inspiration and ideas', and actually I have been inspired by some of the ideas outlined in the book.  While I'll admit that a great chunk of the book is aimed at ideas for feeding and entertaining children (which is pretty irrelevant to me at this time of my life), many of the food and cocktail recipes have tempted me and I now feel motivated to do some entertaining this year! In fact, I'm currently in the process of planning an afternoon tea party for a friend's birthday using some of the ideas Pippa provides - including making mini fruit tarts, traditional scones and homemade cake stands!

But for now I want to tell you about a recipe I made last week. Admittedly, it's actually from the Autumn section of the book as an idea for food on Bonfire Night, but I don't care as I would eat this meal at any time of year!  The recipe is for stuffed peppers, filled with spicy beans. I'm trying to cut down on the amount of meat I eat, and this appealed to me as a great idea for a vegetarian meal for myself. I made this for my family for lunch - we had 2 pepper halves each and that was just the right portion size for me.

Recipe - Spicy Bean-Stuffed Peppers by Pippa Middleton
Serves 4 (or 8 as a side dish - one pepper half each)

Ingredients:

4 large peppers (I used 2 red peppers, 1 orange pepper and 1 yellow pepper) 
1 tbsp olive oil 
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp tomato purée 
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 tin of red kidney beans in chilli sauce (or in water if you're not so keen on spicy food!)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
small handful of chopped coriander
1 fresh red chilli, halved, deseeded & chopped (I didn't use this and it wasn't really missed!) 
salt & pepper to taste
50g Parmesan, grated (or swap for a vegetarian-friendly cheese if preferred)

Method: 

• Preheat the oven to 200°C.
• Cut the peppers lengthways, remove the seeds & membrane.
• Place peppers in a roasting tin, drizzle with a little olive oil and roast for 10-15 minutes.
• Whilst the peppers are in the oven make the filling - Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the chopped onions, garlic and cumin and cook until soft (about 5 minutes). Add the tomato purée, carrots and celery and fry for 2 minutes, then add the remaining ingredients (except the parmesan) and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are soft and the juices have reduced.
• Remove the peppers from the oven and fill each with the bean mixture. Cover them with foil and then pop them back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes.
• Before serving sprinkle over some Parmesan (or other cheese).
• I served my peppers with a pot of sour cream which went down well with the family!

   Et voilà...

   
Lisa x 

Tweet

British Asparagus Season - Asparagus & Parmesan Tarts Recipe

It's currently the British asparagus season so I've been trying to make the most of it! I was first inspired whilst reading my April/May 2013 copy of 'Jamie' Magazine, which had a picture of a very tasty looking asparagus tart on the front and a feature called 'Spear of the Moment'.

One of the recipes was for a Asparagus and Pecorino tart which reminded me of a recipe I've had saved in my 'online recipe binder' on the BBC Good Food website for quite a long time - 'Asparagus and Parmesan Pastries'. I really fancied an asparagus tart for my lunch today, so decided to try this recipe over the Jamie Oliver one as I had all the ingredients needed already in my kitchen and it also looked a little more speedy & simple to make (I wasn't feeling particularly energetic this morning!)

I only needed to feed two people, so halved the recipe and it turned out well - they didn't take too long to prepare, and they were very straightforward to make. I'll definately be making them again.

Recipe: Asparagus and Parmesan Tarts
To serve 2

Ingredients:

3 tbsp mascarpone
20g Parmesan, grated
a handful of finely chopped basil (I just roughly tore mine into small bits)
zest of ½ a small lemon
half a pack of ready-rolled puff pastry (I used Sainsbury's own 375g pack)
asparagus spears (I used 6 spears per tart)
½ tbsp olive oil

Method:

• Heat the oven to 200°C. 
• Mix the mascarpone and the grated parmesan, basil, lemon zest and season.
• Cut the ready-rolled puff pastry in half to form the base of two tarts. Place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. 
  
• Score around the edges of each tart to make a thin border, then spread the mascarpone mixture within these borders.
  
• Wash and trim the asparagus to the right length for each tart. Toss the spears in oil, then arrange on top of the puff pastry.
  
• Bake the pastries for 20-25 minutes until golden.
  
• Serve with salad if desired.

I adapted the original recipe to make 2 tarts - the recipe to serve 4 people can be found on the BBC Good Food website here:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/6671/asparagus-and-parmesan-pastries 

I recommend giving this recipe a try whilst British asparagus is still in season - until mid-June.

Lisa x
Tweet