It's been a while....

Hi all, sorry for such a long break between posts, things have been a little hectic.

I will be telling you all about the following:

• Pancetta, Pasta and Peas
• Moroccan chicken with sweet potato mash
• Fish Jalfrezi

Pancetta, Pasta and Peas (or the triple 'P' if you want to be down with the kids.

This recipe is a regular in my repatoire of cooking on a weekly basis. It's tasty ,has pasta (always a win, especially on a winter eve) and doesn't take too long after a hard day at work.

This was originally sourced in delicious magazine but I have changed/added things as I have gone along.

You will need:

• 1 pack of pancetta (130g)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 1 lemon, squeezed for the juice ( I added this to the recipe)
• creme fraiche (This is subbed in instead of double cream) - about 2/3 of a 300ml tub (add a dash of water to the pan to loosen)
• freshly ground black pepper (I added this to the recipe)
• 200g of frozen peas
• Wholewheat Pasta - enough for 2 people
• Parmesan- add to your own taste

Add the pancetta to your wok/large frying pan and fry for 2/3 minutes (if you like your pancetta crispy, i would recommend frying for longer) then add the onions and garlic and fry for a further 5 minutes or until the onions and garlic are soft.

Add the peas to this mixture. I used frozen peas so allow this to cook for around 5 minutes until the peas are cooked through. Add the creme fraiche and a dash of water to the pan and mix in well with the ingredients  Once this is fully combined add the Parmesan and allow to melt into the mixture. Next add lemon juice and pepper to your taste.  Drain the pasta and stir into the sauce and serve! Josh always likes extra cheese!

The recipe doesn't call for the lemon/pepper however, when i tried it originally I found the dish too creamy and heavy. The lemon and pepper addition lifts the dish and adds to the flavour over all.

Sorry about the lack of piccys! My camera decided not to work :(

Moroccan Chicken with Sweet Potato

This is something i stumbled across on (you've guessed it) The BBC Good Food website. This dish offers unusual flavours with warming spices - a must have for those cold evenings. You can find the recipe here!

As ever I have made some amendments to the recipe. As you can see it states that 2 tsps of clear honey is used. I have found after making this dish several times is that adding extra honey can help the sauce to thicken more quickly and plays nicely alongside the spices. The spice mixture of cinnamon and cumin is fab and being spice-obsessed i add 2 tsps of each to the recipe which does make it stronger.  I also think its advisable to mix the cumin and cinnamon with a touch of oil to marinade the chicken in as it absorbs the flavours a little better. 

The recipe also states that it will take about 10 minutes to thicken, once again I have found that this can be considerably more around 20 minutes to half an hour so bear this in mind with the potatoes.

Look at my pretty pictures....

The Prep Phase...

Chicken smothered in olive oil, cumin and cinnamon - sorry it looks so unappealing!

Garlic, onion, corander, honey and oxo

Sweet Potatoes ready to boil....

The cooking phase...

Smashed sweet potato with olive oil and pepper

Chicken in the pan with stock, honey, onion , garlic and coriander

Ta Da....

 This recipe is one of my personal faves! tangy and garlicky! firm 9/10!

Fish Jalfrezi

so after the success of my Fish Thai Yellow curry, i thought i'd branch out and try it in a jalfrezi. The base recipe recommends chicken (thighs at that but I always opt for breast) but I thought i'd be frivolous! 

Chopped onions, garlic, ginger chillis and peppers

I am pleased to say that the humble cod fillets I used stood it ground firmly against the gorgeous spice mix! I even added extra chopped chillis for extra heat and it worked well. I personally don't see the need for the yogurt as the heat of the jalfrezi suits my palette well.

As you can see above, this curry has my favourite spice blend of coriander and cumin! all together this mixed together smells heavenly!

Ta Da....

As you can see the fish did break up a little but still tasted amazing! I would recommend highly.

When i told people about the fish curry, there seemed to be a lot of unsure looks staring back at me. Have you tried fish curry? If so what do you think?

Next time on harriate....
I am attending a craft day with lots of new food/drink recipes! Camera at the ready!

Eat,Drink and Be Merry

H x

My year in Cornwall. Part 1, the south

Ahhh life in Cornwall...

So, for those of you that don't know, my boyfriend's parents recently bought a chalet come caravan near Penzance, Cornwall. To be more specific its right here...

Praa sands is a beautiful little village near a gorgeous beach on the south coast of Cornwall  This has meant that this year I have had 2 holidays in the area. As you can imagine this has meant that I have had some amazing food and want to share it all with you.

Cornwall Food and Drink Festival at Trereife House

This country house is beautiful and is around 10 minutes from the centre of Penzance. They have events on all year round and is well worth a visit. The car parks are placed in the surrounding fields so if its a wetish day DO NOT opt for gladiator sandals like me! The car parks are also a walk away from the main house on a road with potholes prone to puddles. Note again DO NOT wear gladiator sandals if its a wet day.

My love of curry continues...

Whilst there we found this little gem- Ruby Junes Curry Sauces - This stall impressed me so much. Freshly made Bhajis both onion and butternut squash! I bought 1 of each and ever since wish I bought more. So much flavour in both with a good kick of chilli which didn't over power and it was obvious love and care was put into them. If you ever see this grab me some and let me know ASAP.

 I also got one of their Tikka Masala sauces. Although this flavour wouldn't be my first choice, after one taste I was hooked. Fragrant, Spicy and moreish it was an instant hit. Despite the fact I was on holiday I wanted to cook it! I even went to Tesco in Penzance to get the milk. From my last post you'll know that adding excesses of milk-like substances is not my favourite thing in the world. The sauces all come as a thickish paste and June recommends 1/4 pint of milk in her sauces

Have a look at her sauces here - Yummy Curry!

No need for bland food...

Another stall that got our purchase was Nature Kitchen. My friends say that it is easy to sell things to me and they could be right, especially when samples are involved! We were welcomed to the stall by the waft of a delicious mix of smells. 

We tried a few samples including Lemon Pepper and Ras-el-hanout which were lovely but the highlight for us was the Thai Lemon Fish Spice  as shown below.

The great thing about these spices is that they are so versatile - you can add them to roast potatoes  your roasting joint or the fish that the title so suggests. When you smell this intoxicating blend you are instantly met by the lemon quickly followed by the warmth of cumin and mint.

Nature Kitchen have been so kind as to put their suggestions on their website which is worth a look - Sprinkle me, use me!

As with the curry sauces you can order online. As the mixes are so fragrant you don't need to use much to achieve a great flavour - a little pot goes a long way!

Restaurants...

This restaurant was something we stumbled upon after our trip to the Tate at St Ives - they offer an A la Carte Menu but between 6pm - 7pm there is an express menu that you can sample. Prices are two courses £15.50, three courses £17.95. Most people see the express menus and think uber small. Trust me the portions kept me and Josh truly happy so don't worry!

When you walk into the restaurant you are first hit by the art work that is emblazoned on the walls. I later found out that this is all work by local artists. Now I'm no art critic but the variety in the work on display really added to the atmosphere and gave it something extra. 

My mother and some of my friends (Magrath and maybe Alex) would have been put off by the plastic chairs but the menu was enough to deter me from even caring.

When we first visited in June at 6pm on a weeknight you were not surrounded by people. However, the friendly waiting on staff made the place seem friendly and warm.

I started by having a prosecco with elder flower syrup and what a taste sensation this was. This was quickly followed up by home made breads (still warm!!!) and real butter with a teeny tiny pile of salt. I was sold already.

• To Start I had Mussels steamed with chorizo, white wine and coriander. Predictably I asked for more bread! Probably should have resisted as the bowl was so big and brimming with tasty Mussels

For Main I had Cider baked belly pork with crackling, pickled apples, celeriac dauphinoise and seasonal greens. Belly Pork is my absolute favourite meat and this was cooked to perfection. Flavourful and moist (yes i said it) and totally melt in the mouth. Complimented excellently by the dauphinoise and the apples. I even devoured the crackling. The portion size wasn't as big as the stater but the quality, presentation and flavours meant it did its job - left you wanting more. I'm big on restaurant etiquette but i totally wanted to wipe the plate with my finger!

I was that full by pudding I shared. We had Homemade ice creams and biscuits . If you have never had Cornish ice cream you are missing out! So thick and creamy and the flavours were amazing - the caramel honeycomb was def my fave! It was accompanied by Vanilla and a Whiskey Ice cream and the biscuits were divine. Great way to finish off a meal

Just to give you and idea of how good it was, we went back twice in a week and took some friends that had joined us. I can see why they have these recommendations:

The Fish and Chip Saga

Now I don't know about you but fish and chips and are synonymous with Cornwall. Me and Josh first went down in June for the Queens Jubilee and had a hankering for the lovely yet fattening seaside treat. 

At 7.45pm we left Praa Sands and drove to Porthleven which takes about 10 minutes. We found a parking spot the walked down to a chip shop only to find they were shutting up! So we trundled round Porthleven to find not one single chip shop was open past 8pm. We got back in the car and spent about half and hour driving to Penzance passing 5 or more chip shops all shut.

Lesson learned. In June, past 8pm you have to go to Penzance. We found 1 little saviour down a back street called Captains Fish Bar.

(62 Daniel Place, Penzance, TR18 4DU 01736 330333) that is open till 9pm!

We had a couple of fish a large chips and some mushy peas for the mister.

If my memory serves me correctly it came to about £10 for the lot. Once again

they were not shy on the portion size.  Batter was light and the fish was cooked

in front of you.

This Fish Bar had the option to take away or eat in and offered cute little gifts in the window! 

Out of season holiday-ers. You are welcome. ‎

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

H x