Say NO to Takeaway: Make a Thai Pork Salad instead!

You won't believe it, but this is one of those rare dishes that actually made me squeal with delight when I took the first bite. Oh, I do love it when that happens. It does look a bit messy on the plate but once you dive inside, you will find the most awesome combo of flavours - grilled Thai pork atop a crunchy beansprout, apple and tomato salad with a ginger and lime dressing.

Like most Thai-style dishes, this uses fish sauce, but if you don't have that to hand, or the idea of that scares you a little, then just substitute with a couple of extra teaspoons of soy sauce and a tsp of lime juice.

But the best part about this dish?

It only takes 15 minutes to make!

This is aside from marinating the pork for a short while by the way, which you can do in the morning, or just shortly before you decide to eat. But then you can prepare the salad whilst the pork is sizzling happily under the grill.

Easy.

Thai Pork with Beansprout and Apple Salad

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For 2:

2 pork loin steaks
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
Zest of 1 lime

1 small green apple, chopped into small pieces
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 tbsp red onion, chopped
Large handful beansprouts
Some fresh coriander, chopped
Some crushed cashew nuts
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp mint
Juice of 1 lime

1) Sit the pork in the fish sauce, honey, soy sauce and lime zest for at least half an hour.
2) In another bowl, mix the 2 tsp fish sauce with the ginger, mint and lime juice. Set aside.
3) Grill the pork for a few minutes on each side until cooked through.
4) Meanwhile, fry the beansprouts for a few minutes until clear.
5) Take off the heat, then mix in the apple, onion, coriander, nuts and and ginger dressing. Toss lightly. Divide onto two plates.
6) Slice the pork into strips and set atop the salad.

If you liked this, you might want to try making these other takeaway alternatives too. Continue reading this post..

Berry Cottage Cheese Muffins

So, here are some butter-free muffins...that look a little pale and washed out. And seem to have a strange gloopy appearance to them inside.

Plus, it tends to stick to your fingers when you eat it too.

Have I sold them to you yet?

Well this is the first time I've baked muffins with cottage cheese in. So I'm not sure if I should maybe have whisked the cottage cheese a little more to make it smoother, or if indeed if this was how it was meant to turn out! But the important thing is that they taste alot better than they look :-)

Berry Cottage Cheese Muffins

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Makes 12:

150g mixed berries
300g plain flour
250ml skimmed milk
175g caster sugar
125g low fat cottage cheese
4 tbsp grapeseed oil
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tbsp baking powder
Bit of salt
6 tbsp flaked almonds (optional)

1) Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl, then mix in the sugar and salt.
2) In another bowl, whisk the egg, milk, cheese and oil until smooth.
3) Stir in the flour mixture until almost combined, then gently fold in the berries.
4) Spoon into a lined muffin tray, topping with the flaked almonds if desired. Bake at 175 degrees C for 20-25 minutes.

More Hungry Jenny cakes here.

Other butter free baking recipes that might take your fancy. Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie-Day: Cheat's Salmon Cream Cheese Tarts

If you don't like the idea of eating a whole fish because it just looks too fish-like, this might be a good way to ease yourself in...

You don't even need to touch raw fish to make it either.

I love fresh salmon but I just love the convenience of tinned salmon more. I could quite happily eat it out the can as a snack - if there's no-one around to smell my breath afterwards that is.

To me, it tastes just as good and sometimes, you just want to take a shortcut in the kitchen. The topping for these puffs is so simple in fact, that I felt like it would be too boring to just dump them onto boring old rectangle puff pastry sheets.

So I cut them into fish shapes instead. Fun!

I did a mixture of big and small fish shapes, and served up one of each for my dinner alongside some steamed veg. I felt like a giant monster consuming a family of fish!

Cheat's Salmon Cream Cheese Tarts

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Serves 4:
(4 big fish or 8 little fish!)

200g tinned salmon
100g cream cheese, softened
1 celery stalk, thinly chopped
2 handfuls of spinach
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of half an orange
1 tbsp tarragon
Some black pepper
250g puff pastry

1) Mix the cream cheese with the lemon, orange, tarragon and pepper. Set aside.
2) Wilt the spinach in a pan over a low heat, then add to the cream cheese with the celery.
3) Roll out the pastry and cut into 4 large rectangles, or 8 smaller ones. Carefully cut into fish shapes!
4) Spoon the cream cheese mixture onto each fish, retaining a border of pastry. Top with the tinned salmon, squeezing over extra orange juice if desired.
5) Bake at 200 degrees C for 15-20 minutes until nicely puffed.

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie-Day adventures. Continue reading this post..

Restaurant to try: Trattoria Al Tettarello, Colesseo, Rome

Tucked away down a side street near the Colosseum is a charming little restaurant called Trattoria Al Tettarello. It has a welcoming local feel and warming atmosphere - which you'll appreciate if you're looking to escape the hurried service and not-so-authentic food served amongst the swarms of tourist trap restaurants that line the main streets.

Um, yeh, that's the Colesseum, not the restaurant - it rained when we got there too!

The plastic wallet lined menu is a little off-putting, and I do get a bit nervous when I'm going through a large menu which has is a bit too much to choose from, but this place is alright you know.

My friends and I sort of stumbled across the place when we decided to find a 'proper' restaurant to dine at on our last night. Over our short 4 day trip, we tended to just wander into the nearest place we saw because we were so hungry after sightseeing all day!

It was quite empty when we walked in, though many tables were reserved. I imagine it could get pretty hot in there depending on where you are seated (there is an open kitchen), so try and get a table outside if you can. We were seated by the open door, so we were grateful for the cool evening breeze wafting through.

Now, the food.

Bresaola, rocket and parmigiano salad

Alright, you can't really see the bresaola here, the dried salty beef slices buried beneath the rocket and parmesan. But I kinda forgot to take another photo as I tucked into it because it was so tasty! Now I'm not much of a salad person but this was right up my street because it wasn't drowning in dressing. Just a light bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. As you can see, it's a pretty generous portion so make sure you know you have room for your main too!

Boscaiola pizza

Boscaiola is like a creamy mushroom and ham based sauce, which I think is mainly used in pasta dishes. But atop a pizza with sausages and sliced mushrooms on fresh pizza dough is yummy! The base is quite thin in true Roman style, and soft with a crispy crust (my mouth is watering now thinking about it again...). I would quite happily go back again and try a different pizza each time!

Although the pizzas are massive, they don't give you that stodgy feeling in the pit of your stomach. So I still had plenty of room for dessert - an 'apple pie with chocolate drops'. It sounded a bit strange to me but I thought I'd try it anyway. It was more like a cake than a pie and it didn't seem as fresh as it should have been, but was still nice and moist.

This was a lovely last meal in Rome with my friends but this isn't the place to go if you're in a hurry. The service comes across a bit haphazard and inattentive at times, which can be annoying - for example, we were seated for some time before having to call someone over to get some menus, and they brought bread out to start but forgot to give us plates. Also, I'm not sure if it was because they were forgetful or just laid back, but you did have to wait a while to get something you asked for - and it's hard to get their attention too! At times, we saw the waitress walk past us a few times after asking for something, before she then went off to get it.

But if you let this wash over you and are in good company - this is a great place to relax and enjoy some really good Italian fare.

Trattoria Al Tettarello
Via dei Capocci 5
00184 Roma

Other restaurants I've tried that you might like to read about. Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie-Day: Lamb Curry Puffs

Easy party nibble, easy Indian starter.

Using ready-made puff pastry of course.

I always feel a little bit naughty doing this because I do prefer to make things 'from scratch', and I always feel like there's a bit too much lardy butter in ready-made pastry.

But hey, it takes me long enough to make anything in the kitchen, let alone waste hours faffing around rolling, folding and resting puff pastry. It hardly puffs up when I do it anyway, so I think I'll just leave that job to Jus-Roll for now!

So what I'm giving you instead is a mildly spiced lamb and sweet potato curry filling for your pastry pleasure. Taste as you go, to adapt to your own spicy preference. You must let the filling cool though before encasing in the pastry, otherwise it will go soggy. I reckon this would also taste good with the addition of some juicy cherry tomatoes added into the mix :-)

Lamb Curry Puffs

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Makes 12:

125g lean lamb mince
100g sweet potato, diced
Handful of ripped spinach
2 tbsp red onion, finely chopped
Small handful fresh coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
Some olive oil
375g puff pastry
1 beaten egg

1) Mix the cumin, paprika and turmeric with a little oil in a bowl. Add the mince and coat well.
2) Heat a bit more oil in a pan and toss in the onion, followed by the mince to brown.
3) Add the spinach and coriander, stirring til slightly wilted. Take off the heat and leave to cool.
4) Roll out the pastry on a floured surface into a long rectangle. Cut into 12 squares (roughly 3").
5) Spoon the cooled lamb mixture onto the centre of each square. Brush two adjacent sides with beaten egg, then fold over to form triangles, pinching the edges to seal. Prick through the top with a fork.
6) Transfer the puffs onto a baking tray and brush with the remaining egg. Bake at 200 degrees C for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie-Day adventures. Continue reading this post..

The Easiest Way to Use Up Condensed Milk

Condensed milk is one of those things you buy to make something quite particular - but you always end up with a bit leftover in the tin. Well, I always find this anyway - also with things like double cream, cottage cheese and cream cheese, which I tend to use alot for baking. But the last three are pretty easy to use up in savoury dishes - add a bit to your lunch or dinner and you've got a nice base for a good sauce.

But condensed milk? I've always been stumped with it. I don't know about you but after baking one thing, I'm rarely in the mood to bake something else so soon after!

So what's the easiest solution?

Just add coconut.

To be more precise, 4 parts condensed milk to 3 parts flaked coconut. Mix over a low heat, allow to cool, then roll into little balls.

Leave in the fridge to set for , then eat!

Who would have thought that something so simple could be so tasty? Of course, you can add your own embellishments to it, like chocolate chips, almonds, cinnamon, dried apricots, a nice man, whatever you want.

But there's your easy solution to use up condensed milk sorted. Nice.

More Hungry Jenny cakes and cookies. Continue reading this post..

Zesty Poppy Seed Muffins (butter free)

I swear I have probably made some version of this before but I love making citrus flavoured cakes - I think they're the tastiest of all cakes and these zesty muffins are no exception.

Although these are butter free, they still have quite a bit of sugar in so don't go too overboard when eating them. Yes, this means sharing them with other people.

So my next step now is to make a citrus cake that is both butter and sugar free. That still tastes good of course. Now wouldn't that be wonderful!

For the time being though, you can indulge on one (or two) of these.

Zesty Poppy Seed Muffins (butter free)(b

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Makes 12:

Zest of 2 oranges
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lime
225g low fat natural yogurt
200g plain flour
175g caster sugar
115ml grapeseed oil
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tbsp baking powder
Bit of salt

1) Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Stir in the sugar, zests, seeds and salt.
2) In another bowl, stir together the egg, yogurt and oil til smooth.
3) Mix the dry and wet mixture together until combined, but do not overmix.
4) Spoon into a lined muffin tray, then bake at 200 degrees C for 20 minutes.

Other butter free baking recipes that might take your fancy. Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie-Day: Peanut Butter Krispie Pies

Here are some cute little pies to bring out the child in you!

These rice pop wonders are more than just your average rice krispie treat.

I did make one little error when I put these together, but I promise you that it will be very, very easy to learn from my silly mistake.

Put the rice krispie pie base together with softened butter.

But not melted butter.

I'm not quite sure why I did so myself. I think that because I hadn't left it out the fridge to soften, I overcompensated and put it in the microwave a wee bit too long.

Ah well, it'll do anyway, I thought. Well, of course it didn't. When it came to sticking the rice krispies to the base and up the sides of each individual mould, I very nearly gave up hope. It took absolutely ages to get the buggers to cooperate!

Don't worry though, use the right consistency of butter and you'll be just fine. And if it does go wrong, just leave them to set a bit longer (well, like an extra hour or three) - you can eat them straight out the freezer anyway ;-)

Peanut Butter Krispie Pies

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Makes 12:

100g rice krispies
75g butter, softened
100g peanut butter
100g soft cream cheese
125g whipped cream
200g condensed milk
3 tbsp lemon juice
Some mini Smarties to decorate

1) Line a muffin tray with clingfilm.
2) Mix the krispies and butter well, then push into the base and sides of each muffin hole. Cover and stick in the freezer for half an hour.
3) Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, followed by the peanut butter and milk til smooth.
4) Mix in the lemon, then gently fold in the cream.
5) Spoon into the pie bases, adding a few Smarties on top to decorate.
6) Return to the freezer for at least 6 hours to set.

Pie out.

Read my other Friday Pie-Day adventures. Continue reading this post..

Say NO to Takeaway: Make a Pineapple Crunch Stir Fry Instead!

Three things come to mind when thinking about what makes a dish particularly tasty.

- at least 2 or 3 colours
- at least 2 or 3 flavours
- contrasting textures!

Pineapple in savoury dishes is one of my favourite flavours in the world (yes, a grandiose statement, but true!) because it's just so lovely and soft and the juices soak through the rest of whatever you've made. This works especially so in stir fries.

As you can tell from the title though, this particular stir fry also has an element of Crunch with the additioin of celery and carrot. The contrast of this with the pineapple is fantastic - like a fun little party inside your mouth.

Timing is crucial here. Add the carrot and celery in too early and they will wimper away. Keep them strong and throw them in towards the end so that they stay nice and crunchy, but not completely cold and raw!

You can also easily make this with egg noodles instead of rice too - just boil the noodles separately, leaving to drain and cool ideally before adding to your stir fry. The nuttiness of brown rice though really adds something else to the flavour.

Pineapple Crunch Stir Fry

Print-friendly recipe

For 2:

220g can of pineapple chunks
4 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
2 celery sticks, chopped
2 small carrots, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
Juice of 1 orange
Handful of sesame seeds
150g brown rice

1) Rinse the rice a few times, then add enough water to cover (a couple of centimetres above the rice).
2) Bring to the boil, then partly cover and leave to simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3) Meanwhile, fry the spring onion, mushrooms and pineapple for a few minutes, then pour in the orange juice and simmer for 5 minutes.
4) Add the carrot and celery and simmer for another 2 or 3 minutes.
5) Serve with the brown rice and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.

If you liked this, you might want to try making these other takeaway alternatives too. Continue reading this post..

Berry Smash Shortcake

These flapjack-looking shortcakes were almost doomed for failure.

It all started when I went into the freezer and found a bag of berries half defrosted.

Oops. Not sure what happened there - everything else in the freezer was fine! But I had 24 hours to save those berries from getting completely wasted.

Mm, these will do for some simple shortcake cookies, I thought. So into a shortcake mixture they went. Now I should point out here that because of the defrosting nature of the berries, there was obviously quite a bit of excess juice floating about. Which I just poured into the mix without thinking.

So when it came to shaping the actual cookies, it all started to turn into a pink, oozy, unco-operative mess. It was simply too sticky to form into any kind of shape at all. Oh gawd, it's turning into a Hungry-Jenny-Faux-Pas, I thought.

I continued on, dumping berry smash blobs onto the baking sheet. It really wasn't working though so in the end, I just gave in and tipped the lot into a traybake pan instead.

Did the trick rather nicely (phew!)...

Berry Smash Shortcake

Print-friendly recipe

Cuts into 15 squares (12 x 8" tin):

350g mixed berries
200g plain flour
100g caster sugar
85g diced unsalted butter, cold
75ml double cream
2 tsp baking powder
Juice of half a lemon
Bit of salt

1) Tip the berries into a bowl with the lemon and a couple of tbsp sugar.
2) Sieve the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Mix in the sugar and salt, then rub in the butter to breadcrumbs.
3) Fold in the cream until you get a rough dough.
4) Gently fold in the berries, then pour into a lined tin and smooth out.
5) Bake at 190 degrees C for 20-25 minutes until lightly brown.

More Hungry Jenny cakes and cookies. Continue reading this post..

Friday Pie Day Faux Pas: Hotdog Sausage Rolls

Oh man, these went a bit wrong!

I had this grand old plan to make delicate versions of sausage rolls, basically long dainty thin ones, to be nibbled at delicately. But this was sadly not to be the case.

Note to self: there is no such thing as a posh sausage roll.

Happily though, they are still yummy and will do just nicely for a party my housemate and I are having tomorrow. You cannot have a party without sausage rolls! (Even if they do look a bit mutated.)

But hey, I'm going to pretend that they were supposed to come out like this and thus name them as my Hotdog Sausage Rolls.

Enjoy!

Hotdog Sausage Rolls

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Makes 18-24 rolls, depending on how you cut them!

6 pork sausages, skinned
1 celery stick, finely chopped
2 tbsp red onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp sage
1 tbsp oregano
1 egg, beaten
500g puff pastry

1) Mix the sausagemeat, celery, onion and herbs in a large bowl.
2) Roll the pastry onto a floured surface into a long rectangle. Cut into 6 strips (roughly 3 x 12").
3) Spoon a thin strip of the filling along the middle of each strip.
4) Brush the egg on one side of the strip, then fold the pastry over to seal. Prick with a fork, brush with the top with egg, then cut each rolled strip into 3 or 4 rolls.
5) Bake at 220 degrees C for 15 mins, then reduce heat to 180 degrees C to bake for another 15 mins.

Pie out.

You might also be amused by my Sausage Woahs!

Read my other Friday Pie-Day adventures.

Fancy a laugh at my other Hungry-Jenny-Faux-Pas? Continue reading this post..

How Do You Know Whether You're a Food Snob?

Over the last year, I've developed an aversion to Italian chain restaurants. They're just so samey and boring. On the rare occasions I do end up going to one, like I did the other weekend, I always end up bitterly disappointed with what I get:

I thought I'd go for one of the 'special' dishes, i.e. not a pizza or pasta dish. To at least try something different. This salmon dish tasted ok, but it wasn't presented very well and the salmon was dry. And for the same price, I thought begrudgingly, I could have found a much better quality meal at a nicer restaurant.

The funny thing is though, I used to love these chain restaurants, they were 'safe', you knew what you were getting and the prices were decent.

You might well argue that I am a snob for turning my nose up at these chains now but hold that thought and consider this.

Yes, I say NO to takeaway alot, but then again, I do appreciate a lardy plate of fish and chips every now and again.

I think MacDonalds and most fast food places are pretty evil but I absolutely love KFC.

If I find myself in a 'posh' restaurant, I tend to feel a bit out of place and like a naughty child amongst the grown-ups.

When dining out, I try to persuade the group to go somewhere we haven't been before - once I've been to a restaurant once, I feel like 'been there, done that'. But this is more to do with trying to find new experiences to blog about.

Some people make the assumption that because I write a food blog, I Know All Things Food. But to be honest, my knowledge is pretty basic (about food - and in general actually). I just like eating.

My friends have been raving about a new local Thai restaurant we've tried a couple of times. I've since come to the conclusion that because the restaurant is a takeaway as well, this must be why I found the dishes far too salty, and I'd rather not go back there again.

Sorry, but no.

So does this mean that I'm turning into a grown-up with more sophisticated tastes, or am I just becoming a food snob? Continue reading this post..