ON TO CADIZ...

After our 4 days in Seville recently, we hired a car to drive down to Cadiz, where the sun came out, and shone on us for 3 days. We had booked another Airbnb apartment, which was somehow even better than the one in Seville. It was 2 minutes walk to the beach and located on a gorgeous palm lined street, full of cafes and bars. Our Airbnb hosts (they own the flat rather than live there) even went off with the boy to help find a space for the car and when we left they offered us a free night there next time we visit! This was the view from the front door of the flat: 

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CHILLI CHERRY TOMATO CHUTNEY

I've posted a chutney recipe before, but as it's getting towards the time of year when we start thinking about Christmas presents I thought I'd put this recipe up, as gifted in jars it's a wonderful present to give.

The main difference between this chutney and the last one I posted is the level of sweetness. The last chutney recipe I put up was made with green tomatoes, raisins and other bits and pieces, and makes quite a sweet chutney. This chutney is a little sharper, and spicier, and is perfect with cheeses and cold meats. As with the other chutney, you can also eat this one straight away, although it does improve with time, so is at its best around 3-4 days after you make it. This version is also redder in colour than the other chutney, so is prettier to look at!

Makes 2 jars of chutney

1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp dried chipotle chillies
1 tsp dried ancho chillies
500g ripe cherry tomatoes
1 red onion
2 cloves garlic
Knob of ginger
150ml red wine vinegar
200g golden caster sugar
1 tsp Worcester sauce

Preheat the oven to 60C.

Put the coriander and cumin seeds and dried chillies in a dry frying pan and heat for a couple of minutes until you can smell their aromas. Remove and crush up in a pestle and mortar.

Chop the larger cherry tomatoes in half and leave the smaller ones whole. Dice the onion finely and crush the garlic and ginger. Add all the ingredients to a wide saucepan and heat until bubbling.

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CHEESY BEEF NACHOS AND DIPS

It was the last game of the Premier league season on Sunday, so I cooked up some food we could eat while we watched the games, nervous for several teams results (I'm an Arsenal fan) and sulking over a game that couldn't make any difference in the boys case (he's QPR). I wanted to cook something I could heat up at half time to serve, and this is the perfect dish for that. I served it with a rack of BBQ ribs, cooked in my BBQ sauce. It's also great if you got friends coming over and want to serve them some snacks to nibble on.

Serves 6.

6 shallots
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp dry oregano
1 to 2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 level tsp chilli flakes
Half tsp salt
1 tsp garlic granules
500g minced beef
200ml beef stock
100g cheddar cheese
Pot of sour cream
Large bag of nachos chips

For the guacamole:
2 avocados
2 limes
Handful coriander

For the salsa:
8 cherry tomatoes
4 spring onions
1 lemon

The thing that makes this recipe taste SO good is the spice mix for the beef. I know you can buy premixes in the supermarkets for fajitas and tacos, but this mix tastes much better than those. You can make lots by doubling or tripling the quantities, and store it in a spice jar.

Measure out all your spices and salt. Grind into a fine powder with a pestle and mortar. If you don't have one, just use ground cumin.

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BEST BREAKFASTS...

'Breakfast is the most important meal of the day', we're often told. And although I rarely wake up hungry, once I've got ready for the day I am ready for my first meal of the day. Breakfast during the week involves a big bowl of tropical fruit and a black coffee. Not great, I know! But the weekends are when I can really indulge on breakfast, and make something special, and healthy. Though there's not really much cooking involved with these recipes. We normally end up having a late breakfast/brunch and one more main meal on weekend days, which allows us to pig out a little, whilst not overdoing it completely!!

My favorite weekend breakfasts vary, depending on how much or little sleep I've had the night before, but they generally include one of 3 or 4 ingredients - berries, fish, avocado and sweetcorn. Not necessarily all together! Here are some of my favorites.

TUNA, EGG, AVOCADO

This is best if you've had a night out and a long lie-in, as I don't think even I could eat a tuna steak before 11am - so think of this one as more of a brunch! It's a big smack of protein to get you right and ready for the day.

For 2.

2 responsibly sourced tuna steaks
2 free-range eggs
1 avocado
Pinch dried chilli flakes
Sea salt
Lemon juice
2 slices of rye bread
Olive oil

Put a small pan of water on to boil. Once boiling add the eggs, and cook for 5 minutes.

Heat a small amount of oil on a medium to high heat in a frying pan. Once hot, add your tuna steaks and cook for 90 seconds on each side. Remove from the pan, and put to one side.

Mash the avocado, chilli flakes and sea salt together with a squeeze of lemon juice. Smear onto the toasted slices of rye bread, and serve alongside your halved egg, and seared tuna steak. Drizzle with a little olive oil to finish.


BACON with AVOCADO and SWEETCORN SALSA

For 2.

6 rashers free-range bacon
1 small tin of sweetcorn, no added sugar and salt
1 avocado
1/2 red onion
1 red chilli
Lime juice

Heat a large frying pan. Add the bacon and put another pan on top, to flatten it out and make it really crispy. Fry over a high heat for a couple of minutes. Lift the top pan off, turn the bacon over, replace the pan and continue to fry for a couple more minutes, until crispy and cooked.

In the meantime, make the salsa. Chop the avocado and red onion into cm chunks. Finely slice the red chilli. Mix together with the sweetcorn, avocado, onion and lime juice.

Serve the bacon piled high with salsa.

FROZEN BERRY YOGHURT BOWLS

This takes about a minute to prepare, but once ready, tastes like heaven and you can actually feel the good it's doing you.

For 1.

200ml natural probiotic yoghurt
100g frozen berries
Teaspoon of manuka honey
Handful chopped basil and mint

Pour your yoghurt into a bowl, top with berries, honey and chopped herbs. The frozen crunch of the berries is particularly delicious on a lovely sunny morning. Tuck in, and feel better about the day!

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GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY for CHEESE

I planted a new veg patch this summer, and after a number of vegetable cat and slug related disasters, the one real survivor was my tomato plants. But after another typical London summer I've been left with a load of greeny orange tomotoes. So with winter and it's obligatory red wine soon approaching, I decided to cook up some green and red tomato chutney.

I used a combination of my own un ripe tomatoes and some delicious red vine tomatoes from our local market.

This makes 4-6 jars of chutney

800g green and red tomatoes
800ml malt vinegar
2 onions, finely chopped
400g soft brown sugar
400g sultanas
2 bay leaves
Bunch of thyme
Tsp salt

Chop the tomatoes and put them in a heavy bottomed pan with an equal amount of malt vinegar and the onions. Add the brown sugar and sultanas. Add a bay leaf, some thyme and a teaspoon of salt to mixture and simmer over a low heat for 80-90 minutes, stirring regularly. 

The mixture will reduce to a jammy consistency.

When reduced to the thickness you like (I like it when there is just a little liquid left in the bottom that separates when spooned away and takes a second or two to reform), pour the chutney into sterilised glass jars (to sterilise the jars place them in an oven at 130C for 10 mins or so, or rinse with boiling water). Leave to cool for a few hours, then cover with cling film.

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