Turkey & quinoa "hot and cold" salad

I am keen to keep a healthy spring in my step as the days grow longer and tonight's dinner is inspired by a salad I once had in San Diego where healthy eating is second nature. 

The hot elements of this dish really contrast with the cold salad and the sweet and sour dressing is wonderfully refreshing. It keeps you fuller for longer as it is packed with protein, it's bright, fresh and utterly delicious! 

Ingredients

1 cup rinsed Quinoa, 5 cups chicken stock, 2 turkey breasts sliced in to bite size pieces, 1/5 cup frozen peas gently defrosted, 2 handfuls of mixed salad leaves of your choice, 2 carrots, 1/2 courgette, 1/2 red bell pepper, 1/2 small red onion, 1tsp coriander  powder, 1tsp ginger powder, 1 tbsp olive oil,  juice of half a lemon, teaspoon runny honey, pinch sea salt and black pepper. 

Bring the chicken stock to the boil and add the quinoa. Simmer gently for 20 minutes and then rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff up the quinoa with a fork and leave to cool.

Arrange the salad leaves on 2 plates and grate over the carrot, then sprinkle with the defrosted peas.

Spoon over the cooked quinoa.

Cut the courgette, red onion and red pepper in to bite size chunks. Heat the olive oil in a shallow frying pan on medium heat and fry the turkey until just going brown, then add the vegetables and spices to the same pan and on a very high heat toss quickly until they start to char slightly at the edges. Add the honey and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, then toss to deglaze the pan. Spoon the hot turkey and vegetables along with the pan juices on to the salad leaves and quinoa, and serve immediately.

Getting some energy back

Well I'm sick, scarlet fever, how incredibly 1800's of me! Fortunately the antibiotics are kicking in and it's time for me to get some energy back, so lunch today is avocado, tomato and watercress salad with mixed seeds. Simply chop everything up,  arrange on a plate and sprinkle with a little extra virgin olive oil, malt vinegar, salt crystals and cracked black pepper. Divine! 

AT HOME IN LONDON, APRIL 2013

By Jessica

You need to make this recipe using the strained and soaked oats from the Atholl Brose mix (see recipe below). Try this cake it is absolutely divine!

Whisky Oaty Cake
Ingredients:  The strained Atholl Brose oats, 2 big tablespoons (Tbs) golden syrup, 3 Tbs caster sugar,  2 rounded Tbs plain flour, 1 flat teaspoon  of baking powder, ½ a regular pack of real butter, 1 large cup of oats, teaspoon of good vanilla essence.

The mix Preheat the oven to 160C. In a small pan melt the golden syrup, sugar and butter and add the vanilla. Then stir in the flour, baking powder and oats. Tip in to a shallow 30cm baking dish. Bake in the oven for 15 mins until it is only just starting to go golden on the top. Leave to cool.

To serve This is best eaten whilst just warm  and squidgy with lashings of double cream.

WEDDING AT THAMES DITTON, APRIL 2013

By Jessica

My husband‘s father was a Scotsman. Scotsman generally love a wee dram of the hot stuff, as does my husband.  So when a friend of ours got married as everyone was asked to bring something for the dessert table Christian jumped at the chance to seize his heritage and make Atholl Brose for the bride and groom, this is his version of the oaty Scottish

Atholl Brose
Ingredients:  4 cups of porridge oats, ½ a litre of whisky, 2 cups of double cream, ½ a jar of honey (heather honey is deal but normal honey will do)

The mix Put the oats in to a container with the whisky and soak them for a week stirring occasionally and keeping a tight cover on in-between so it doesn’t evaporate.  It will go creamy looking over the course of the week. Strain the oats over a large bowl, ideally through a clean muslin cloth to really clean out all the impurities. (Save the squeezed oats in a Tupperware in the fridge I have another recipe you can use for them later!) Anyway, back to the whisky, whisk the double cream and honey in to the creamy whisky mixture. Then decant in to an empty bottle and chill in the fridge.

To serve Store in the fridge and drink within a week, it’s gorgeous for an after dinner tipple.

CORNWALL, JANUARY 2013
By Jessica
January is a gloomy month, waiting to see the first signs of spring. It’s important to treat yourself to something delicious and heart-warming to put a smile on your face. So, it was on a visit to Cornwall to see the mother in law that I rediscovered the joy of scones.....and this is my best recipe for them yet!

Yummy scones (makes around 8)
Ingredients:  8 ounce (oz) self raising flour, 2oz butter, 2 oz caster sugar, pinch of salt, splash of cold milk, 1 egg, teaspoon of good quality vanilla essence.

The mix Heat your oven to 200C. Grease and gently sprinkle flour on a baking sheet and tap off the excess flour. Mix together the salt, flour, and sugar and then rub in the butter and vanilla essence until the mix forms crumbs. Use enough milk to make the mix in to a soft dough ball (add it a tablespoon at a time so you don’t over-milk).
Cut the dough in to 8 equal pieces and roll each in to a ball, squash the ball slightly and put on the baking sheet. (Or to be fancy you can use a cutter to cut proper shapes). Brush the tops with beaten egg. Bake for 15 minutes and then cool before eating!
To serve Just slightly warm is divine! It has to be with clotted cream, jam and a nice pot of tea!  

MEXICO, DECEMBER 2012

By Jessica

I love Mexico, we went to the Riviera Maya on our honeymoon so it will always hold a special place in my heart. This time we went over Christmas, complete with parents in tow, back to the land of sunshine where you can have tequila and fajitas for breakfast and no one bats an eyelid. However, this round saw a more delicate take on some well versed dishes and I found that Mexican cuisine can be delicate and complex, so out with the heavy and fried cheesy filled burritos and tacos and in with something a lot more refined.

Prawn Cocktail Yukatan Style (4 people)

Ingredients:  Pack of cooked king prawns deveined, 1 coffee size mug of tomato pasatta (sieved tomatoes), 1 whole lime, 1 whole lemon, 1 whole red chilli pepper, ¼ large red onion, 1/4 garlic clove, salt and pepper, small bunch fresh coriander,  Worcester sauce.

The mix Cut the chilli pepper in half remove the seeds and any white membrane and cut in to matchsticks lengthways and then across in to very fine cubes. Do the same with the garlic clove. Save a couple of the coriander leaves for garnish and finely shred the rest of the leaves and stalks. Cut the red onion in to very fine cubes too. Use a zester or the finest setting on a cheese grater to very carefully zest half the lemon being careful to only take the yellow bits off the lemon and one of the white pith underneath (this can taste bitter). Mix everything above with the pasatta, the juice of the whole lime, salt and pepper and a dash or two of Worcester sauce to taste. You are effectively making a posh bloody mark mix here so alter the flavourings to suit your own taste. Let this mix sit for about 30 mins in the fridge to get really cold and for the flavours to meld together.

Finally, add the prawns to the mix.

To serve Spoon the sauce and the prawns in to 4 shallow bowls, distributing evenly,  and decorate with the reserved coriander leaves (and if you want to a lemon wedge).

This was a delightful starter served with crusty bread, or on its own!  

White Fish Cerviche (4 people)

Ingredients:  2 fillets of firm white fish (a bream or a river cobbler would suit) – or use a mix of white fish and maybe a couple of scallops (white bit only) cleaned and diced, 1 whole lime, 1 whole lemon, ½ orange, 1/2 chilli pepper, 1/4 garlic clove, salt and pepper, lettuce leaves.

The mix Squeeze the lemon, lime and orange and mix the juice together in a bowl. Finely dice the chilli to taste and crush the garlic clove, add to the citrus juice mix and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cut the fish in to bite size pieces and add to the citrus fruit mix. Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for 2 hours.   

To serve Put a couple of crispy lettuce leaves in a 4 shallow bowls and spoon on the cerviche distributing evenly.

SITGES, SEPTEMBER 2012
By Jessica

Contracting food poisoning is a hideous fate when you’re a foodie, being surrounded by glorious morsels when you have no appetite is my idea of hell on earth. So I wasn’t best pleased when I found myself in Spain, during my best friend’s wedding week, in exactly this predicament and only being able to manage meagre bowls of soup. (The only bonus was I managed to lose a few pounds during the week and looked particularly svelte on the actual wedding day!!)
The wedding banquet was glorious, being unable to stomach any of it was shockingly sad! However, I was craving sugar by that point and wolfed down the beautiful dessert which was a delicate cross between a macaroon, banoffee pie and cheesecake with a wonderfully nutty note running through (pictures left). I could have eaten 20 of them!  These cookies were inspired by my need for all things sweet, and  Christian ate the lot in 2 days flat!

Scrumptious Almond Macaroons (makes about 15 cookies)
Ingredients:  1/2 pack butter, 1 bag ground almonds 200g, tablespoon runny honey, 2 tablespoon white sugar, tablespoon rum (I used spiced rum), enough fine white flour to bring to a ball rolling consistency (around half a cup)


The mix In a large bowl put the butter and the sugar, beat until it looks light and fluffy and the sugar granules have dissolved. Beat in the honey until combined. Add the ground almonds and mix thoroughly. Add the rum and mix thoroughly. Add the flour bit by bit until the dough forms a soft ball. You should be able to roll lumps of the dough in to balls in your hands so it can’t be too sticky, but you don’t want the mix to be dry and crumbly, so go for a soft ball consistency.

Bake Preheat your oven to 180c (if it’s a fan oven go a little cooler at 150c), line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper, roll the balls around the size of a golf ball and squash slightly to make fat discs. Put on the tray with a little gap in-between each as they will spread when cooking. Bake for 6-10 minutes until very lightly golden, watch them carefully as they can burn easily. They should still be soft and squidgy when you bring them out. Leave them to cool slightly them transfer gently to a rack to cool completely. They should be soft on the inside and a little crunchy on the outside.
Tip If you have a wheat allergy you can always replace the flour with more ground almonds so they are completely wheat free. Also, for a twist on the plain cookie, you can cut fresh stoned cherries in half and press half a cherry in to the top of each cookie before baking them.