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Posted on April 14, 2015 by gorgefood

This is one of my fave Chinese style dishes, it’s my take on a dish I had at the Szechuan Red Chilli Restaurant in Manchester when it was on the specials menu, unfortunately it’s not always on the menu so I had to figure out how to make it for myself! I actually took this dish along to my first Masterchef audition and they ate the lot! It’s pretty simple but very effective.

Ingredients

1 packet of lamb neck fillet

1 tablespoon cumin powder

1tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp coriander power

1 tsp coriander seeds

1tsp salt

½ tsp chilli powder

1tsp white pepper

2 garlic cloves sliced thinly

1 medium onion sliced

Large handful of chopped coriander including some stalk

Slice the lamb into thin round slices and put in a food bag with the cumin and coriander powders, salt, pepper and chilli powder. Bash with a rolling pin to make the meat thin and tender and then ensure that the meat is evenly coated in the dry spices. Don’t worry if the meat looks really fatty and chewy, that will all disappear when it is cooked.

Fry the onions in olive oil a frying pan until going soft then add the garlic and cumin and coriander seeds and fry for a few minutes.

Add the lamb and fry until cooked through then add a large handful of chopped coriander at the end of cooking.

Serve with egg fried rice or noodles.

You can adjust the amount of heat in this dish by adding more/less chilli, you can also add a touch of Szechuan peppercorn if you like.

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Posted on April 13, 2015 by gorgefood

Sweet potato, Red pepper and lentil soup.

I rustled up a nice soup today which worked really well so here is the recipe… I went off a recipe in Delicious magazine but added a few things of my own.. the one in the magazine is called “Coconut, lentil and sweet potato soup” but the only coconut used is coconut oil.. which doesn’t actually taste of coconut so I am not sure what they were thinking with that name as people will be expecting something completely different!

Ingredients

serves 4

2 Sweet Potatoes cut into small chunks
1 tbsp Oil
1 large onion diced
2 garlic cloves chopped
3cm ginger, grated
1 tbsp Tomato puree
2 Roasted red peppers chopped – you can use ones from a jar if you like its much easier.
1 Courgette peeled and grated.
1 bay leaf
a large handful of red lentils
2 pints of veg or chicken stock ( I used a stock pot)
half a red chilli

Heat the oil in your pan and lightly fry your onion with some salt and pepper. When it starts to go soft add the garlic chilli and ginger and fry for another minute.

Stir in the tomato puree, chopped red peppers, grated courgette and sweet potato chunks and cook for a few minutes.

Add the bay leaf lentils and stock and bring to the boil for 5 minutes.

Simmer for a further 20 minutes, remove the bay leaf and then blend.

Season with salt and pepper.

If you want a thinner consistency blend before adding the lentils and then simmer until they go soft.

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Posted on April 9, 2015 by gorgefood

Another Spinningfields restaurant that I have been wanting to try for a while is Fazenda, although I have been waiting for a special occasion as it would be a pricey do. In the evening it is £28 a head and that is before wine so you are looking at a £100 quid meal really.

This is another one of those Bem Brasil style places where you pay a set price and indicate by a red and green sided card on your table if you want more or if you want a rest. On Tuesday me and Mr G had a day off work so we left the little one at nursery and went for the lunch menu which is a more manageable £17.30 per person. You only get half the selection of meats that you would in the evening but I only managed one round of each of the meats at lunchtime so the evening option would probably leave me in a meat coma!

The restaurant looks great for a start, there are partitions made of wine bottles, meats hanging from the wall in one the private dining rooms available and it just looks like your meal is going to be worth every penny. The waiter seated us and explained exactly how it worked very simply, took our drinks order then left us to it.

We went to the salad bar first and I was in heaven! The first thing I saw was sweet red peppers stuffed with cream cheese and stuffed vine leaves, both faves of mine.

The things I can remember are, Sushi, anchovies, salami, paremsan cheese, bowls of pork scratchings, regular and spicy, an array of dressing oils, dipping sauces, salsas, guacamole, all your standard salad items, good quality olives in oil, a large bowl full of parmesan cheese, a cheeseboard, nuts and seeds for toppings, giant cous cous salad, sundried tomatoes, orzo pasta.. but there was so much more.

I didn’t even get to the hot dishes but there were potatoes, rice and beans, creamy mushrooms to mention a few.

I also found a new favourite food! see below! and I have since managed to get some from Waitrose, they are tiny spicy peppers in a sweet juice – pretty hot with a taste a bit similar to a scotch bonnet but obviously nowhere near as hot!

As I started eating my giant plate from the salad bar A large skewer of gammon and a full pineapple appeared at the side of our table. I am not really a fan of gammon, would only really eat it if there was nowt else in BUT this was the best gammon I have ever had! In fact I was hoping the gammon would come round again! I have a chunk of salty gammon with a crispy edge and a slice of freshly grilled pineapple.

Fresh skin on fries were then presented to us which I had to say yes to and the meat just kept on coming!

2 types of steak, Picanha and Alcatra, chicken wrapped in bacon, sausage, pork belly drizzled in honey – another favourite, chicken thighs.. I managed a round of a serving of each then had to stop as I had the meat sweats.

Meal for 2 with 2 pints of larger and a coca cola – £50. Service is added automatically.. grrrrr my pet hate. It is deserved but should be my decision!

We had a walk round after the meal and saw that they have 3 separate private dining rooms which look great! There is a 7, 8 and a 16. Not really sure why they have one for 7 though?! These don’t cost any extra to book but there is a bit of a minimum spend on them which you would always meet if you fill every chair. The sittings are at 5.30 or 8.30, if you want to keep the table all night after the 5.30 sitting though you will be charged.

Definitely want to go back soon so who’s with me??

Apologies for the blurry pictures, tried to take them sneakily as I felt a bit of an idiot taking photos of a salad bar!

Manchester

Please leave your thoughts below if you have been!

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Posted on March 25, 2015 by gorgefood

Since reading about the opening of a new authentic tapas restaurant opening in the Spinningfields area of Manchester I have been looking out for the opening date so that I can try it! I finally got to try it on Saturday evening.

I had looked at the menu about 15 times before I went as I am a nightmare at choosing in restaurants, I am always worried that I will make the wrong choice and be disappointed! This is why I like tapas restaurants as you can choose lots of dishes and if you don’t like one of them its no big deal – not like a standard restaurant when all your hopes are pinned on one big dish that could let you down!

There were a couple of dishes I knew I had to order, the first being Padron peppers, I had these numerous times during a holiday to Palma last year and although very simple they are so tasty and moreish. They are basically little green peppers fried in a pan and then sprinkled with salt and around 1 in 10 can be a spicy one!.

We ordered a jug of Sangria while we looked at the menu – a bit steep at £20 to be honest as it wasn’t very strong – and we were advised to choose around 3 tapas dishes each. We were also given some olives while we decided.

We choose;

Toasted bread with tomato £2

A bargain at 2 quid and very nice.

Padrón peppers with Maldon salt (v) £6

Loved these and wanted to order more, thought the portion was a bit stingy though, In Spain you would get a massive bowl full.

Ibérica’s Serrano ham croquettes £6

Just ok really, all cheese and hardly any ham – Probably wouldn’t choose these again. Very light and fluffy though and very rich.

Confit of cod (brandada) with olives £4

Despite being warned not to order it by a friend who had been before, it was only 4 quid so we gave it a go. BIG MISTAKE. I hate strong fishy tastes and when i tried it I had to spit it into my napkin! YUK. Just not my taste really, was like eating fish spread.

Fried chorizo lollipops with pear alioli sauce £5

This is the one that surprised me! I LOVE chorizo, I love Alioli and this sounded interesting. To be honest I really didn’t think that the lovely chorizo should have been dipped in batter and deep fried, it was just too rich and greasy as chorizo is fatty enough on its own! The alioli was amazing, best I have ever had, garlicy, rich creamy and sweet from the pear BUT way too rich to go with the chorizo which was already too rich from being deep fried! I wish I could order this sauce on it’s own or with the squid.

Selection of cured meats £12
Smoked chorizo, spicy chorizo, lomo, fuet & cecina

Beautiful, I would order everytime. I love my cured meats and these were unlike any I have had in the UK, the flavours were all different from sweet to smoky and I loved every mouthfull.

Fried fresh squid with alioli sauce £9

What it says on the tin, squid and alioli, very nice and I enjoyed it but its nothing unusual. I would maybe order again although I think 9 quid is a bit ridiculous.

It was all a bit too fast really, we were going on somewhere else after our meal but if you had planned an evening around this meal you might be a bit pissed off when everything you ordered came at once, I know that tapas just comes when it is ready but all our dishes were crammed on our tiny little table within 10 minutes of ordering which is not really a relaxing experience, felt a bit like going for fast food. Its hard to enjoy everything and savour it when you feel like you have to eat quick before things go cold and to make some space on your table. If we had ordered a bottle of wine we would have been left with half a bottle to finish at the end of the meal.

I think if I go again I would just order a massive platter of meat, 2 lots of padron peppers and a nice bottle of red and graze.

I was pretty pissed off to see that 12% service charge had automatically been added though, I didn’t realise that we lived in America? If the service hadn’t been good I would have definitely asked for this back. We were in and out within an hour so I am not really sure why that warrants us paying £8.50 for someone to bring our food from the kitchen to our table ( as you can see in this photo.. it wasn’t very far!)

Gor rating 7/10.

Ibérica
14-15 The Avenue Spinningfields M3 3HF
Manchester

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Posted on March 13, 2015 by gorgefood

Just something I found on the internet today, I wanted a tasty curry that doesn’t use coconut milk (fattening) to use up some of the Tiger prawns I have. This is definitely a keeper! I have done a variation on this curry,

http://www.indiankhana.net/2013/03/Chettinad-Prawn-Curry-Chettinad-Eral-Kuzhambu-Recipe.html

depending on what I had in the cupboards, and what I felt like it needed after tasting! This is quite hot so use less chilli if you can’t take the heat.

It looks really complicated as its a long ingredient list but it really isn’t if you have all or most of the spices.

Ingredients

Spice mix

1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
1/2 tsp carom seeds
1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1 tsp Coriander seeds
8 black peppercorns
1 Red dry chill
1/2 small piece of cinnamon
2 cloves
2 Green Cardamon
pinch of Mace if you have it.

I still have some spice mix left over though so I reckon it could make 2 or 3 curry this lot!

300g Tiger Prawns – Uncooked are best.
2 onions chopped
2 large tomatoes
1 Green chilli chopped
1 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Tumeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder (depending on how hot you like it)
2 tbsp oil
Pinch of asafetida if you have it.
5/6 Curry leaves
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tbsp garlic ginger paste
small piece of tamarind ( I didn’t have this so just used some tamarind sauce! 1tbsp)
salt
sugar
Chopped Coriander
2 cloves of garlic finely sliced.
Large knob of butter

Dry fry the spice mix until it gets fragrant then whiz in a food processor or bash in a pestle and mortar.

Rinse the prawns and add 1/2 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp salt and mix well. Rest for 10 minutes then rinse again.

If using tamarind, soak in 1/2 cup of water for 10 -15 minutes and extract the pulp.

Coarsely chop the onion tomato and green chilli.

Heat some oil in a wok or frying pan and add the asofetida and mustard seeds, when it starts to splutter add the curry leaves, onion, green chilli, ginger garlic paste and sauté until it gets soft.

Then add the chilli powder, turmeric and coriander powder and mix well – cook for a minute.

The add the tomato and cook until it starts looking like a pulp.

Add the tamarind sauce or extract, 1/2 pint of water pinch of salt and bring to the boil then simmer for 2 minutes.

Add 2 tsp of your ground spice mix and boil again then simmer for 5 minutes. At this point I removed half the mixture and put in a food processor and whizzed it up for 10 seconds until it became like a thick lumpy sauce to make it more like a curry house texture but still retaining some of the big chunks of onion in the pan. Mix the sauce back in with the rest and add the slices of garlic.

Cook on a low heat until it becomes thick and keep tasting to see if the flavours are coming through. At this point I added a large knob of butter for some richness and a tsp of sugar. You could also add a splash of white wine vinegar to give it a tangy taste.

When you think the sauce is done and tastes right add the prawns and cook briefly until they are cooked through ( pink) This should not be long so don’t overcook the prawns or they will just be chewy.

Serve with basmati rice and chopped coriander.

You could even stir some spinach through at the end to add a bit of goodness, but I hate spinach 😉

You can probably do this dish with chicken or lamb too but you would add them earlier on at the Chilli, turmeric and coriander stage.

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Posted on March 7, 2015 by gorgefood

A favourite in the Gor house and hopefully some good fuel for the 15k I stupidly signed up for tomorrow morning!

Ingredients

1 packet of minced beef or minced lamb
2 green chillis – Chopped. ( change this depending on your heat preference.)
2 onions diced
1 diced Green pepper
1 tbsp Garlic and Ginger paste (or just use crushed fresh garlic and ginger if you don’t have any) The frozen cubes of Ginger and garlic that you can get from the Asian supermarkets are also great if you are sick of getting stinky garlic fingers and want to save some time.
Diced potato – I used about 6 new potatoes but you can use any. Just cut into tiny cubes.
4 tbsp frozen Peas
Salt
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
1 teaspoon Coriander Seeds ( Use powder if you dont have any or want to save time)
1 teaspoon Fenugreek leaves
1 small Cinnamon stick ( powder is you dont have one 1/2 tsp)
1 teaspoon Garam Massala
1 teaspoon tumeric
3 Cardamom pods
Half a teaspoon of Chilli powder (depending on taste)
1 Veg stock cube or “magi cube”
Coriander to garnish (optional)
A few fresh tomatoes, chopped.
1 dried chilli
Knob of butter
Half a lime

Fry the lamb mince until brown and then put in a food processor and give it a few blast to make the meat pieces smaller.

Put the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, 3 cardamom pods in a frying pan and fry until fragrant. Then transfer to a pestle and mortar and grind into a powder then remove the cardamom skins.

Fry the onion and green peppers lightly for around 5 minutes until going soft then add the garlic and ginger paste and chopped chillis.

cook for a few minutes the add the potato cubes and spices ( ground corriander, cumin and cardamon, tumeric, chilli powder if using, fenugreek and garam massala) cook for a few minutes then add the stock cube, chopped tomatoes and 3/4 pint of boiling water and some salt to season.

Add the dired chilli and cinnamon stick and simmer slowly for about 20 minutes or cook in the oven in a casserole pot at 180 until the water has evaporated. Stir in the frozen peas 5 minutes before the end so they don’t go mushy.

Stir in a knob of butter and serve with basmati rice, Chappati and yoghurt dip and chopped coriander. ( although in the picture I have served mine with brown rice tonight to fuel up for tomorrows challenge and I was out of coriander :()

I served a starter of poppadoms before this meal – I just bought some poppadoms from the supermarket as making them yourself is way too greasy! I always find that the mango chutney you buy in supermarkets is too thick and lumpy so I blend mine with some water to make it a runny sauce. ( I should really make my own though!) I then made a mint yoghurt dip by just mixing mint sauce ( the sort you put on your lamb roast!) with creme fraiche but you can also use plain yoghurt. Finally I chopped a small onion finely and let it soak in water for 10 minutes to remove the strong onion taste, then added a bit of mint sauce tomato puree and a splash of water. If you ever come across “Hot Garlic Pickle” by “the Cherry Tree” as shown in this picture.. buy some! I get it from a cafe in Llandudno and it is amazing.

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Posted on March 2, 2015 by gorgefood

Braised steak with Onions, Mushrooms and Jerusalem Artichokes

I have had a packet of Jerusalem Artichokes in the fridge for a week and did not know what to do with them! Tonight I put some in a stew and roasted some to go alongside it. I think I like them.. a lot!

I have never seen them in the usual Supermarkets and have always wanted to try them but looked for some on line and saw that Ocado were selling them so bought a bag. Next time I think I will make a soup with them.

No photo this time – I was too busy scoffing it and forgot to take a picture!

Ingredients

Serves 2

1 Packet of braising steak enough for 2 people
3 small onions sliced thickly
1 tablespoon sugar
1 packet of button mushrooms ( leave them out if you are a mushroom hater)
2 Jerusalem Artichokes, peeled and cut into chunks
Half a bulb of garlic – cut horizontally
2 bay leaves
a splash of rum or brandy
3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt
Pepper
Plain flour to coat the meat
2 x Oxo cubes or similar
1 tablespoon of mild mustard.
1 Tablespoon cornflour

Pre heat the oven to 160/Gas mark 3

Season the steak well with salt and pepper and then dust with flour. Fry for about 1 minute on each side in a pan with oil to seal the meat and put aside.

In a cast iron casserole dish (or frying pan if you don’t have one) cook the onions in a little oil until going soft then add the sugar and fry for a few more minutes to caramelise.

Add the chopped artichokes, garlic half and mushrooms and fry for 3 minutes.

Add a splash of rum and deglaze the bottom of the pan, then add the stock cubes, some salt and pepper, bay leaves and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well scraping the bottom of the pan then add the meat and 1 and a half pints of boiling water.

Transfer to the oven in a casserole dish and cook slowly for around 2.5/3 hours. Test the meat is done by putting a fork in to see if it falls apart easily.

After a couple of hours take a few spoonfuls of the gravy and mix in a separate bowl with a tablespoon for cornflour and add back into the casserole dish to thicken the sauce. If it is not thick enough towards the end of cooking just repeat. DON’T pour the cornflour in dry or it will go lumpy.

I had lots of sauce left which is now going in the freezer for the next Steak night!

I served with Kale, Cauliflower and roasted parsnips and Jerusalem Artichokes.

Not a scrap left on the plate.

I will take a photo next time I make it and update, as this WILL be made again! The adddition of the artichokes really gave it a new dimension.

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Posted on February 19, 2015 by gorgefood

I love dumplings! I made about 25 of these last night and we scoffed the lot between 2 of us! I still had some mixture left over too so I would say that this amount could probably make 30+ dumplings.

Ingredients

Filling

Half a packet of minced pork
8 raw king prawns – chopped finely
1 – 2 inch sized piece of ginger – grated. The ginger really makes this dish so be generous
1 large clove garlic – grated
splash of soy sauce
splash of sesame oil
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1 tsp of salt
Handful of finely chopped coriander – including stalk
2 spring onions chopped finely

Dipping Sauce

Small clove of garlic – grated
1 tbsp chopped coriander with stalk
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
pinch of sugar.
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Splash of chilli oil if you want a spicy dip.
Packet of Gyoza wrappers – can be found in the freezer at the Chinese supermarket

Method

Prepare the dipping sauce by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Mix all the filling ingredients together with your hands in a bowl squeezing the mixture together. Tip – The best way to peel ginger is to scrap with a teaspoon!

Lay out the gyoza wrappers and wet the edges of each with a little water

place a spoonful of the filling in each and then fold over into a semi circle and pinch the edges together so there are no gaps.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan – I use olive oil spray and add the dumplings to the pan but not too many at a time.( I did these in 2 batches) Fry gently until the bottom of the dumplings until they can lift from the pan.

Leave the dumplings in place and pour in 5 tablespoons of boiling water and cover immediately, this will steam the dumplings.

Check after 4-5 minutes and if the outside has gone see through they are done.

Eat immediately and don’t forget to dip!

I made a large batch of these tonight to maybe save some.. we ate the lot!

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Posted on February 15, 2015 by gorgefood

Last but not least! a tasty crispy pork dish with a fiery sauce!

There are 2 parts to this recipe, I would suggest making the sauce ahead of the pork.

This is a recipe from Olive Magazine.

Szechuan Chilli sauce

Ingredients
makes 150ml.

1 tbsp chilli flakes
2 tsp crushed Szechuan peppercorns
100ml Oil
3 tbsp Chicken stock
2 tsp Hoi Sin sauce
2 tsp tomato puree
pinch of sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp white wine vinegar.

Put the chilli flakes into a hot wok with 1 tbsp of oil and heat gently until the pan starts to smoke stirring constantly to avoid burning.

As the chilli flakes absorb the oil add more 1tbsp at a time until you have a paste. This should take around 5 mins.

When the flakes begin to darken add the peppercorns, take off the heat and add half the stock. Stir and return to a medium heat.

Add the hoi sin sauce, tomato puree, remaining stock and a pinch of salt and sugar.

Stir all the ingredients adding more stock and oil if needed then add the vinegar just as you take it off the heat.

Crispy pork
Serves 4

Ingredients

4 pork steaks
200ml Garlic juice. ( I didn’t know what this was so made it from blending 3 large garlic cloves and water!)
4 tsp Shaoxing Wine
4 tsp White wine vinegar
2 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
4 tbsp Cornflour
Oil
4 finely sliced red chilli’s ( seeds removed if you don’t want it red hot!)
4 garlic cloves crushed
4 spring onions chopped
A pinch of crushed Szechuan peppercorns.

Cut the pork into thin strips and put in a bowl. pour over the garlic juice, shaoxing wine, wine vinegar and five spice and leave for 10 minutes.

Remove and coat with cornflour.

Heat a an inch of oil in a saucepan and deep fry the pork in batches until it is crispy and golden.

Remove most of the oil and fry the garlic, chilli and spring onion for a minute then add the pork back in the wok and season with salt and peppercorns.

Fry for a minute the serve with a drizzle of the sauce you made earlier! but be careful as it is hot. I served mine on the side just in case!

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Posted on February 15, 2015 by gorgefood

If you are an Aubergine fan you need to try this! I made a spare aubergine too and I will use it to chop up and put into some cous cous for tomorrows lunch.

This recipe is adapted from one in Good Food magazine.

Ingredients

1 large aubergine
2 tbsp brown Miso paste
Thumb sized piece of ginger – grated.
1 large garlic clove – grated
1 tbsp olive oil
Pinch of salt
4 chopped spring onions, sliced diagonally ( I didn’t read this bit properly! )

Method

Heat the Oven to 180/160 fan/gas mark 4

Peel the aubergine with a potato peeler and spread the paste all over it.

Put in a roasting tin with 200ml boiling water then add the ginger and garlic and 1 tbsp of oil. Sprinkle salt over the top and cook for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes add another 100ml of boiling water and roast for a further 20 minutes.

After the 20 minutes add 50ml water and the chopped spring onion and roast for another 10 minutes.

Check if they are done by putting a knife in the middle to see if it goes through easily.

Slice the aubergine into thick slices and pour over some of the sauce from the roasting pan. If there is no sauce add some water to loosen it up.

GORGE

Gorgeous food. Tested, tweaked, shared.

Cumin and Coriander Lamb

Sweet potato, Red pepper and lentil soup.

Fazenda – Manchester

Ibérica – Spinningfields – Manchester

Chettinad Prawn Curry

Lamb Keema Curry

Braised steak with Onions, Mushrooms and Jerusalem Artichokes

Steamed pork and prawn dumplings

Crispy pork with Szechuan chilli sauce

Miso Roasted Aubergine

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