Halloumi be thine name...

Sweet Potato & Halloumi Fritters

You will need:
Two Sweeet potatoes
A block of hallomi
A cup of flour
Salt & Black Pepper
Olive Oil
2 Eggs

To dress:
Yogurt
Mint (I use mint sauce)
Lemon










Stir the mint through the yogurt with a little lemon zest and juice, return to the fridge until serving.

Preheat the oven to 180 pop in a tray lined with grease proof paper.
Sift the flour in a mixing bowl.
Grate the sweet potatoes and halloumi into the bowl the finer the better.
Season, mix well to combine. Heat a little oil in a frying pan with a little seasoning.

Crack two eggs into a bowl and beat until foamy, add to the mixing bowl and give it a good stir
It should now have a batter like consistency
Spoon the batter into the oil carefully, in batches of 4/5, fry for 3 to 5 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to your preheated baking tray in the oven to keep warm between batches.

Once you have used all the batter, serve immediately with lashings of the cool minty dip and some veggies for dunking too. Great for parties bro!

Listen to Paint it Black

Spinach kicks for Jesus

Spinach & Potato Gratin

Great as a side dish to a roast, or as a veggie main with some pickled beets

Fry one diced onion and a diced garlic clove in a little olive oil, add a full bag of Spinach and wilt.

Preheat the oven to 220, slice some baby new potatoes very thinly, drizzle with oil and season, layer the bottom of a pie dish with the potato slices. Once the spinach has wilted down cover the pots with a layer of the spinach, then a good grating of cheese, press down flat, another layer of pots, another layer of spinach and cheese and then a final layer of pots.

Wrap the top tightly with foil and bake in the middle of the oven for 40 mins, remove from the oven take off the foil pierce the pots with a sharp knife they should be tender, if they are drizzle with about four table spoons of double cream, more cheese and black pepper and return to the oven at 200 for 20 mins until bubbling golden and delicious.

Serve immediately with a nice glass of red, I'm enjoying Malbec at the moment.

Listen to Frank Sinatra.
Stubbs
x

Mad Balls

There are some dishes that you just think I wish there was a good veggie version... I'm not sure I ever ate meat balls when I ate meat even, but years of watching sopranos meant I needed to have a go at creating a good veggie alternative.

So here is me "Demonstrating my style" of making no meat mad balls 

The best I have found is using a packet veggie sausage mix rolled into balls baked in the oven in a little oil. (I use asda own veggie Lincolnshire sausage mix)

Then pour over a ragu, I use chopped tomatoes, chopped garlic, a drizzle of balsamic, a drop more good olive oil, plenty of salt & black pepper and a pinch of brown sugar.

Give it a good stir to coat your balls and return to the oven for 20 mins. Carefully remove cover with a good healthy grating of cheddar and pop back in until bubbling and melted. 

Serve with freshly cooked spaghetti and garlic bread. 

Banana tart Tatin

Banana Tart Tatin

Giving a Tart Tatin the Bad Brains Overhaul

Tart Tatin looks so impressive and like you were in the kitchen for ages, but in reality it is super quick, super easy and super tasty!

Making your own pastry for one or two people is a complete farce, when you can buy ready to go block for a quid you can't buy the ingredients for that.

You will need:
Two ripe bananas
Ready to roll puff pastry block
a good size knob of butter or marg
Brown sugar
Honey or syrup
Custard to serve

Pre heat the oven to 200
Melt the butter in a frying pan, add sugar and honey to make a sticky syrup boil for a few mins.
pour the syrup into a baking tin. Top the syrup with thinly sliced banana rounds, leave a small gap around the edge to tuck the pastry in. sprinkle with a little more sugar before baking in the oven for 10 mins.

Roll out your pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin on a lightly floured surface. carefully remove your bananas from the oven, drape the pastry over tucking the edge into the gap around the bananas, this is the key stage as this soaks up the syrup and creates an incredible, sticky, naughty crust. trim the edges if necessary I leave them because I love the Crust ; )

Return to the oven for 20-25 mins until golden brown on the top.

Leave to stand in the tin for 5 -10 mins. place a plate over the top and invert carefully onto the plate.

Serve immediately with lashings of custard, I personally like hot pud cold custard cos I'm weird.

I have been listening pretty exclusively to Ryan Adams, the decemberists, Gregory porter, Tom petty & the heartbreakers and as friends rust.