Category Archives: Food

Sophie Mitchell Summer Recipes: Thursday

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THURSDAY
Pomegranate, Papaya, Raspberry and mint yoghurt bowl

Serves 4
Prep time 5 minutes
500ml 0% Fat Greek yoghurt
250g raspberries
1 papaya peeled, de-seeded and diced
Small handful of fresh mint leaves
1 tsbp of agave syrup
Squeeze of lime
200g pomegranate seeds
100g pistachios
1. Chop the mint leaves and mix with the raspberries, lime juice and the
agave syrup.
2. Take four bowls and divide the raspberries between each bowl, then add a layer of papaya, then
top with the Greek yoghurt and sprinkle over the pomegranate and pistachios.

Duck, lentil flat leaf parsley and apricot salad
Serves 4
Prep time 15 minutes
Cooking time 30 minutes
200g puy lentils
400ml vegetable or chicken stock
4 duck breasts scored
1 red onion
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
25ml white wine vinegar
57ml olive oil
1 small handful of flat leaf parsley
2 ripe apricots
1. Place the lentils and the stock in a saucepan, bring to the boil and then turn down and simmer for
30 minutes or until cooked. then drain and cool.
2. Heat a frying pan up to medium heat and the season the duck breasts on both sides. Lay the
breasts, skin side down in the pan and slowly cook. You don’t want to cook them too quickly; you
want to render the fat out. So cook them skin side down for about 10 minutes. Draining the fat off as
you go along. For the last 2 minutes turn up the heat to crisp the skin up. Then flip over and brown
the flesh side, cook for 5 to 8 minutes this side then take off the heat and rest.
3. When then the lentils are cool, mix in the mustard, vinegar, olive oil and parsley, season and stir
well. Then de core the apricots and slice.
4. To serve pile up the lentils on four plates then add the sliced duck and apricots.

Quinoa, broad bean, pea and radish salad with pan-fried lamb fillet
Serves 4
Prep time 20 minutes
Cooking time 30 minutes
200g Quinoa
400ml water
4 lamb fillets (approx 6oz per person)
3 cloves garlic
1 lemon
150g frozen peas, de frosted
4 spring onions
150g pink radishes
2 tsbp olive oil
Juice of one lemon
Small handful of mint
1. Pour the quinoa and the water into a saucepan and then bring to the boil and cook for about 30
minutes, or until cooked according to the packet instructions. The water should be evaporated, but if
not cook off the rest and then cool.
2. When the quinoa is cool, slice the spring onions and radishes, then add along with the peas, mint,
lemon and olive oil. Mix well and season.
3. Then heat up a frying pan and add some oil, season the lamb fillets and then add to the pan along
with the garlic cloves, squashed. Cook for about 10 minutes on all sides until golden brown, add a
squeeze of lemon then take out of the pan and rest for 20 minutes.
4. Slice the lamb and serve with the quinoa salad.

Sophie Mitchell Summer Diet Recipe: Wednesday

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Frost is doing a recipe everyday for Sophie Mitchell’s Tweet yourself thin summer diet. Happy cooking.

WEDNESDAY

Smoked salmon and avocado rye toasts
Prep time 5 minutes
Cooking time 5 minutes
Serves 4
4 slices of rye bread
2 avocadoes
4/8 slices of salmon
1 lemon
Black pepper
1. Toast the bread and then top with the slices of avocado and smoked
salmon.
2. Finish off with a squeeze of lemon and black pepper

Beetroot, goats cheese and mint Quesadillas
Serves 4
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
200g cooked chicken breast (optional for meat eaters)
4 spring onions
200g goat’s cheese
150g cooked beetroot
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
4 soft tortillas (I love the wholemeal ones or seeded kind)
250g salad leaves (rocket is great here)
Lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1. Shred the chicken and finely slice the spring onions and beetroot. Lay a tortilla flat on a board or
clean surface, and spread half of each tortilla with some of the goat’s cheese (divide between the
four)
2. Then sprinkle with mint and spring onions, and lay on the sliced beetroot, chicken and fold over.
3. Heat a frying pan up to a medium heat and lay a tortilla in the pan, with no oil. Cook slowly until
it’s golden and crisp, and then flip over. Repeat with all of the tortillas, and keep warm in the oven if
wanted.
4. To serve cut the Quesadilla in half, dress the rocket with the lemon and oil and then plate.

King prawn and Asparagus rice
Serves 4
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
400g cooked wild and basmati rice mix
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
300g cooked king prawns
1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed
25g butter
1 lemon
Sea salt and pepper
1. Cook the rice according to the instruction on the packet. As a rule I cook rice with one and half
times the liquid, covered until the water has evaporated, but wild rice can take longer (so therefore
needs more water) and can vary more.
2. When the rice is cooked, cool it. Bring a pan of water up to the boil and then blanch the asparagus
for 3 minutes, and refresh under cold water.
4. Dice the onion and mince the garlic, fry both off in the olive oil, you can get colour at this stage,
but do not burn. This should take about 8 minutes. Then add the prawns and the asparagus and cook
for 4 more minutes.
4. Add the butter, melt, then add the rice, cook until

Sophie Michell & Ocado- Tweet Yourself Thin-recipes for summer: Tuesday

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TUESDAY

Coconut, Mango and banana smoothies

Makes 4
Prep time 5 minutes
300ml of natural coconut juice (like Vita coconut)
1 ripe mango
3 ripe bananas
1 lime
1. Peel and roughly chop the mango and bananas.
2. Place the fruit and the coconut juice into a blender and blitz until smooth,
then add the lime to taste and serve!
Sweet chilli and soy chicken wrap
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 1o minutes
3 chicken breasts (approx 180g each)
1 tsp soy sauce
2 step sweet chilli sauce
½ cucumbers
2 spring onions
2 carrots
Handful of rocket
4 flour tortillas
1. Cut the chicken breasts into strips and then mix with the soy sauce and a table spoon of the chilli
sauce. Leave while you prep the veggies.
2. Cut the cucumber into strips, and then do the same with the spring onions and the carrots.
3. Heat up a frying pan and then pan fry the chicken strips for about 10 minutes, turning
occasionally. Make sure the chicken is cooked throughout.
4. Then build the wraps, by piling up some veggies, chicken strips and rocket, in a tortilla with an
extra drizzle of chilli sauce if wanted.

Pecorino, Pear and watercress salad with char grilled turkey breasts
Serves 4
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes
4 turkey breast steaks (approx 180g per steak)
4 ripe pears
2 celery sticks
150g pecorino cheese
150g watercress leaves
50ml olive oil
Squeeze of lemon
Sea salt and pepper
2 tsp thick balsamic

1. Heat a griddle pan up very hot and then oil and season the turkey steaks. Then lay each steak
down on the griddle and cook for about 5 minutes each side.
2. Finely slice the pears and the celery (on an extreme diagonal looks great) then using a peeler add
shavings of the cheese and add the watercress. Mix with the lemon and the olive oil, and then
season.
3. Pile up the turkey breast and salad on the plates then drizzle with a little balsamic

Sophie Michell and Ocado: Tweet Yourself Thin – Summer Recipes

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Sophie Michell will be doing recipes every day for Frost. Perfect if you have to fit into a bikini or some swimming shorts soon. Yum!

MONDAY

Bircher Muesli with Almonds and Agave Syrup
Serves 4

Prep time 10 minutes, plus overnight soaking

Ingredients

200g rolled oats
400ml apple juice
100g natural yoghurt
1 green apple
1 tbsp Agave syrup
Handful of almonds (that have been soaked overnight in water, as well then washed clean)
Handful of raspberries
1. Mix the oats and the apple juice together, then cover in clingfilm and leave overnight.

2. When you are ready to eat it, coarsely grate the apple and mix in along with the yoghurt. Add more apple juice at this point if you want the mix looser.

3. Then spoon into individual serving bowls and top with the raspberries, almonds and a little drizzle of agave syrup.

I soaked the almonds overnight to neutralise the enzyme inhibitors. This makes the nuts easier to digest and the nutrients easier to absorb.

Char-grilled Halloumi, Aubergine and Courgettes with Tomato Vinaigrette

Serves 4

Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients

250g halloumi
2 courgettes
2 medium aubergines
2 tbsp olive oil
Dressing;
2 ripe plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
75ml extra virgin olive oil
25ml white balsamic
1 pinch of caster sugar
1 tsbp of chopped fresh mint

1. Slice the halloumi, aubergine and courgettes into ½ cm slices. Then switch the oven on at 180C. Heat up a large frying pan and add some of the oil (approx a tbsp full) and then season the aubergine and courgettes. When the oil is very hot, fry the aubergine and courgettes off, until golden brown in batches, make sure the aubergine in particular are cooked well. Then take out of the oil and place on a baking tray in the oven while you cook the rest.

2. While the veggies are cooking, make the dressing. To do this, add the garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar, mint, sugar and seasoning to a blender and blitz until quite smooth, but with a little texture.

3. Then heat up a griddle pan and oil the halloumi on both sides. When the pan is smoking hot, lay the halloumi slices on the griddle and cook for 3 minutes each side. Then plate the courgettes,
aubergine and halloumi on to 4 plates and drizzle with the dressing.

Parmesan, Paprika and Cornmeal Chicken escalopes with French Bean, Avocado and Cherry Tomato Salad
Serves 4

Prep time 30 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts (approx 180g per breast)
250g fine cornmeal or semolina
50g finely grated parmesan
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp dried oregano
2 eggs
20ml milk
100g flour
Salad;
300g trimmed French beans
250g cherry tomatoes
4 spring onions
1 hass avocado
1 clove of garlic, minced
Small handful of de-stalked fresh coriander
1 juicy lime
1 tsbp olive oil
Sea salt and pepper

1. Take the chicken breasts and cut in half width ways. Then take two large bowls. Mix the egg and milk in one bowl and the cornmeal, parmesan, paprika, celery salt and oregano in the second one.

2. Dredge the chicken through the egg wash, dropping off any excess and then through the cornmeal, patting the extra on to the chicken. Than place them on a plate and repeat with all the
pieces of chicken. Preheat the oven to 180C.

3. Place a saucepan of water on to boil, when boiling rapidly add the French beans and cook for 4 minutes, then drain off and refresh under cold water. Pat dry, then adds to a large bowl. Halve the
cherry tomatoes and add to the same bowl, along with sliced spring onions, and the peeled and diced avocado. Then add the minced garlic, whole coriander leaves, squeeze in the lime and season.
Trim the little gem lettuce and break into its natural leaves and arrange on a platter, arrange the French bean salad in the middle.

4. Heat up about 2 tsbp of olive oil in a large frying pan and then fry the chicken breasts off in batches, for about 4 minutes each side or until crisp and golden. When done, pop in the oven for 5
minutes, and then serve.

I often serve this with sweet potato wedges and chilli cornbread for a more substantial meal.

‘Tweet Yourself Thin’ with @sophiemichell for @ocadoUK

More Brie Vicar?

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Sales of French Products soar over British counterparts

Brits are stocking their cupboards high with French produce, tapping into the long-standing view that the French are always one step ahead when it comes to style, according to new sales data from online supermarket Ocado.

Sales of French Saucisson (sausage) have risen by 169 per cent more than its British counterpart Gammon over the past two years.

French Aioli (garlic mayonnaise) has become increasingly popular with sales up 400 per cent, versus a more conservative growth of Hellmann’s Light Mayo, at just 35 per cent.

With over 20 per cent of Brits describing the French as “stylish”, our Gallic neighbours may well be top of the list when it comes to dinner party invitations, but we also want their expertise to hand when it comes to the food being served up from UK kitchens.

Everyday French items such as Brie are also fast becoming UK household essentials. According to a survey by Ocado, just 6 per cent of Brits name the British classic Red Leicester as their favourite cheese, with twice that amount (11 per cent) preferring Brie.

To mark this burgeoning culinary trend, and announce Ocado’s new partnership with French hypermarket Carrefour, a 6ft sculpture of the Eiffel Tower, made from cheese, has taken up temporary residence amongst London landmarks Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

Created by renowned sculptor Prudence Staite, the artwork, which took 504 hours to sculpt, is made from a fusion of UK and French cheeses – English Cheddar and Reflets de France Tomme de Savoie, a creamy yet mild cheese.

The sculpture celebrates the fact that UK customers can now fill their baskets with a mouth-watering array of French charcuterie, cheeses, patés, biscuits, jams and confectionery, courtesy of Ocado.

Jason Gissing, co-founder of Ocado said: “We are delighted to announce the launch of the Reflets de France range. With over 350,000 French nationals living in London alone, the sculpture celebrates a major advance in Ocado’s stated long-term strategy of offering the most varied and refined home delivery grocery range available to the UK’s uniquely diverse population and puts us at the forefront of UK food trends. Let’s hope that the introduction of more French goods will keep our customers ahead in the culinary style stakes, whether it’s for dinner parties with friends or rustic home-cooked meals for the family.”

Christmas In July, Why Not? Festive Wine Guide

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Frost magazine took some time out from summer to celebrate Christmas, okay, to do some wine tasting in a winter wonderland. Accolade wine are revamping their wines, and even bringing out a new low alcohol range. Perfect for light weights like me.

I was privileged to try the new Banrock Light range. The Banrock Station Light Rose is only 5.5 per cent alcohol but tastes just as great. I love Rose and this just tastes good. It is only 60 calories per 125ml, so it helps with a calorie heavy Christmas (or any other time) It is reasonably priced at £5.45. It has a touch of sweetness and hints of red berry, jam, strawberry, raspberry and cherry. Yum.

Other in the Banrock Light range are Banrock Station Light Chardonnay-Sauvignon Blanc (a fresh wine with pear and apricot aromas), Banrock Station Pink Moscato (Melon and floral, very sweet, a great aperitif), Banrock Station Moscato (passion fruit, pineapple and tropical fruit. Good with cheese) All the Banrock Light range are £5.45. A bargain.

Banrock station have donated £2.5 million to 97 environmental projects in 13 countries, and £30k to Natural England to help preserve 2100 acres of British wildflowers, an important habitat for bees and butterflies.

Another favourite of mine is something a bit different: Stone’s Ginger Wine Special Reserve. It is a blend of the finest quality raisins and pure ground ginger, it produces a delicious, mellow warming flavour. It is perfect for Christmas, going well with mince pies and Christmas puddings. I, however, will be drinking it all year round. So yummy.

Hardy’s is the UK’s most popular brand of wine, and sponsor of Come Dine With Me. The Nottage Hill range has new packaging that will hit the shelves from September 2011. I love Hardy’s Crest Chardonnay Pinot Noir. It is a lively berry fruit tones and a crispy tangy finish. It is a very good wine for making bucks fizz.

The Inept Girl's Guide To Cooking: Stuffed Peppers

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I thought stuffed peppers would be hard, thankfully, I was wrong.

Take 4 peppers, any colour you want, chop the top off and scoop out the insides and clean. Place in a baking try, take some olive oil and drizzle lightly over the peppers. Cook for 20 minutes or until roasted.

While the peppers are cooking take some couscous and put it in a bowl. Add boiling water (the pack will tell you how much, generally 115ml or water per 75ml of couscous) leave for two minutes and it will be cooked! I know, I love couscous, it is so easy and quick.

Now, this is where the fun starts; you can stuff the peppers with whatever you want, I added Tomato, mushroom, onion and mozzarella. Quite simple but it tastes amazing.

 

While the couscous is cooking peel and chop up some mushrooms, onions and tomatoes. Put in a frying pan with a little oil and start to cook. Add the couscous when it is done. Keep checking on the peppers.

Add the mozzarella to the pan, take the peppers out of the oven and stuff the mixture into them. Put the tops on and then put back not the oven for a further 20 minutes. Cooking times may vary so feel free to adjust.

Take the peppers out of the oven and they are ready to serve. They taste great with the melted mozzarella, I also added some honey roast parsnips, which will be coming up soon in my column. I also added cooked apples on top as an experiment and it went down quite well.

The best things about stuffed peppers is the variety, you can have rice instead of couscous and any vegetable or even meat, so have fun.

Enjoy!

Frost Wine Reviews: Chardonnay Semillon

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Hardys Stamp of Australia Chardonnay Semillon: This is a zesty, citrus, fruity wine with a crisp, dry finish. A delicious Chardonnay with buttery, subtle oaky goodness. Ripe apples and peaches. I can also taste lime.

Food matches: Asian dishes, corn dishes, lobster in butter.

Available from Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrisons Asda RRP £6.79

This wine is ideal for drinking now but can be kept for up to 1 year

Semillon

Semillon has a rich, waxy nearly fat texture but a low acidity, it’s often blended with Sauvignon Blanc. Semillon is a vigorous vine but it is a thin-skinned grape which leaves it susceptible to sunburn. It doesn’t really get diseases, but gets rot, the bad kind (Gray Rot) that destroys the grapes and the good kind (Noble Rot or botrytis) that shrivels the grapes to raisins.