Fast Family Food

We were out on Monday so time was tight when we got home to get something on the table. I made the sauce before I went out so it was then super quick to prepare.  The other advantage of this recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine is that it makes enough for two meals.  The really easy red pepper sauce  is well worth a try and the equally easy recipe to transform it into Gnocchi with red pepper sauce is a real crowd pleaser.  Here’s a photo.

Tuesday

My children love rice, so any meal where rice is a major component is likely to be a hit.  Smoked haddock kedgeree is pretty straightforward to make.

Ingredients

300g smoked haddock

1 onion

Enough boiled water to cover the fish

300g long grain or basmati rice

4 eggs

1 tbs curry powder

Method

1. Place the fish in a small dish.  Cover the fish with boiled water and leave to poach for 8 minutes.
2. Take the fish out of the poaching liquor.  Keep the liquor.  Allow the fish to cool a little and flake.  Check for and remove any bones.
3. Finely chop the onion.  Add a spalsh of vegetable or rapeseed oil to a pan and cook the onion until translucent.
4. Boil the eggs for about 5 and a half minutes.  Cool  in running water and once cool enough to handle peel the eggs and put to one side.
5. Add the curry powder.
6. Add the rice and stir to coat the rice.  Pour the liquor from the fish until the rice is covered and gently cook the rice.  Add more liquor is needed.  There should be little or no liquid in the rice once it is cooked.
7. Fold in the flaked fish and reheat for a couple of minutes.
8. Serve with the eggs quatered on top and a little fresh parsley.

Wednesday

Lamb Kofta with chickpeas and honey again from BBC Good Food Magazine, I have to say was a revelation.  I really wasn’t sure about the roasted chickpea element or that the children would like and eat it but they did.  The recipe says that you can get it on the table in 40 minutes which I would say is about right.  If time is tight you can do what I did and get the kofta ready and refrigerate until ready to cook.  This will slightly increase the cooking time.

Thursday

Chorizo pasta

This is a dish that I have cooked and tweeked over several years.  It really is delicious though in my opinion pretty much anything with chorizo in it is!

Ingredients

1 onion finely diced

1 tbs olive oil

?g cooking chorizo, chopped

30g porcini re-hydrated and chopped

2 400g cans chopped tomatoes

1 glass red wine

Leaves from 4 springs rosemary finely chopped

Pasta

Method

1. Pour the oil into a pan.  Fry the onion until translucent.
2. Fry the chorizo until the oils start to be released.
3. Add the tomatoes, wine, porcini and rosemary and simmer for half an hour.
4. Follow the pasta packets cooking instructions.
5. Mix the pasta and sauce and dive between 4 plates.

Friday

We love Asian food in our family and Singapore noodles is a firm favourite not only does it taste amazing, it’s quick to prepare and healthy.  The basic recipe that I use is here however I generally play fast and loose with the veg I use so it never turns out quite the same.  I really wouldn’t get too hung up on having the right veg put in whatever you like but try to make sure its a colourful combination!  You might also notice that I used chicken and the recipe calls for prawns! Here is a picture of what mine looked like!