Norfolk Mussels with Oven-roasted Diced Potatoes

Norfolk mussels are in season at the moment and are usually plentiful, available at most local fish mongers but not usually at the supermarkets, as they tend to stock up Scottish ones all-year-round. Absolutely nothing wrong with that but if something is in season and is local then I would much prefer supporting local produce and suppliers.

Seeing how fresh they are I felt I must get some for dinner. At £3.50 a kilo it really is fantastic. Some people are unsure of shellfish, because they are difficult to eat or fear that they will get food poisoning. OK it may not be your choice of main course if you were on a first date, but food poisoning is quite rare, unless they are contaminated. There are recipes that involve way too much flavour than needed, but I prefer to keep it simple to preserve its sweet taste.

Serves 2

1 kilo Norfolk mussels, rinsed and scrubbed
3 garlic cloves, crushed
A thumb of ginger, finely chopped
1 red chili, halved and deseeded
Dash of oil
100ml Japanese cooking wine

For the oven-roasted diced potatoes:

4 medium size potatoes, peeled and diced
Sprinkle of sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried rosemary
Dash of oil

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree (fan oven).

2. Season the diced potatoes with salt, pepper and rosemary in a baking tray, and rub them with oil. They should take about 30 minutes in the oven or until they are golden.

3. Meanwhile, in a stockpot, heat a dash of oil, cook the ginger, garlic and red chili until their aroma is released but not burnt.

4.  Throw in the mussels, pour in the wine, put the lid on and bring it to simmer for 15 minutes or until mussels are open.

5. Serve with seasonal vegetables (keep it plain and simple) and perhaps a lice of farmhouse bread to mop up the juices!

Chinese Kitchen - Ma Po Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

This is one of my favorite Szechuan dish. Like most Chinese food, this dish is simple and quick to cook, fantastic to serve with steamed rice and steamed seasonal vegetables.

Serves 4

500g free range minced pork 

250g firm tofu, equally diced into cubes

1 tbsp fragmented black beans 

4 tbsp chili bean paste (I prefer using Lee Kum Kee)

A thumb of fresh ginger, finely chopped

2 glove of garlic, crushed

3 stalks of spring onions, sliced

2 tsp cornflour 

Cold water

1 tbsp dark soy sauce (for colouring)

Pinch of ground white pepper

1 tbsp oyster sauce 

Light soy sauce, to season

Basmati rice, steamed (enough to serves 4 people, depending on appetite)

1. Prepare and steam the rice using a rice steamer/ pot on the hob.

2. In a deep frying pan, heat some oil and one it is hot enough, cook the garlic, fragmented black beans and ginger enough to infuse the oil but not burnt. Now brown the pork.

3. Stir in the chili bean paste and cook the meat mixture with medium heat for 10 minutes.

4. In a bowl, mix the dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, enough cold water and cornflour together to form a paste-like sauce. 

5. Pour the sauce into the meat,  add the tofu and cook together for another 10 -15 minutes.

6. Sprinkle the spring onions on top couple of minutes before serving.

7. Serve with steamed rice and vegetables of your choice.

Classic Shepherd's Pie

Some dishes taste better when it is traditional and proper, and Shepherd's Pie is definitely one of those. Like Cottage Pie, this quintessential English dish was introduced by the poor, using cheap cuts of meat, vegetables and a layer of mashed potato on top.

As it is called Shepherd's Pie, lamb is usually used in this pie and beef is usually used in Cottage Pie.

Serves 4

500g organic minced lamb

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tsp thyme 

2 garlic clove, crushed

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 stalk of celery, finely chopped

5 large Desiree or Maris Piper, peeled, chopped, boiled and mashed 

Butter (for mashing)

1/2 tube of tomato puree

1 tbsp Garam Masala 

Dash of Worcester Sauce 

300ml good quality lamb stock

Salt & pepper, to taste

Serve with: season vegetables

1. Heat some oil in the frying pan. Brown the onion, add in the garlic and thyme and cook until the aroma of the herbs is released but not burnt.

2. Add in the lamb and brown the meat.

3. Add in the rest of the vegetables and cook until they are soften.

4. Meanwhile, boil the peeled potatoes in salted water until they are soft enough to mash. Note: Don't forget to add in the butter and keep on tasting when mashing potatoes!

5. Back to the meat mixture. Time for a dash or two of Worcester sauce, tomato puree and Garam Masala. Note: Feel free to add more Garam Masala or tomato puree depending on personal taste.

6. Preheat the oven to 180 degree (fan oven).

7.   Pour in the stock, bring it to boil and let it simmer for 20 minutes or until majority of the liquid has evaporated. Add salt & pepper to taste.

8. Dish up the meat mixture in to an ovenproof pie dish that is deep enough but not too wide (or you will end up with a very thin pie). Top it up with the mashed potatoes. 

9. Put the pie in the oven and cook until the top is golden. It usually takes around 30 minutes.

10. Serves it with seasonal steamed vegetables and enjoy!

The beginning of a shopping frenzy!

I named this post 'the beginning' because I know I will be looking out for more wonderful items in the coming weeks. We all have treats now and then and my favorite kind of treat is go on a bargain hunt, looking out for that red/ yellow label and pay only fraction of the RRP. Of course there are times where we got to pay the full RRP, but it is exceptionally satisfying when one feels one has outsmarted retailers (well, kind of) by paying as little as 5 - 10% of the RRP.

Wolford produce a variety of garments than just seamless tights. This gorgeous bikini there is to motivate me to get on this 4:3 fasting diet. Well, I do fit in it now but nowhere looking fit and lean. It is never too cold to think about the summer months, the warm wind, sandy beach and amazing sunset!

For those who likes to stump about the countryside must have at least a pair of Hunter wellingtons in the utility room. My navy blue Hunter wellingtons have served me well but unfortunately they no longer fit for purpose - they got holes in them!! Not ideal when going on muddy, wet country walk. This time I have gone for the classic green in the end.

These K2 wintersport socks are in preparation for my snowboarding trip in March. I have heard mix comments regarding specific snowboard/ ski socks. Well I am sure normal socks will do just fine but won't hurt to get these just in case...

Debt and Lifestyle - Cut cloth according to means

Most things have a good and a bad side, it all depends on the individual circumstances. For instance, an apple is healthy but for someone who have bad front teeth, it can damaging. Debt is not all bad, it can be a good debt if it is spent on something that can transform life completely for the long term, such as mortgage and student loan; bad debt is usually taken out to spend on objects to fulfil an acquisitive desire, where the individual does not have the financial ability to meet the repayments.

 

An annual holiday abroad, latest gadgets, designer fashions etc are 'luxury', items that are 'nice to have' but not a 'must have'. According to the BBC, 9 million Britons are in 'serious debt problems'. Perhaps in some cases it is not of their own doing but plain unfortunate, but it is a well-known fact that the developed Western societies do not have a habit of saving and for decades,  the West have been building their economy primarily on consumerism.

 

This could be a wake up call to the masses that we should learn how to live within means and understand saving is a virtue. Of course we all deserve a nice treat now and then but again, the bottom line is no matter what you choose to spend that hard-earned money on, cut cloth according to means. It may not be the latest iPhone but be proud of having the ability to own something outright instead of having the latest but constantly being in the red and worry about the next repayment date.

Chinese Roasted Pork Belly (燒肉)

Mmmmm.... a piece of well seasoned and crispy roasted pork belly is a fantastic treat. Ok, it is not the leanest cut of meat (hence it is a treat!), but meat with layered of fat is often more succulent and flavoursome.

This recipe is very simple and when it is crackling away in the oven, your kitchen will soon be filled with the delicious smell of the marinate.

Serves 2

500g pork belly
1 tbsp Chinese 5 Spice
1 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp salt
1 tsp Shaoxing wine
pinch of ground white pepper

1. In a bowl, mixed in all the spices and wine.

2. Pat dried the pork belly with kitchen towel (especially the skin if you fancy some crispy crackling)  and rub the marinade all over.

3. Leave the meat to absorb the marinade overnight.

4. Next day, heat the oven up to 220 degree. Ensure any excess moisture is dried up before putting the meat into the oven.

5. After been in the oven for 20 minuets at 220 degree, reduce the temperature to 200 degree and carry on cooking for a further 40 minutes.

And voilà! Best to serve it with some chilli dipping sauce or Hoi Sin sauce.

One Pot Sausage Casserole

Sausage casserole is one of my favourite winter dish. Simple and economical to make, perfect to share with friends and family, as well as some leftover to take to work the next day! A sandwich van visit my work each morning and I must say they do amazingly nice sandwiches, pastries, cake etc but in this temperature, nothing beat a hearty hot meal at lunch time!

Instead of using Blythburgh's free range sausages, debbie & andrew's Perfect Pork sausages was used in this recipe. I was rather surprised to find how pricey processed meat costs at supermarkets, even their own brand 'finest' sausages were over £3 per pack! Of course it is all about the meat content but that is more expensive than free range ones from the butcher! Since debbie & andrew's was on special I thought why not give these a go? 

As mentioned, % of meat is very important in sausages. Anything less than 80% meat  content really is not worth purchasing as you can imagine they are bulked up with all sorts of substances other than meat. These Perfect Pork sausages contain 40% pork shoulder and 40% pork belly - interesting. Never through of stuffing pork belly into a sausage casing, what a great idea as the fat should make it more juicy! Let's get cracking with this casserole. 

 

Serves 2

6 pork sausages

1 onion, roughly sliced
2 dried whole chillies 

2 stalks of celery, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

3 garlic gloves, crushed

1 tin of chopped tomatoes 

100g pearl barley 

350ml chicken or vegetable stock

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 bay leaves 

Salt & pepper, to season  

1.  Heat some oil in a cast iron casserole dish, brown the sausages. Remove to cool on a plate.

2. In the same casserole dish, stir in the crushed garlic,  dried chillies, onion, celery and carrot. Cook for 10 minutes or until soft. 

3. Pour in the chopped tomatoes, stock, pearl barley & bay leaves. Bring to boil. Mix in the tomato puree and sausages, leave to simmer for an hour or until the barley is soft. Keep an eye on the liquid level, add more boiling water if needed.

4. Season to taste.

I did not serve it with anything else but casserole on its own as it has the protein, fiber and carbohydrate altogether!

Enjoy.