The cheese stands alone

After purchasing a whole plank of feta cheese for my girlie get-together the other day and finding out that neither of them, nor my usually 'anything' eating husband could stand it…I have been in rather a pickle…or rather cheese and pickle. Am I alone here? Does the rest of he world hate feta and just me, and possibly Micky Mouse love the smooth, creamy taste of one of the best cheeses in the world? No, I decided, they were mad, and I was right. None-the-less, I did have rather a lot of cheese left over, and only a handful of days before my delicious dairy turned into blue stilton. 

My mind cast back to my friend, Asya and her dad's absolutely heaven-dish spinach and cheese pie. Now, despite the fact she tells me how to make this every time I see her, my sieve-like-brain has once again forgotten, and so I decided to wing my way through it, and of course add my own little twist to it. 

Here are my Spinach and Feta bakies.

Makes 3 mini pies

Ingredients

1. 1 egg

2. 25g feta cheese

3. 1 tsp green pesto

4. Handful of fresh spinach

5. 3 tbsp olive oil

5. 3 spring roll pastry sheets

Steps

1. Whisk the eggs and pesto together

2. Stem the spinach, then add to the mixture

3. Crumble the feta into the mixture, and beat well

4. Now fold each one of the pastry sheets twice (so that it is a quarter it's size) and push into an oiled deep cupcake baking tray

4. Add a tbsp of olive oil to the tops of each pie and brush the edges of the pastry

5. Now bake for 25min at 150 degrees

6. Finally finish with a final crumble of feta, and enjoy!

Best news is that as I know my hubbie doesn't like feta, these babies will not need to be divided. Win win situation.

Crunchy nut

Well, it's been a great couple of days and I have started the bank holiday as I mean to go on- friends, food and well…more food!

After a heavy duty night of chitter chatter around a big table of tapas style munching, me and the girls fancied a treat that would be fun, but a little lighter on the tum. I suddenly remembered a simple cookie recipe and of course, after a rummage in the old cupboards, knew we could glamour these babies up.

Introducing my honey, coconut and pistachio giant cookie monsters.

Ingredients

1. 300g plain flour

2. 250g margarine (room temperature)

3. 140g caster sugar

4. 1 egg yolk

5. Bowl of crushed pistachios

6. Handful of desiccated coconut

7. Roughly 3 tbsp honey

Steps

1. Mix the margarine and sugar until dissolved (by hand)

2. Add the egg yolk

3. Pipe the mixture into circles onto a sheet of greaseproof paper

4. Now place in the oven for 20 mins gas 150 degrees, middle shelf.

5. Once these are golden, remove from the oven and spoon a half tsp honey per cookie, and add a sprinkling of pistachios and desiccated coconut.

6. If you can bare the wait, allow to cool for 10mins and devour.

Mo-rocking chicken

One thing you absolutely mustn't do during Ramadan is watch cookery programmes- firstly, they can make you pretty hungry, but the second and more fatal, is, no matter what you are watching being cooked, you want. Strike that…the first thing you see being cooked, you want. Case and point, this morning, and my hubbie and I watching Rick Stein in Morocco- now, all of a sudden, this is what we 'HAVE TO EAT TONIGHT'. OK, so as we have no ingredients at home, we trek to Tesco and even though we somehow leave the all important cous cous at the counter, my husband is at present going to purchase some more… I tell you, it becomes an obsession.

However, despite all of this shlepping, I'm a pretty big fan of Moroccan cuisine- the colours, the spices- serious treats for the eyes and tum. Tagines, on the other hand were a bit of bother to me- the idea of dates in tagines or overcooked vegetables really left me feeling a little underwhelmed, but after visiting Marrakech last year, I learned that tagines are so versatile. You can literally put anything in it, and they become little pots of personality. So, as I don't like dates in tagines- in my pot of gold, I've taken them out, and overcooked vegetables? I just add them later. No set ingredients- often what I have in the garden or left over in the fridge.

Give this a go- Mo-rocking chicken with a side of spinach and lemon and squashed coriander and tomato salad.

Ingredients

To serve 3-4 people

Chicken tagine

1. 1 baby chicken

2. 1 onion (finely chopped)

3. 1/21 inch ginger (finely chopped)

4. 1 garlic clove (finely chopped)

5. 1 tsp cumin seeds

6. 1 tsp fennel seeds

7. 1 tsp all purpose seasoning powder

8. 1 tsp coriander powder

9. 1 tsp cayenne pepper

10. 1 tbsp tomato puree

11. 1 tbsp honey

12. 1 carrot (cut into big pieces)

13. 1 courgette (cut into big pieces)

14. Handful of green beans

Steps

1. Heat a heavy base pan with 3 tbsp vegetable oil.

2. Add the onions and cumin and fennel seeds. 

3. Once these are brown, add the chicken pieces, and the garlic, ginger and powders 7-9. Stir and add tomato puree and honey.

4. Add 2 cups water and leave to boil for 20mins.

5. Now add the cut vegetables, and leave to cook for a further 10/15mins. (If you like them more cooked, you can add these earlier).

6. With the final minutes to go, add the handful of green beans. If you do like dates, add these in now. If you like olives- add in now!

Spinach and lemon

1. 1 bunch fresh spinach (finely chopped)

2. 1 garlic clove (finely chopped)

3. 1/2 onion (finely chopped)

4. 1/4 lemon diced (with skin on)

Steps

1. Add ingredients 1-3 to a pan.

2. As the spinach is fresh, it will cook really fast, so keep turning it and smashing up the onions and garlic.

3. This should take only a matter of about 5mins, so with the final few stirs, add the lemon pieces and work into the spinach.

Squashed coriander and tomato salad

1. 4 ripe tomatoes (finely sliced)

2. Handful of coriander (finely chopped)

3. 1/2 lemon (finely chopped)

4. 2 tbsp olive oil

Steps

1. As all ingredients are finely diced/ sliced. Put the contents into a large bowl, and squeeze! Best part of the whole process- I like to imagine I'm doing my own neck massage- work those knots!

2. Finish with some salt and olive olive- ooooh. emmm. geee. Delish!

Compare the Market

Yesterday was a triumphant day for Jamaica, as Usain 'Bolted' in the 100m men's run last night- but Catford itself had it's own victory yesterday as it's Fortnightly market hit for a second time and actually had a spot of glorious sun to seal it's approval.

This time, I had been asked back as a photographer! Blush blush, yes, check my snip snaps and more on the Official site: Lewisham Fortnightly site