• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
•         1 corguette
• 1 stick celery
• 2 cloves garlic
• sweetcorn 100    gram/4oz.
• 2 tbspn mild korma spice mix
• 2 tbspn ground almonds
• 1 tspn thyme (fresh or dried)
• chives or any soft herbs
•   Water 150ml / 1/4 pint approx
•   coconut milk 500 ml
•         1 tspn Organic honey
•   4 chicken breasts medium

This is a homemade chicken korma style dish. It’s not an authentic Chicken Korma curry.

I wanted it to be an introduction to flavour for my kids. As it happens it was a complete 100% success. Both kids ate all with some rice, result!

I always find milder dishes like Chicken Korma are a great starting point when trying to expand my kids palette

If you feel it’s not complex enough by all means add more spices and flavours. The next time I make this I will be adding fresh ginger and maybe some fenugreek (Maithray) into the mix

 METHOD:

1. Dice your vegetables (carrot, onion, celery, corguette) to around 1cm square and mince or grate your garlic.

There is also nothing wrong with grating or blending in a blender if you prefer.

2. Dice your chicken to bite size pieces and set aside with your vegetables.

3. Grab a large pan like a wok and on a high heat with some oil begin to cook your vegetables and garlic. Turn down your heat to medium and cook for 3-5 minutes stirring occasionally until your veggies soften.

4. Next add your chicken and turn over with your spoon until thoroughly mixed through your pan.

5. Now, take your korma spice mix, ground almonds, thyme and add to the pan stirring rapidly. Immediately after add the cold water and stir in making a liquor.

6. Nearly done now! All that is left remaining with regards cooking is just to add your 500ml coconut milk. Once added, bring to the boil. Once you reach boiling point turn down the heat and gently simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

7. Finally garnish with a teaspoon of honey, herbs and sweetcorn. You can if you wish season with salt and pepper.

NOTE: If, after tasting you feel the sauce is a little heavy try a little lemon juice. This will add lightness and ‘cut through’ the sauce.

I have had the pleasure of dining here on a number of occasions and each time the food and atmosphere keeps getting better. This is not meant to be disrespectful to the many ‘Indian’ restaurants in the area but the Ceylon Spice makes them all look average.

The big big difference for me is that they (the owners) know how food should taste and have their own ideas. They haven’t just cloned a menu because they think that is what you do!

Food is perfectly spiced, proportioned and you don’t get lost on the menu. My personal favourite has to be black pork with coconut rice. The restaurant has a lovely finish and the staff actually look like they want to be there.

On a rare Saturday night off I visited and was charmed by the owners parents who where extremely happy that my 3 year old was enjoying authentic Sri Lankan cuisine. You just cant buy that!!!

Check out my review of The Ceylon Spice Company Ltd - I am iwannacook - on Qype

We source from quality local suppliers ( our background is in food technology) and deliver your goods to home or work within a 1 hour slot, so that you don’t have to queue up, carry bags, or even wait in all day for your delivery.

We’re passionate about what we do, you don’t get any goods that we wouldn’t buy ourselves, and your goods are guaranteed we are so confident about this.

Vegetables, milk and eggs are from local farms, and we sell both organic and non organic produce. Bread is delivered daily (often warm when we get it) as is fish and meat. In fact, we only order when you order from us, your loaf is ordered specially for you – we don’t hold stock.

You can place your order online at www.goodfoodstore.co.uk or call us on 0151 259 4425, when we can also have a chat with you and you can tell us what’s important to you, we love feedback, it helps us to make the service to you better!If you love quality, fresh and seasonal local food, supporting local suppliers and helping the world go round in a greener way, you will love Good Food Store .

• 2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 1tbspn tomato puree
• 1 onion roughly chopped
• 2 celery sticks peeled (150 gr approx)
• 2 large carrots peeled and diced (250 grams approx)
• 150 grams smoked bacon/pancetta diced
• 1 tblspn chopped rosemary/thyme
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 1pint Hot Vegetable or Chicken stock
• 2tblsn chopped coriander
• 6tbspn Red Wine Vinegar
• 6tspn Caster sugar
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Tomato Soup is firm favourite in our house. I always use tinned Italian tomatoes for this recipe. You can’t beat Italian tomatoes, even the tinned ones give a better flavour than the the fresh tomatoes generally on sale in the UK. Sorry, Supermarkets!

I sweeten my soup the Heinz way by using a vinegar syrup. Take 6 tbspn Red Wine Vinegar and 6 tbspn sugar. In a pan, warm your vinegar then add your sugar. Bring to the boil and reduce by half. Thats it!

Method:

1. In a sturdy saucepan or stock pan fry your onion, celery, carrots, garlic, bacon and rosemary. Cook until celery and onion begin to soften. This stage helps the overall flavour of the soup become a little more rounded.

2. Pour your hot stock over the vegetables. bring to the boil.

3. Add your tomatoes and tomato puree. I do it in this order to stop the puree sticking to the pan.

4. Stir and cook out on a simmer until the carrots a soft. Stirring occasionally. This is quite important as you need your carrots past the ‘al dente’ stage to enable a smoother blend when blitzing the soup later.

5. Now that your carrots are soft and soup is ready to be blended. Add your vinegar syrup, chopped coriander and seasoning to your own personal taste.

6. Take of the heat and blitz with a hand blender or in food processor.

If your soup is a little thick you can more hot stock or boiling water, Enjoy!

• Puff Pastry ready rolled
• 400 gr Sweet potato
• 500 gr pork mince (lean)
• 1 whole egg
• 1 egg yolk for glazing
• 1 large onion diced
• 50 gr panko breadcrumbs
• 50 gr pancetta or smoked bacon
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1tbspn chopped rosemary
• 1tbspn chopped coriander
• 1tbspn chopped parsley
• 50 gr fresh grated parmesan/grana padano
• 1 tspn smoked paprika
• Salt and Pepper to taste

This is my version on the classic sausage roll. My recipe has no added msg, sugar, lard or any of the other less ’savoury’ items used by your commercial bakers. It uses a number of flavour alternatives including roasted sweet potato for sweetness with fresh herbs and parmesan cheese used to replace the salty aspect. The onion and pancetta are fried and cooked until brown. This helps give a natural depth and base for flavour.

I have to say though, its not a quick recipe. It’s something I would ordinarily make on my day off. With that in mind the recipe is in batch cook quantity. Shop bought puff pastry gives a more than adequate result.

I really enjoyed making this recipe and I hope you do to!!!

The recipe video uses around 1/3 of the filling mix and 200 grams of puff pastry.

Method:

1. Peel and dice the sweet potato toss in a liitle oil and roast at 180c until soft and tender. This usually takes around 15 minutes

While the sweet potatoes are roasting dice your onion and pancetta finely, mince your garlic and set aside.

2. Finely chop rosemary and add to the onion pancetta and garlic.

3. In a hot frying pan; fry off the onion, pancetta, garlic and rosemary until browned. Set aside and allow to cool.

4. Finely chop the rest of your herbs and grate the parmesan cheese, measure your smoked paprika and place on a plate.

5. Take all your ingredients for the filling including 1 whole egg, the pork mince and squash and add together in a large mixing bowl or mixer. Mix until all ingredients are evenly mixed.

Now all your mix is combined it is a good opportunity to test the flavour. Fry off a small patty of mixture in a frying pan. Ensuring the pork is cooked taste the mix for seasoning. If you feel it needs salt, pepper, cheese etc. now is the time to add it.

6. Take your puff pastry roll and roll out your desired length (I used a 25cm x 25cm piece). With a knife cut off the block leaving the plastic wrap underneath. Make a further cut through the centre of the pastry leaving two rectangular sheets of pastry. Leaving a lip of about 1.5 cm start to fill your pastry length ways with your filling mixture.

You should leave enough space on the pastry to be able to pull the pastry over the filling and form a 2cm lip.

Gently pull your pastry over your mix to form a long tube like roll of pastry. To seal the sausage roll brush with a little egg yolk*(optional) and press gently along the lip of the roll, seal with a fork by pressing in to the pastry making an indent. Brush a little of the egg yolk over the sausage roll, portion to your desired size.

Place on a grease proofed oven tray and bake at 220˚c or gas mark 7 for about 18 minutes or until golden brown

* The video recipe shows me using pre-made puff pastry. Traditionally you would flour the work surface to stop the pastry sticking to your bench etc. Because I’ve rolled it straight from the roll I used the plastic wrap. If you do it this way you don’t need flour or egg wash for the inside of your sausage roll. Crimping with a fork should be more than adequate.

The filling mix works well as a healthier burger option. I’ve even used it as meatballs before today.

• 1 small onion diced

• 1 diced red chilli (seeds optional)

• 1 garlic clove sliced

• zest of 1 lemon

• 50 gr capers in brine

• 150 gr crayfish tails (cooked). 150 grams is around a good handful. Use king prawns if you cant source crayfish. hold back a few pieces for garnishing.

• 200 ml passata

• 25 gr chopped parsley. Hold back a pinch for garnishing.

• 1 tbspn sugar

• 150 gr spaghetti (uncooked weight)

This is a slurp-tastic favourite in our house. It’s slightly sweet and has just enough heat to introduce any youngster to the beautiful world of the chilli pepper, without causing burning lips syndrome.

I cook my pasta in boiling salted water. I don’t use olive oil when cooking. It is a complete urban myth and a waste of a precious commodity. Just use 3 times as much water as there is pasta and plenty of salt.

Another urban myth, well actually a complete load of rubbish to be a bit more direct, is the whole throw your spaghetti at the wall thing. Whoever dreamed that one up needs a good slapping!

Method:

1. Begin by boiling the pasta in a sturdy saucepan. This usually takes around 8-10 minutes. Times can vary acording to the thickness of the pasta.

2. In the meantime dice your onion, parsley, chilli and garlic. Take a grater or microplane and grate the zest from your lemon ensuring to leave the white pith on the lemon. We are just looking for the yellow rind nothing else.

3. In a large saucepan or wok style pan heat up some oil and begin to fry your onion, chilli, garlic and lemon zest. When the onion and chilli begin to soften add your capers (including brine) and crayfish cook for a further minute or so. You are adding these ingredients now to give the dish a greater intensity and depth when eating. The crayfish will shrink back in size and it is perfectly acceptable to add it later if you prefer.

4 . Now add your passata stir into the pan and bring to the boil, adding also the chopped parsley and sugar. At this point you can season with salt and pepper to your personal taste.

5. Finally add your pasta to the sauce and stir thoroughly so the sauce grabs the pasta evenly. Garnish with some parsley and a few crayfish tails.

NOTE: If your pasta is not quite cooked, take your sauce off the heat until the pasta is cooked

Serves 2 kids or 1 hungry adult. Multiply your ingredients as necessary for a larger family serving.

• 150 gr sliced chorizo

• 1 shredded leek or onion

• 1 clove garlic sliced

• 1/2 tspn smoked paprika

• 1/2 tspn groung coriander seed

• 1/2 tspn chilli powder

• 500 gr cooked rice

• soy sauce / mirin to taste

• salt & pepper to taste

• 8 chicken pieces. (thighs, legs or breast)
• 15 gr Cajun Marinade
• 100ml natural yogurt
• 250 gr Plain Flour
• 500 ml vegetable oil

1. Sprinkle Cajun spice mix over chicken.

2. Pour yogurt over spices and chicken.

3. Thoroughly mix together.

TIP: SAVE ON MESS AND WASHING UP. USE THE PACKAGING IT COMES IN!!!

4. Cover with cling film and allow to marinade in the fridge for between 30 minutes & 4 hours.

5. Take from refrigerator and roll in seasoned flour*, ensuring all the chicken is coated.

*NOTE: CHICK PEA FLOUR OR GRAM FLOUR CAN BE USED AS A GLUTEN FREE OPTION!

6. Shallow fry at 180°c / 350°F on each side until golden.

7. Place Chicken pieces on an oven tray and roast in a preheated oven(180°C / 350°F / gas mark) for approximately* 13 minutes

*I’m taking into consideration the varying sizes of chicken and different oven speeds. Ensure your chicken is white all the way through,

NO PINK.

vegetarian hash brown and poached egg

Active Time: 5-10 minutes
Total Time: 5-10 minutes
Serves: 1 - multiply ingredients as necessary

• 100 gram carrot,
• 100 gram squash,
• 100 gram potato,
• 1/2 diced onion,
• 1 t-spn cumin,
• 1-tbspn pine nuts,
• 1-tbspn sesame seeds,
• 1 free-range egg

This weeks site is the fantastic growveg.com a must have for anyone interested in growing their own fruit and vegetables

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To visit growveg.com click here