Falling off the bone ribs

I've missed ribs. They are great low GI food, until the sauce goes on, then the sweet sticky delicious gooeyness just turns them into a totally hopeless food, GI wise. But, there isn't any reason you can't do the fall apart ribs and put a more GI friendly sauce on.
These ribs were oven roasted with a rub, and then you can choose what sauce to add before barbecuing if you wish, or eat them as they are, delicious.

Ingredients
1 kilo pork ribs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon Chinese all spice
Juice of two limes
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 cup of black tea

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Remove the membrane from the ribs and place them in a roasting tray.
Mix the oil and lime juice and rub that over the ribs.
Mix together all the other ingredients, except the tea and rub them into the meat.
Add the tea to the tray and cover with silver foil, shiny side up.
Cook for 3 hours.
Either serve like this, using a fork (or your fingers) to tear apart the meat, or add a sauce and barbecue.

Roast chicken with white beans, capers and limes.

Ingredients:
Four chicken pieces, skin on
Two tins haricot blanc
Two tablespoons capers
Three limes, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Rinse the beans and put in a roasting tin.
Add the capers.
Place the chicken pieces on the beans and add the slices from two limes.

Add a cup of water
Roast for 30 minutes, turning once.
Turn the chicken again so it's skin side up (where possible).
Turn the heat right up and cook for ten more minutes.
Meanwhile cook the rest of the lime slices in a dry pan until slightly caramalised and serve.

Steak salad with horseradish cream

So full of flavour. A real treat.

We made the salad a luxury one as we were having steak, but of course, you can put whatever you want in it. a

Ingredients:

 One piece of sirloin steak

Half an iceburg lettuce

A handful of each of the following:

green beans, topped, tailed, stringy bits removed and sliced

cherry tomatoes, halved

mange tout, topped and tailed

A few spears of asparagus, tough bottom removed

A few sticks of celery, sliced finely

A few spring onions, sliced finely

One courgette (we used several mini ones), sliced into rounds

A selection of lettuce leaves and pea shoots

Two tablespoons whipped cream (or yoghurt - ideally greek)

A little butter and maybe some olive oil

One tablespoon regular oil (not olive oil or butter - both of which have low smoking temperatures)

Salt and pepper

A spoonful of horseradish (mustard or wasabi are ok substitutes)

Optional extra ideas - olives, capers, carrots, cucumber, guerkins, artichoke hearts, peppers

First remove the steak from the fridge to bring up to room temperature.

Next, boil the green beans and the asparagus. 

Then boil the mange tout. 

Once they are ready, dip them in cold water to stop the cooking and leave to completely cool.

Fry the courgette in butter, then put to one side to cool (you could also oven roast them if you prefer).

Fry the tomatoes in olive oil or butter, set aside to cool (you could also oven roast them if you prefer).

Make a non stick pan very hot then add the regular oil.

Put the steak in, season it, but don't move it for two minutes.

Turn it and season it.

Don't touch it for two minutes.

Turn it.

After one more minute turn it.

After one more minute remove from the heat and put on a cutting board. Do not cut it yet.

Rub it with butter.

Toss the lettuce together in a bowl

Arrange the rest of the salad (leaving aside some spring onions) over the lettuce.

Mix the cream (or yoghurt), spring onions and horseradish together.

Slice the steak which has now rested.

Arrange on the salad and top with the horseradish cream.

Bacon, tomatoes and poached eggs

Simple and delicious!

First cook the tomatoes. We used cherry tomatoes that we had halved, but you can cook them whole and squash them. They are going to go under the egg for when the yolk spills out so you want plenty. It doesn't matter if they are warm or not - either way tastes good.
Put some water on to boil.
Next cook the bacon in it's own fat. If the quality isn't good, it may have been pumped with water, which will need draining, but most bacon here is great quality done by local butchers who care! How crispy you want your bacon is a personal thing!
Add a spoon of vinegar to the water. This helps to hold the white together.
When the water is boiling, turn it down to a simmer and use a spoon to stir it fast until it spins on it's own. Pour an egg into the centre. Allow to cook until the white is held together then turn the gas off. Use a slotted spoon to pick it up carefully and check that the white is cooked. Ideally you want the white completely done and the yolk still runny.
Serve immediately on the tomatoes with the bacon on the side.

Cheesy creamy mushroomy eggs en cocotte

These are easy, impressive, and both delicious and filling.

Ingredients - per person

100 grams mushrooms

2 dried mushrooms, soaked in very hot water for 20 minutes

One clove garlic, finely diced

One very fresh egg

One tablespoon cream

A sprinkling cheddar cheese

Two teaspoons butter

Preheat the oven (to around 180C).

Chop the mushrooms finely. 

Melt 1 teaspoon of butter and cook the garlic. Next add the mushrooms. Season. Cook gently until all liquid has gone.

Add half the cream.

Grease the dish with the rest of the butter and add the mushrooms.

Make a dent in the mushrooms and pour in the egg.

Pour cream over and sprinkle with cheese.

Half fill a baking tray with water and add the dishes. Cook for around 15 minutes until the cooked. Ideally serve immediately, though I was surprised to realise it works well cold and microwaves well (though the yolk may harden!)

Lentil and sweet potato soup

Ingredients

4 sweet potatoes

125 grams red lentils

2 onions

3 tablespoons paprika (mixed with chilli powder if you want)

1 tablespoon oil

A generous handful of coriander

1.5 litres vegetable stock

Salt and pepper 

Peel and chop the sweet potatoes. Arrange on a baking tray with one quartered onion. Add salt and pepper and roast for about 40 minutes until beginning to caramalise.

Finely chop one onion and the leaves and stems of the coriander, leaving aside a few leaves for decoration later. Fry in the oil.

Add the paprika.

Stir and fry a little more till completely coated.

Add the lentils

Stir to coat thoroughly, then add the stock. Bring to a fast boil then simmer for 20 minutes.

Chop up the roast onion and add that and the sweet potato to the soup.

Cook for about 5 more minutes then liquidise half the soup. Stir in the rest and serve with the coriander on top.

Cinnamon apples with pistachio cream

Ingredients
6 apples
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons soft brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 lime

2 cups cream
1 cup yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tablespoons pistachios
1 tablespoon mixed nuts and seeds

Peel and slice the apples into circles. Soak in lemon juice to stop from going brown.
Mix the butter, sugar and cinnamon powder together.
Arrange the apple slices on a baking tray.
Spread the butter mix over the apple slices.
Bake for about 15 minutes until starting to caramalize.

Meanwhile, put the nuts in a tray and roast for around 5 minutes to bring out hte flavour.
Whip the cream. Stir through the vanilla essence. Add the yoghurt and stir together. 
Mix in the nuts and seeds and serve with the warm apples.