Hi and welcome to my blog! My name is Karen and I love cooking simple, uncomplicated, flavourful food. My cooking is inspired by seasonal ingredients, punchy flavours, an awareness of sustainability and of course by the likes and dislikes of my family and friends that sit around my table as well as you, the virtual guests around my table!
I am a chef, recipe developer and food stylist and generate my own content. I am also completely addicted to recipe books, of which I have an extremely large collection but the essence of my food is about celebrating life and all the fabulousness that we can add by creating good food.
Thank you for reading my blog. Please keep on giving me feedback and may your kitchen, as mine, be filled with joy and the best tasting food!
(Patates Fournou Lemonates) Unlike traditional roasted potatoes these lemon potatoes are soft, moist, tender and melting. The zing from the lemon cuts through the richness of lamb or meat dishes and is truly more-dish! This to me, is the essence of everything I love about Greece – do your tastebuds a favour…
12 potatoes, peeled 90ml olive oil finely grated zest of 2 lemons juice of 2 lemons 10ml salt a handful of thyme leaves
Preheat your oven to 180℃. Quarter each potato lengthwise and spread them in a large roasting tin. Drizzle with the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and sprinkle over the salt and thyme leaves. Mix together with your hands so that the potato is covered with the mixture. Roast for 1 hour, turning once or twice during cooking. Add another sprinkle of salt and serve.
I have named this recipe “Fusion Chicken” because it brings together a few different principles in cooking chicken: almost black-chicken; almost butter chicken and almost pan-fried chicken. The combination makes for a very flavourful and juicy chicken that is one of the quickest dishes you will ever put together!
125g + 90g butter 30ml ground cumin 30ml smoked paprika 30ml dried origanum 20ml salt 6 chicken breasts, skin removed 15ml flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped fresh lemon wedges to serve – these are essential!!
Melt the 125g butter and add the cumin, paprika, origanum and salt to it. Stir/whisk together to dissolve as much of the spices as possible. Lay the chicken flat in a ceramic dish and pour the butter mixture over it. Flip the breasts to coat them evenly. Cover with a tea towel and set aside at room temperature for 20 minutes. Place a large cast iron pan on medium-high heat and add the 90g butter to the pan, to melt. Add the chicken breasts to the warm pan and cook for 7 minutes before turning to cook for another 7 minutes. Do not fiddle around with the chicken! Spoon some of the pan juices onto the chicken as it cooks. Remove the breasts from the pan and slice them. Place on a serving dish and sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Squeeze a good amount of lemon over the chicken before serving.
750g cooked and mashed sweet potato (about 4 medium sweet potatoes) 125ml self-raising flour 1 X 375ml can of Corn kernels, drained (you may substitute with cooked corn) 125ml pumpkin seeds 1 egg 2,5ml salt 2,5ml cinnamon 63ml brown sugar vegetable oil to fry
Add all the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix through. Place a heavy bottom pan onto medium-high heat and cover the bottom with vegetable oil to heat up. Scoop a tablespoonful of the mixture into the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes before flipping and frying the other side for another 2-3 minutes. Do not overfill your pan as you want the sweet potato to caramelise and fry to a golden, crisp outside. Keep going until all the mixture is used. Serve the cakes with a dollop of yoghurt and honey.
450g sweet peppers/bell peppers 30ml + 15ml olive oil 30ml white wine vinegar 1 clove of garlic, minced 12 basil leaves, chopped 2 sprigs of thyme 5ml sugar 2,5ml salt 45ml pine nuts, toasted 125ml crumbed feta cheese 125ml olives, pitted
Turn your oven on the grill setting and line a baking sheet with aluminium foil. Drizzle the 15ml olive oil on the peppers and spread evenly over each pepper with your hands. Place the peppers on the lined baking sheet and grill for about 15 minutes, until their skins are black. DO NOT take the peppers out too soon….they can not be too blackened! Immediately place the charred peppers in a mixing bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside until the peppers are cool enough to handle. Break open the peppers, remove the core and seeds and pull the skin from each. It is easiest to use your hands to scrape the seeds out and it is quite all right for the peppers to tear into strips! Add the peppers, oil, vinegar, garlic, basil, thyme, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl and refrigerate for one hour. Arrange the marinated peppers on a serving plate and top with pine nuts, feta and olives.
For the pasta: Cook the pasta, drain and return to the saucepan in which it was cooked. Crumble the feta over the pasta and mix together. Add the egg whites and mix through. Set aside.
For the meat sauce: Place a heavy bottom saucepan on medium-high heat and add the olive oil and onion. Fry for 2-3 minutes and then add the garlic, tomato paste and minced beef. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring and breaking up the beef while browning it. Add the red wine, tomatoes, sugar, bay leaf, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for about 40 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce is thick. Remove the bay leaf and cinnamon quill and take the mixture from the heat. Allow to cool slightly.
For the Béchamel Sauce: Place a saucepan on medium heat and add the butter to melt. Add the flour and stir the paste around for 2 minutes while cooking. Add the milk and whisk until the sauce has no lumps and has thickened. Remove from the heat and add the nutmeg, salt and half the cheese. Whisk until smooth. Cool the sauce for 5 minutes and then whisk in the egg yolks.
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray an oven dish of 23cm X 26cm with cooking spray. Spoon the pasta into the dish and spread it into an even layer. Spoon the meat sauce on top and then top it with the béchamel sauce. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top in an even layer. Place the dish in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. The Pastitsio can be served at room temperature.
Flavoured butters are a simply way of adding flavour and punch to meat, easy to make and can be kept in your freezer for when you need it! The Olive Butter is particularly good with chicken, fish and roast vegetables! The method for the three flavoured butters are the same.
Café de Paris Butter: 125g butter 30ml chives, finely chopped 15ml parsley, finely chopped 5ml Dijon Mustard 1 clove of garlic, minced 5ml capers 1 anchovy fillet the zest of half a lemon, finely grated
Method: Allow the butter to come to room temperature and soften. Mix all the ingredients together. Spread a piece of plastic wrap on a kitchen surface, spoon the mixture on top and roughly shape it into a log shape. Fold the edge of the plastic wrap closest to you over the log shape and proceed to roll the butter in the plastic so that you have a plastic sausage. Now take hold of the two ends (the overhanging/extra plastic wrap) and roll the butter away from you on the surface. Tie the plastic ends and freeze until required.
Olive Butter: 125g butter, softened 190ml olives, chopped 15ml rosemary, chopped salt to taste
Garlic Butter: 125g butter, softened 3 cloves of garlic, minced 1,2ml salt 1,2ml pepper
Filling: 100g butter 200g brown sugar 2 x 385g tins of condensed milk 7,5ml salt
Topping: 83ml cream 160g dark bitter chocolate, chopped
For the base: Preheat your oven to 160℃ and spray a 23cm loose base tart tin with cooking spray. Add the biscuits to the bowl of a food processor and process to fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and mix/blitz until the mixture looks like wet sand. Spoon the crumb mixture into the tart tin and press it firmly into the base and sides of the tin. Bake the tart base for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
For the filling: Add the butter to a saucepan and melt it over medium heat. Add the sugar and whisk to combine. Keep stirring the mixture with the whisk until the sugar has melted completely. Add the condensed milk and keep whisking to incorporate. Cook the caramel for about 5 minutes, taking that it doesn’t overheat and burn, and then add the salt. Pour the mixture into the tart case and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Take the tart from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
For the topping: Add the cream and chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over simmering water. Stir the mixture every now and then until smooth and completely melted. Take the bowl from the heat and allow to stand for about 10 minutes. Give it a stir every now and then so that it cools down. Spoon the chocolate onto the caramel layer and spread it evenly with a spatula. Refrigerate the tart for 2 hours to set. Allow the tart to come to room temperature before serving.
8 – 10 large potatoes 50g butter 60ml olive oil salt 15ml smoked paprika 250ml sour cream a small bunch of chives, chopped
Preheat your oven to 200℃. Add the diced chorizo sausage to a dry frying pan and place over medium high heat. Cook until the sausage is crispy and the fat has rendered. Spoon into a small bowl and reserve the fat from the sausage. Place a potato on a chopping board and now place a chopstick (or the handle of a wooden spoon) horizontally, at the top end of the potato and another on the bottom – you are boxing the potato in with two chopsticks on either side, i.e. top and bottom, so that you do not cut through when you make incisions. Cut across the potato at 3mm intervals. Place the cut potatoes in a roasting tin. Melt the butter and mix it with the olive oil as well as the reserved fat from the chorizo sausage. Spoon this mixture over the cut potatoes and sprinkle liberally with salt and the smoked paprika. Put the roasting tin in the oven and cook for about 1 hour 15 minutes, testing to see whether the flesh is soft. Add the sour cream, cooked sausage and chopped chives to a bowl and mix through. Transfer the warm potatoes to a serving platter and spoon a dollop of the sour cream mixture on each. Serve with the extra chorizo-sour cream dressing.
250g tenderstem broccoli, blanched 200g streaky bacon 1 large / 2 small avocado pear, pitted and peeled 60ml peanuts, toasted
Blue Cheese Dressing: 60ml sour cream 60ml mayonnaise 60ml milk 100g blue cheese, crumbled 15ml parsley, chopped 15ml lemon juice a pinch of salt
Preheat your oven to 200℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Place the bacon on the baking sheet and bake in the oven until crispy. Arrange the blanched broccoli, bacon and sliced avocado on a serving platter.
For the dressing: Add all the ingredients to a jug and whisk together to amalgamate.
Drizzle the dressing on the salad and sprinkle the peanuts over before serving.
This is a classic prawn cocktail recipe and although it has been around for always it is ever popular, quick and easy to put together.
60ml butter 3 cloves of garlic, minced 400g shrimps/prawns, shells removed and cleaned half a red onion, finely chopped 60ml mayonnaise 15ml tomato sauce/ketchup 15ml lemon juice 5ml Worcestershire sauce iceberg lettuce extra lemon wedges to serve
Melt the butter in a large heavy base frying pan and add the garlic and prawns. The prawn should be spaced slightly apart and not be crowded into the pan – cook more than one batch if your pan does not allow enough room for this. Cook the prawns for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pink. Remove from the pan and allow to cool. Chop the red onion very finely and add it to a mixing bowl with the mayo, tomato sauce, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Mix through. Chop the prawns into chunks and add it to the sauce mixture. Shred about 2 cups of lettuce and add that to the rest of the ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Scoop the mixture into serving bowls/glasses/cone-shaped tuilles and serve with a wedge of lemon.
My Whisk and I 