UPDATE

Hello all, well we've had a few comings an goings in the offices recently and as such we're going to be closed on Monday 2nd February for a little bit of staff training. We will be open as usual from Tuesday the 3rd though so any queries will take a day or two. In the meantime if any of you have any suggestions on recipes you might enjoy, drop us a note and we'll see what we can do, but coming up over the next few weeks: pancake ideas, a treat for valentines, an idea for the Chinese new year looking onward to March celebrations.

Sweet and sour chicken

By The Hairy Bikers

From Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight

This is exactly like your favourite sweet and sour from the local down the road, but with fewer calories. Proves that a diet doesn’t have to be all about denial.

288 calories per portion (without rice).

Less than 30 minspreparation time

Less than 10 minscooking time

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 x 425g/15oz can pineapple chunks in natural juice
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp soft light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 medium onion, cut into 12 wedges
• 2 peppers, red, green, orange or yellow, deseeded and cut into chunks of about 3cm/1¼in
• 1 x 225g/8oz can water chestnuts
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 25g/1oz piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
• freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

1. To make the sauce, drain the pineapple in a sieve over a bowl and keep all the juice – you should have about 150ml/5fl oz. Put the cornflour in a large bowl and stir in three tablespoons of the pineapple juice to make a smooth paste. Add the remaining juice and 150ml/5fl oz water, then stir in the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, ketchup and chilli flakes until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
2. Cut each chicken breast into eight or nine even pieces. Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok and stir-fry the onion and peppers for two minutes over a high heat. Drain the water chestnuts and cut them in half horizontally.
3. Add the remaining oil and the chicken to the pan and stir-fry for two minutes until coloured on all sides. Add the garlic, ginger, pineapple chunks and water chestnuts and stir-fry for 30–60 seconds.
4. Give the cornflour and pineapple mixture a good stir and add it to the pan with the chicken and vegetables. Stir well, season with some ground black pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook for 4–6 minutes until the sauce is thickened and glossy and the chicken is tender and cooked throughout, turning the chicken and vegetables a few times. Serve with a small portion of rice.

Asian Beef with Mushrooms and Snow Peas

Hi everyone! So sorry it's been so long since we have posted a recipe. We have lots of new recipes that we've found for you, but we will kick it off with a recipe we made last night and it was absolutely gorgeous. Very easy and even the fussy kids liked it!

Asian Sauce:

·         1/2 cup tamari (or low-sodium soy sauce)

·         5 tablespoons brown sugar

·         6 garlic cloves, minced

·         1/2 teaspoon ginger

·         2 teaspoons rice vinegar

Beef:

·         10 oz snow peas

·         10 oz mushrooms, sliced thinly

·         1 pound beef, thinly sliced (sirloin steak strips, flank steak, or any other steak)

·         2 cups cooked rice

Instructions

1.      Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl - whisk to combine. Set aside.

2.      Bring water in a 18 cm Saucepan to boil. Add snow peas, boil them for 5 minutes, drain. Set aside.

3.      Heat a large Sauté until hot, add 2 tablespoons of water - it should sizzle. Immediately add thinly sliced mushrooms - cook them on medium high heat, turning occasionally, until they brown nicely. Salt them midway, a little bit (not too much salt, as you will be adding tamari sauce later). Remove mushrooms to a bowl.

4.      To the same Sauté Pan, on medium heat add thinly sliced meat. You might want to do this in 2 batches, because you will want each slice of meat to touch the bottom of the Sauté and for meat slices not to be crowded. This will ensure that meat will brown. Cook meat on one side until it browns nicely. Turn over all meat slices to the opposite side, and cook more, on medium-high heat, until all slices brown nicely. Remove this batch to a bowl. Add a second batch of meat, and repeat.

5.      Return all of the cooked meat back to the skillet. Add the snow peas and cooked mushrooms, then the sauce. On medium heat - stir everything to combine, for about 1 minute. Turn off heat. Cover with a lid.

6.      Serve over rice.  (We had fragrant Jasmine)

Autumn Lasagne with Creamy, Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Sauce

Our family LOVES pasta, but having the usual spaghetti bolognese can be boring. Don't get me wrong the smell of a traditional Spag Bol is a beautiful thing, but sometimes having something new and exciting is needed. It's officially autumn today and this gorgeous lasagne just makes the tummy rumble. It's an excellent alternative to a traditional lasagne and super tasty!  Make this in a Crafond Roasting Pan and there is no sticky cheese mess when it's all gone. Perfect.

Ingredients:

500g mince turkey
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 teaspoons chopped, fresh sage leaves
12 lasagne noodles, cooked
Creamy Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Sauce (recipe below)
200 g fresh, baby spinach leaves
200 g shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

-Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

-Place a large, Crafond sauté pan over medium heat. Once the pan gets hot (2-3 minutes,) add the ground turkey into the pan, and break up the meat with a spatula or spoon; next, add in the Italian seasoning, the salt, pepper and the garlic, and stir to incorporate; cook the turkey for a few minutes until cooked through and no longer pink; remove from heat and stir in the fresh sage; set aside to slightly cool.

-To assemble the lasagne, season a roasting pan with sunflower or rapeseed oil, this will aid in clean-up later. Begin by adding about 1 cup of the Butternut Squash Sauce to the bottom of the roasting dish; next, add 4 of the cooked lasagne noodles over the sauce, and then add another 2 cups of the sauce over top of the noodles; next, add about half of the cooked, ground turkey, followed by 2 cups of the baby spinach leaves. Next, sprinkle over about 1 cup worth of the mozzarella cheese; repeat the layering process by once again adding 4 lasagne noodles, 2 cups of sauce, the remainder of the ground turkey and the remaining 2 cups of baby spinach leaves, along with another sprinkle of about 1 cup worth of the cheese; finish the lasagne by adding the remaining 4 lasagne noodles, and the remaining sauce over top; smooth out the sauce over the noodles, and finish the by sprinkling the remaining 2 cups of mozzarella cheese over the top; add the remaining ½ teaspoon of Italian seasoning over the cheese, and place the Lasagne into the 220 degree oven to bake for roughly 30-35 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and lightly golden; serve while hot.

Creamy, Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Sauce ingredients:

3 heads garlic, tops cut off
3 teaspoons salt, plus a pinch, divided use
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed 
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon black pepper
230ml cup chicken stock, warm
500ml half and half, warm
150g mascarpone cheese
30g grated Parmesan cheese

(*This sauce can be made ahead if desired, and kept refrigerated.)

Preparation:

-Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.

Take 3 heads of garlic, and sprinkle a couple of pinches of salt over top, wrap each head of garlic tightly in foil, and place the heads directly onto the rack of the oven (on the side) to roast; once the garlic heads have roasted for about 10 minutes, toss together the cubed butternut squash, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and the black pepper; turn the squash out onto Plancha Plate and place it into the oven next to the garlic heads, to roast along side for about 30-35 minutes, or until the squash is very tender (the total roasting time for the garlic will end up being about 40-45 minutes); once the squash is tender, remove from the oven, along with the heads of garlic, and allow the squash and garlic heads to cool slightly, so they can be handled; once slightly cooled, squeeze the cloves of garlic from the whole heads, and mash lightly with a fork (they should be very tender and sweet), and set aside; next, add about 1/3 of the roasted squash into the bowl of a food processor (you will work in about 3 batches), and process with about 1/3 of the roasted garlic, until smooth and puréed; turn the processed squash/garlic into a Large Crafond Pot, and repeat the puréeing process with the remaining squash/garlic and turn that out into the pot once puréed, as well.

-Place the pot with the puréed squash/garlic onto low heat, and add in the warm chicken stock and the warm half and half, and carefully whisk or stir to completely incorporate; next, add in the mascarpone cheese, the Parmesan and the remaining 3 teaspoons of salt, and once again stir/whisk to combine, until the mascarpone and Parmesan are blended in completely; remove the sauce from the heat and set aside until ready to use for the lasagne. (If making ahead, cool the sauce completely, and refrigerate until ready to assemble the lasagne, at which time you can gently re-heat it stove-top.)