Stir Fried Broccoli With Shallot, Chilli And Nigella Seeds

It’s always handy to have another way for prepping broccoli in our house. I love this with dal for our vegetarian nights, served with rice and gluten free flat breads.

You need to break the broccoli down into tiny florets but keep all of the stalks, I use them for soup the next day!

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons oil

2 heads of broccoli, broken into mini florets

1 large shallot, finely sliced

1 red chilli sliced

1 teaspoon nigella seeds

Pinch salt

Method

Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat.

Add the oil and once hot, add the broccoli, shallot and chilli.

Stir fry for 5-7 minutes until shallot is soft and the broccoli still has some crunch to it.

Season with salt and sprinkle over the nigella seeds.

Toor Dal

There is something extremely comforting about dal. 

Leftovers keep well in the fridge and I happily eat this the following day for breakfast but then I do have more of a savoury tooth!

Serves 6 as a side dish.

Ingredients

200g toor dhal, rinsed and drained

800mls water

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

Salt to taste

50g ghee

1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 dried chillies

1 shallot, finely sliced

Method

In a medium pan, bring the dal and water to the boil. Skim off the foam, add the turmeric, stir well and then leave to simmmer, partially covered, for 50-60minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once the dal is cooked, heat a small frying pan over high heat.

Add the ghee and once hot add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and chilli. As soon as the mustard seeds start to pop, add the shallots and fry until golden.

Pour the fried seasoning and ghee into the dal with a little salt, stir well, check for seasoning and serve.

Caramelised Onion and Potato Pie

This is one of those comfort potato bakes that everyone loves and they all come back for seconds in our house.

Serves 6-8. You can also make this ahead of time as it freezes very well.

Ingredients

50g butter

3 large onions, sliced thinly

3 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 shallot, finely sliced

750 g potatoes, finely sliced, I use an mandolin

fresh thyme

8 eggs, beaten

350g sour cream

400mls cream

salt and pepper

parmesan

Method

Melt the butter in a large pan, add the onions and garlic and over a low heat slowly cook down until caramelised, this can take 45-60 minutes but keep an eye on them towards the end so they don’t stick to the pan and burn.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade.

Take a large roasting dish, I use a 30x20cm dish.

Line the base and sides with baking parchment.

Whisk the eggs, sour cream, cream, salt and pepper.

Pour a little egg mix into the base of the dish, top with potato slices, followed by a little of the caramelised onions and a little sprinkle of thyme.

Top with some egg and repeat the previous layers. Keep repeating until you are using your final egg mix.

Finish with a layer egg over the onions, spread over the sliced shallot and  sprinkle over the grated parmesan.

Bake in the oven for 45-55 minutes until the top is golden and the potatoes cooked through.

Allow to cool and set a little before gently removing from the tin and cutting into portions or take this along, just warm for a picnic.

Mexican Sweetcorn

This makes corn on the cob rather boring I’m afraid!

Finished off with some zingy lime juice, this will really get your taste buds going!

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

40g butter

20mls Olive oil

3 large corn on the cobs

2 shallots, cut into thin rings

1 jalapeño, deseeded and chopped

a handful of coriander, leaves and stems chopped roughly

salt and pepper

50g feta

a pinch of cayenne

lime to serve

Method

Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan over a hig heat.

Once very hot, add the sweet corn, shallots and chilli and stir fry for 4-5 minutes.

Season well, stir through the coriander.

Top with the crumbled feta and a pinch of cayenne.

Serve with a wedge of lime to squeeze over the sweetcorn.

 

Potato, Shallot and Parmesan Croquettes

These really remind me of my childhood, leftover mashed potato re imagined in a deep fried treat! We used to have larger croquettes but as I made these as part of a nibbles night I made them smaller, just a couple of mouthfuls really.

I use gluten free fresh breadcrumbs, when gluten free rolls or bread are reduced, I buy a few packets and make them into breadcrumbs, due to the cost and being a tight Scot! I don’t cut off the crusts, I use all of the loaf or bread which does make a darker crumb to regular bread, once crumbed they live in the freezer so I have them for future use.

Feel free to use regular fresh breadcrumbs if you don’t need the GF version!

Makes 20 small croquettes.

Ingredients

400g leftover mashed potato

100g Parmesan, finely grated

2 small shallots, very finely diced

salt and pepper

3 eggs, beaten

120g gluten free fresh breadcrumbs

Oil to fry

Method

Combine the mashed potato, Parmesan, shallot, salt, pepper and 1 egg in a large bowl.

Pour the beaten egg into a shallow bowl, pour the breadcrumbs into another.

Take small quantities of the potato mix and shape them, dip in the beaten egg and then roll in the breadcrumbs, set aside on a plate and repeat with the remaining potato until it has all been used.

Place the croquettes in the fridge for 30 mins.

Heat the oil in a deep fat fryer, enough to deep fry, until a breadcrumb immediately sizzles in it.

Gently lower the croquettes in, I do five at a time, once golden and cooked through, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on kitchen towel, repeat with the remaining croquettes.