Author Archives: Shawn

chicken spinach parmesan

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I’m really not sure what to call this because it’s a variation of several stuffed chicken breasts I’ve made up over the years (when I’ve been lucky enough to have an oven in my house). This one happened by chance today and then someone on Instagram asked for the recipe. So here it is, such as it is.

I hadn’t planned to put it up so there aren’t so many photos. It’s filled with mozzarella cheese and wilted baby spinach leaves and encrusted with parmesan bread crumbs. Yeah, really good. Also just a full one plate meal as you have protein, veg, carbs all together. Works for me.

Ingredients and instructions below..
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crispy crunchy garbanzos

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In the past, whenever I would see recipes that called for you to peel your garbanzos I always thought Are You Crazy, No F-ing Way, Life’s Too Short, etc etc. Then I accidently discovered this method. Well, probably everyone knows it, but it was news to me. While I was drying the rinsed garbanzos (to crispy roast them) I rolled them around in a tea towel to get them extra dry and – magic! – the skins just slid right off. Yay!

Ingredients and Instructions below…
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gambas al ajillo salad

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So this was something simple and delicious. Wanted some gambas, wanted a salad, so this happened. I actually show two versions here. The original is above, which was made with chopped cashews. The other one I tried with just a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. Both were great. And it’s fast and easy. This is just for one person, so just up the quantity for mre.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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atún encebollado

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Tuna with onions. This is a pretty simple recipe, and you can play around with it. Often people add pimentón and oregano, which I think is the more traditional way. In this case I just seasoned the tuna with salt and pepper. Also, these are just approximate measurements here. I think this was maybe a half-kilo of tuna? And I used manzanilla sherry, but you could also use fino or any other dry white wine.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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potato straw tortilla

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Not exactly health food, but if you fancy a quick tortilla without having to cook potatoes, you can substitute these shoestring ones. You can also leave out the onions if you want this to be extra quick. There are several versions of potato crisp/chip tortillas out there, including one that was apparently made famous by Ferran Adrià, but I find that the potato straws stay a bit crunchier after cooking, which I like.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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slaw

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This version of slaw uses courgette instead of cabbage, and it includes spring onion. I’m told that substituting the onion with a grated granny smith apple is also nice (will try that one soon). The dressing is a variation of salsa az, without garlic and with a splash of soy sauce added, but obviously you can play around with flavours. I used to use my grater to make slaw but recently tried my spiralizer instead and actually like the texture better, and the courgette doesn’t need blotting as it does after grating.

Ingredients and Instructions below…
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labneh

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labneh (1)

So the first (and to be honest ONLY) time I previously had labneh was on a visit to Ronda in July 2012 and stayed at a small guesthouse run by a Lebanese woman called Anahid. She prepared breakfast for us which included fresh coffee and toasted rolls, gorgeous tomatoes with basil and olive oil… and labneh! I was so taken with it that I vowed to make it some day. And well, better late than never.  🙂

The inspiration came when I recently bought a Melitta coffee cone, as I remembered it was very handy for straining yoghurt when I used to make tzatziki back in Toronto and thought it would also be perfect for making labneh. I have since heard from friends on Instagram that paper towels in a colander @panepanna or a bra cup (!!!) @sledpress work just as well as the more standard cheesecloth method, but I like my little coffee cone. Labneh is excellent sliced and served on toast, and is especially delicious with fresh tomatoes, but I’m sure you will also find other uses for it.

Ingredients & Instructions below…
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meatloaf

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meatloaf (2)

So I was lying in bed a couple of mornings ago, scrolling through my Twitter timeline, and up popped a recipe video for meatloaf. And I thought… meatloaf! Wow, I hadn’t had meatloaf in YEARS. So that day I went out and got the basic ingredients, then did a bit of improvising. Result – delish. Total comfort food. Leftovers make great sandwiches.

This recipe ended up making two loaves that could easily feed six people or more, depending on the side dishes. The meat ratio is 2/3 beef and 1/3 pork, so you can play around with quantities.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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