Japanese inspired burger with panko breadcrumbs

Japanese inspired burger with panko breadcrumbs (photo courtesy Yutaka)

Give Your BBQ A Japanese Twist

Who is feeling the heat this summer? With temperatures soaring, it's the perfect weather to be cooking on the BBQ.  This week, I was sent some sample Yutaka products to review -  their miso paste, panko breadcrumbs, wasabi paste to name a few and some recipes to add a Japanese twist to traditional BBQ-ing.

Now, I really love miso paste and try to add it to just about everything, so this Japanese-inspired miso laced burger really hits the spot.  Top with wasabi mayonnaise and what more could your heart desire?   

Win tickets to BBC Good Food Show Summer 2015

WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO 
BBC GOOD FOOD SHOW SUMMER 2015


There was such a lot of enthusiasm from our last giveaway to win a pair of tickets to BBC Gardeners' World, that we are running another competition.

We are offering one lucky reader a chance to win a pair of tickets for entry into the BBC Good Food Show Summer 2015.

The show will take place in Birmingham at the NEC, from Thursday the 11th to Sunday the 14th of June 2015 and will feature Mary Berry, James Martin, Michel Roux and John Torode.

Easter Picnic loaf and Tomato bread salad

Celebrate Easter with a family picnic ...

Easter is just around the corner and with the weather warming up, it may be time for a family picnic in the great outdoors.

For my Easter picnic spread, I'm making a layered roast vegetable picnic loaf filled with courgette, sweet potato, aubergine, peppers and mozzarella. The scooped out bread pieces from the picnic loaf are then used in a delicious Tuscan-style tomato bread salad.

Thai fish cakes recipe for the Sainsbury's Love Your Freezer campaign

Thai Fish cakes with fish from the freezer ...


It's surprising what you can make with ingredients from your freezer, isn't it? Sainsbury's have launched a Love Your Freezer hub to encourage people to get the most of their freezer and help them to make quick and delicious food.

Baba Ghanouj (Aubergine Dip)

When I was a contestant on The Big Allotment Challenge, we were tasked with making dips using our own allotment produce in Week 3. Baba Ghanouj is easily my favorite dip and the main reason I go out for Lebanese food... mmmm.... This is a lovely smoky aubergine dip that is quite easy to make and tastes delicious. Serve it with pitta bread or vegetable crudités.

Ever tried this?

To get that smoky taste, a whole aubergine is grilled over the hob. To see how it's done, watch this video and read the original recipe here (SBS Australia). This is where I learnt how to make Baba Ghanouj.

Tahini is paste made from ground sesame seeds. I used Tahini by Sainsbury's which is available from Sainsbury's.

Aubergines in Sambal

Aubergine / Eggplant in sambal recipe ...

Tantalising tender velvety aubergine with spicy sambal

Whether you call them aubergines, eggplants or brinjal, one thing that we can all agree on is that cooking this deep coloured fruit/vegetable can be tricky. They seem to absorb all the oil from the pan almost immediately and can take forever to soften; and even after extensive cooking can still be tough.  How do you achieve silkiness rathern than chewiness?

Make your own Sambal Chilli Paste using fresh chillies

Favourite chilli paste recipe using fresh chillies ...

This is a fragrant, smoky chilli paste that can be added to noodles, fried rice, stir-fries, casseroles.

Recently, I entered a chilli competition run by Victoriana Nursery and ended up winning 5 kilos - yes, 5 kilos of freshly picked chillies. When they arrived, I gasped. It was a biiiig box of chillies. After many hours of heavy duty pickling and freezing, I decided to use the remaining chillies to make a Malaysian chilli paste called sambal.

There are so many sambal pastes in Malaysia, some made from raw chillies, some are left to ferment and some, like the Sambal Tumis are made from cooked chillies (the word "tumis" is Malay for sauté). You know what happens to chillies when they are cooked gently over a low heat for a long time? They turn deep red and develop a kind of sweet smokiness; and tantalising flavours emerge that taste completely unlike it in its raw form.

To make this sambal paste, you will need to de-seed the chillies, which is actually not as tedious as it sounds. I don't wear gloves, but most people would advise you to. Having spent my childhood years in Malaysia means that I have no fear of chillies, nor the heat, nor the inevitable burning sensation which comes with handling them. Its not that I don't feel the burn, it is just that it doesn't bother me.

The chillies you choose for your sambal will depend on your taste and tolerance threshold. I prefer to use a combination of medium and hot chillies, so that the end-result is palatable and does not cause pain.

Tomato sauce for pasta with end of season tomatoes

Tomato harvest 

Tomato sauce for pasta using end-of-season tomatoes...

I really can't believe it is that time of the year again... all of a sudden a chill is noticeable in the air, the evenings start to get dark before you know it, and it is time to harvest the laaaast of the vine ripened tomatoes. Yup, it is officially the end of summer.

Over the last few months, we have enjoyed eating the sweetest tomatoes plucked straight from the vine. Often, they are eaten just as they are, sometimes simply sliced thinly then topped with capers and finely diced red onion.  But these colder days call for something warming like a tasty homemade tomato sauce made from fresh tomatoes.

Warm Kale & Artichoke Salad with toasted almonds

Kale, artichoke salad tossed in anchovies and toasted almonds

Green leafy kale salad bursting with flavour and crunch...

It is early spring and the days have just started to get warmer, but there is still a noticeable chill in the air.  Today, I feel like a salad that is full of leafy green goodness that is warm, comforting and full of flavour and texture.  And I have just the thing, for kale, pan-fried, is seriously tasty, and even more so, when combined with the bold saltiness of anchovies, flavourful artichokes and crunchy toasted flaked almonds.  

Vietnamese Crispy Coconut Pancakes with Prawns & Fresh Herbs ("Banh Xeo")

Vietnamese Crispy Sizzling Coconut Pancake

Crispy savoury sizzling pancakes...

These golden crispy Bánh Xèo are the perfect base for a savoury filling made up of prawns, red peppers and bean sprouts.  There are no eggs in this batter, which is made from rice flour and coconut milk.  Instead, ground turmeric gives this pancake it's lovely golden colour.

Serve the pancake with lettuce of your choice and fresh herbs like mint and watercress.  Then, eat it with a tangy dipping sauce made from fish sauce and fresh lime juice.   

Vietnamese Crispy Sizzling Coconut Pancake

Stir-fried Spicy courgettes recipe

Stir-fried spicy courgettes with ginger

Stir-fried courgettes - mildly spicy and lots of flavour...

I've recently been learning about the Sze Chuan (Si Chuan, 四川 ) style of cooking from Terry Tan's "The Food and Cooking of Si Chuan and West China".  Sze Chuan cuisine is well known for being spicy, fiery sometimes leaving your tongue with a tingling sensation (think Sze Chuan peppers!).

This Sze Chuan inspired recipe (adapted from Terry's book) does not have chillies in it, but rather it is the heat from ginger root combined with flavoursome sauces that bring this very ordinary vegetable to life.  The stir-fried courgettes are then served with rice, as a vegetable side.

It won't be long now before we will grow our own courgettes in the garden, but for now, we used Sainsbury's basics courgettes and garlic.

Chinese Noodles in mushroom & pork gravy

 Chinese noodles in Soy Mushroom Sauce using Leftover Roast Pork

Chinese noodles in a mushroom gravy...
There is a kind of noodle dish where the noodles are neither immersed in broth nor stir-fried in a sizzling hot wok.  Instead, the cooked noodles are tossed in a deliciously rich, usually soy flavoured sauce, with each strand of noodle glistening with mouth watering gravy.

I find this style of noodle the most comforting mid-week, when in the dark of the evening you arrive home, the mechanical hum from the long train journey still ringing in your ears and the ideas from an earlier brainstorming session still buzzing in your head.    

Chicken, Sweet Potato & Mixed Vegetable Lettuce wraps ("Sang Choy Bau")

Chicken Sang Choy Bau with Sweet Potato

HEALTHY SANG CHOY BAU with chicken and sweet potato...
Sang Choy Bau is a Chinese classic commonly served as a starter all around Australia, where I grew up.  It literally translates to "lettuce wrap" and in its traditional form, is simply a lettuce cup filled with minced pork and vegetables.  These days, you will find many variations of the original recipe, from minced beef or chicken to duck or even quail meat.

In creating this recipe, I was keen to fill my Sang Choy Bau with lots of different coloured vegetables, rather than simply with meat.  So, this healthy recipe brings together lean chicken breast and everyday vegetables like carrots, celery and peppers with soy and oyster sauce to create a quick and tasty modern twist to a Chinese classic.

Japanese-style soba noodles in ginger miso soup recipe

Japanese-style soba noodles in ginger miso soup with shiitake mushrooms, pak choi and leftover roast chicken

Leftover roast chicken and noodles in ginger miso soup
When I was growing up, my mother would make noodle soups all the time.  With four kids in the house, it was the perfect way for her to prepare a quick, easy meal and to use up whatever was available in the fridge.  Small quantities of a variety of vegetables like pak choi or choy sum would be thrown into steaming hot broth, along with any leftover meat that was available at the time. When I eventually left home and had to fend for myself, this was a dish that featured prominently in my weekly meal plan.  With my limited cooking skills, it was a fast, healthy hot meal that well and truly satisfied.

Edamame bean, seaweed & glass noodle salad with wasabi dressing

Edamame Bean, Wakame seaweed and mung bean vermicelli salad

Green food salad with edamame beans, seaweed & bean vermicelli
After all the indulgence over Christmas and New Year, it is time to detox by going veggie and loading up on green super foods.  So I have put together a salad combining some of my favourite foods: edamame beans, Wakame seaweed and avocado.  The beans are frozen ones which come straight out of the freezer and the dried wakame seaweed and glass noodles are store cupboard ingredients.

Shiitake and Oyster mushrooms on toast

Shiitake and Oyster mushrooms on toast

Wild mushrooms on toast on Sunday mornings...

As winter approaches, and the days are shorter, there is little that thrives in the garden. The large beech tree out the front has long shed all its leaves, and the Japanese maples, normally bursting with life with their delicate red orange leaves, are now twiggy and bare.

With the low temperatures, the loose compost in the vegetable patch is looking compacted and frosty, but a hint of green peeking out from the dark soil catches my eye. It's the parsley we put in months ago which has now grown long spindly stems and leaves. It could almost be described as lush, almost.  Hardy herbs like thyme and rosemary soldier on braving the cold winds, although now they appear sparser and a few forlorn leaves have begun to yellow.

I’m always grateful to have any garden produce during the winter months.  But never more than now, for picking herbs from the garden is peaceful and the tranquillity seems at odds with the chaos of Christmas shopping that is inevitable.  I snip a few sprigs of thyme and stems of parsley and hurry back into the warmth of the kitchen, where fresh shiitake and oyster mushrooms are waiting.

Kale crisps flavoured with honey and soy

Cavolo Nero crisps with honeyed walnuts

Kale crisps flavoured with soy and honey with a few honeyed walnuts thrown into the mix...

For a while now, I have been dreaming about kale crisps - ever since the day I stumbled across packets of these veggie crisps at an organic food store.  The thing with kale crisps is you either love them and crave them constantly, or you can't understand the concept of them and loathe the idea. Either way, at £3.60 a packet, these crisps don't come cheap.

Apple, Carrot & Chinese Cabbage Salad with Vietnamese dressing

Apple, Carrot & Chinese Cabbage salad

Fall in love with this Asian-inspired apple carrot salad recipe infused with coriander and limes

To celebrate National Apple Day this month, this salad recipe uses British apples as it's central ingredient.  I have chosen Jazz apples as they are tangy and crunchy.  To balance out the sweetness, carrots and Chinese cabbage, a crisp mild tasting, pale leaved cabbage (also known as Wombok), are added to it.

The dressing is inspired by the Vietnamese dipping sauce, Nước chấm, which combines the flavours of fish sauce, limes, vinegar and sugar with garlic and chilli.  A crunchy topping of fried shallots, is thrown over the salad, just before serving.

Stir-fried Runner Beans with toasted Almonds

Stir-Fry Runner Beans with sesame oil and toss with toasted almonds..

On the weekends, we often wander over to our local farm to pick up free range eggs.  Cartons of eggs are placed inside a cool box and left at the back door of the farmhouse.  It's a trust based system so we drop £2.50 into the coin jar, and help ourselves to two cardboard trays of eggs.  A dozen in total of unevenly shaped, different sized eggs laid by very happy hens that race towards us, clucking as we walk past the green pasture on which they graze.

Today, a large box filled with long, green beans sits beside the egg cartons.  Longer than the average green bean, and with a coarse outer skin that feels rough to touch, they are unfamiliar to me.  They look like wild beans that have originated from a lush, tropical rainforest, I think to myself, except that a handwritten sign on the box clearly says "homegrown runner beans - please take".  That's the beauty of living in the country, so many people grow their own vegetables and when they have a surplus, it is generously shared with anyone who wants them.  Eager to taste them, we take a few handfuls of beans and bring them home with us.

Swiss Chard, Walnut & Miso Pesto

Swiss Chard, Walnut & Miso Pesto 

A Swiss Chard Pesto recipe infused with Asian ingredients.

When it is overcast and grey outside, and large drops of rain have begun to fall from the skies, there is little motivation to tend the vegetable patch, and all I want to do is huddle up indoors with some nourishing, comforting food.  It is days like this that I dream of wholesome spaghetti drenched in warm, delicious green nuttiness.