Pizza Fiorentina

I apologise if you are still following Good food and red shoes and thinking when the heck is this woman going to add a new recipe. I kind of lost my mojo in the summer with the blog. That's not to say I haven't been cooking, it's still a big part of my life, but I haven't been trying many new recipes. 

I turned 50 this July, so I catered quite a lot for friends and family over the summer using some of my favourite recipes. On one occasion I catered for 23 family members, and it seemed relatively stress free. I'll share my recipes and photos soon.  My son did pass all of his GCSE's with good grades despite driving us mad with very little work. So both kids are in sixth form now. My daughter is approaching 18 and my husband 50 so I'm sensing a lot of entertaining and cooking in the next month or so. 

I loved this pizza the other night, it's from a book called Quick Cook, one pot. I really like using tortilla, I like the lightness of the pizza base, it feels healthier, I don't know if it is. The egg was a nice touch, I think I might of liked it as much without,  but it made it more interesting. 

Ingredients

Serves 4 

125 g of baby spinach leaves

4 large tortillas (I use 8 as put 2 together)

Tomato purée

125 g of mozzarella cheese sliced

4  eggs

25 g of Parmesan cheese (I used cheddar too)

Method

Place the spinach in a sieve  and pour over boiling water from the kettle until wilted, then squeeze thoroughly to remove excess water.

Arrange the tortillas on 4 pizza bases.  Spoon on the tomato purée then scatter over the spinach. Arrange the mozzarella on top, then crack and egg in the centre of each tortilla.

Sprinkle the Parmesan over the pizzas and place in a preheated oven 220° C for 5 to 7 minutes until the egg whites are just set. 

Asparagus and Gruyere tarte

If you want to make something that is so incredibly easy but very impressive at the same time this is the dish for you. 

It's a recipe given to me from my sister in law, and every time I have made it, it has been a huge success. 

Ingredients

Serves 4

1 pack of ready rolled puff pastry

A pack of asparagus

2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard

A block of gruyere cheese

Method 

Unroll the ready rolled puff pastry onto a large baking tray keeping it on the greaseproof paper that it is wrapped in . Score a line around the edge of the pastry about half an inch in, and prick the inside of the pastry with a fork to stop the pastry rising too much. Spread the Dijon mustard onto the pastry. Grate on the cheese to your liking. Lightly steam the asparagus then lay on top of the cheese. Grate a little more cheese over the Asparagus. Put the tarte in a hot oven for about 20 minutes unitil the pastry is golden and the cheese is bubbling. It can be eaten hot or cold. 

Roasted new potatoes with Brie and sundried tomatoes

Tesco recently sent me a box of free goodies for being a good customer. It included a packet of jersey royal potatoes, some Cornish Brie, some sun dried tomatoes and a recipe card. 

Heat the oven to 200C, then roast the potatoes in olive oil with a bit of mustard power mixed in and lots of seasoning. When the potatoes are golden, slice on the Cornish Brie, add the sundried tomatoes and put back in the oven until the cheese is just starting to melt. Sprinkle with parsley when it's out of the oven. I added the Parma ham at the cheese stage and it crisps up beautifully in the oven. 

It was a very simple but delicious meal, perfect for alfresco dining in this wonderful weather we are experiencing. 

Note: if you haven't got mustard powder any mustard would be fine mixed in with the olive oil. I think a sprinkling of spring onions half way through cooking stage would add a good flavour and blue cheese melted like cambozola would be good too. 

Nigella Lawson's Peanut Butter squares

These delicious chocolate and peanut treats were made as a bribe for James to do some revision the other evening. Did it work? No, he ate and enjoyed them but still didn't do the revision required. We haven't got long to go, it will all be over by Friday and there starts a very long summer. We will then have the job of finding a prom suit for the following Friday, hopefully it won't be as difficult as the prom dress search last year. Anyway, if you like Reece's Peanut butter cups you will love these, they are very similar. The recipe is an old favourite from, 'How to be a Domestic Goddess'.

INGREDIENTS
Serves: 12

For the base
50g muscovado sugar
200g icing sugar
50g unsalted butter
200g smooth peanut butter

For the topping
200g milk chocolate
100g plain chocolate
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Method
Stir all the ingredients for the base together. You can simply use a wooden spoon and bowl or throw it all into the magimix for a couple of high powered seconds.
Press the sandy mixture into the lined brownie or similar style tin and make the surface as even as possible.
To make the topping simply put the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl and microwave for only a minute or two to melt.
Spread on base and put the tin in the fridge to set.
When the chocolate has hardened cut into mini squares. 

Tray-roast salmon and vegetables with creme fraiche and crumbs

There is a similarity with this dish and one of my favourite salmon dishes which is the salmon with a lemon and Parmesan crust. Both are really lovely recipes and very easy to prepare. The salmon was fresh and perfectly cooked, it's a wonderful meal for the summer months. The meal is from the delicious website. I'm very tempted to subscribe to the magazine and have a change from Olive Magazine, which hasn't been inspiring me that much recently. 

Ingredients

Serves 4
700g unpeeled new potatoes, thinly sliced
Olive oil for drizzling
50g half-fat crème fraîche
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp chopped fresh dill
Zest 1 lemon, plus wedges
4 sustainably sourced salmon fillets, skin removed
6 tbsp panko breadcrumbs
230g asparagus, woody ends removed, halved if thick
125g pack tenderstem broccoli, trimmed and halved if thick

METHOD

Heat the oven to 200ºC. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Arrange the potato slices in the tray, season and drizzle with oil. Roast for 20 minutes; toss halfway through.
Mix the crème fraîche with the dijon mustard, dill, lemon zest and seasoning. Set aside.

Remove the baking tray from the oven, then add the salmon fillets. Spoon the crème fraîche mixture evenly over each fillet, then top with the breadcrumbs.
Arrange the veg around the salmon and potatoes in the tray. Drizzle with oil and season. Roast for 12-15 minutes until the salmon is cooked, the breadcrumbs are golden and the veg are just tender. Serve with the lemon wedges.

Mexican Bean Burgers

Well the exams have started. Stress levels have reduced a bit, because let's face it there isn't much that can be done at this stage, apart from night before cramming, which thankfully is happening. I'll continue the good food to keep up the energy levels and feed the brain. We will just hope for the best and keep our fingers crossed. A month today it will all be over. It seems a very long way off though. 

I am surprised that the kids like this meal as they can be a bit funny about things made with beans, but these burgers went down a treat last night. Use the recipe as a guide but throw in other things to enhance the flavour. We didn't have salsa but found that sweet chilli sauce was a lovely accompaniment. They are quick and easy and I would think reasonably healthy. The recipe is from the BBC goodfood website, which suggests the burgers can also be frozen.

Ingredients
Makes 6 burgers

2 x 400g/14oz cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
100g breadcrumb
2 tsp mild chilli powder
small bunch coriander, stalks and leaves chopped
1 egg
200g tub fresh salsa
150ml low-fat natural yogurt

juice ½ lime

Burger buns, sliced avocado, sliced red onion and salad leaves, to serve.

Method

Tip the beans into a large bowl, then roughly crush with a potato masher. Add the breadcrumbs, chilli powder, coriander stalks and ½ the leaves, egg and 2 tbsp salsa, season to taste, then mix together well with a fork. 

Divide the mixture into 6, then wet your hands and shape into burgers. The burgers can now be frozen if required. If cooking straight away fry in hot oil on each side until golden and crisp.To cook from frozen, bake at 200ºC for 20-30 mins until hot through.

While the burgers are cooking, mix the remaining coriander leaves with the yogurt, lime juice and a good grind of black pepper. Split the buns in half and spread the bases with some of the yogurt. Top each with leaves, avocado, onion, a burger, another dollop of the lime yogurt and some salsa, then serve.

Tip: I always have fresh coriander left over if I have bought it for a recipe, freeze the left overs in the packet, as they come in handy for recipes like this.