Jamie’s meal is here: http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/jamie-oliver/thai-red-prawn-curry-and-papaya-platter-meal

My version below -

For the red curry

• 2 stalks of lemongrass
• 1 fresh red chilli – I generally deseed chillis (Taste your chilli – decide if you prefer half or full)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 4 kaffir lime leaves, fresh, dried or frozen
• Bunch of fresh coriander (I used 20 gm to make paste)
• 2 Red peppers roasted (I rosted them in a pan with groundnut oil)
• 4 heaped tsp tomato purée
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2cm piece of fresh ginger
• 1 Small Broccolli
• 2 Sweet Potatoes (Medium sized) – peeled and chopped into two inch cubes
• 150gm butternut squash peeled and chopped into 2 inch cubes
• 200g sugar snap peas (optional)
• 1 x 400g tin of coconut milk
• 2 limes, to serve

Red curry: Preheat the oven to 180deg C and then bake the butternut squash and sweet potatoes for around 30 mins until semi-soft and slightly brown on edges (caramalise, not burn!).  If you are a fan of red peppers like I am, throw in a few chopped and deseeded in this tray of veggies.  Trim the ends off your sprouting broccoli or your normal flower broccoli, and chop it into florets and keep them ready to add to the pan.

Put a large frying pan on a medium heat. Trim the ends and tough outer leaves of the lemongrass stalks, bash up the stalks with the side of a knife, then put into a food processor with 1 fresh red chilli (stalk removed), 2 peeled cloves of garlic, 4 lime leaves, a bunch of coriander, 2 roasted red peppers, 4 heaped teaspoon of tomato purée,  2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Peel and add 2cm of fresh ginger. Blitz to a paste – you might need to stop and use a spatula to scrape down the sides so it all gets whizzed up.
Drizzle some olive oil into the hot frying pan and add the broccoli. Let them fry for around 2 minutes, then add all of the the curry paste and stir and fry for a minute or two before adding the coconut milk. Stir as it melts down, then leave to simmer on a medium to low heat.

Once your roasted veggies are ready, just add them to this sauce and then simmer for another 5 minutes.
Jasmine rice: Put a medium saucepan on a medium heat. Add the mug of rice, a pinch of salt, a splash of olive oil, the 2 jasmine teabags or flower, and cover with 2 mugs of boiling water (use the same mug you used for the rice). Cover with a lid and cook for 7 minutes, then take off the heat and leave to steam with the lid on for 7 minutes.  (We use brown rice with a handful of red unrefined rice and it goes really well with this curry)

To serve: Taste the curry and correct the seasoning with a few drops of soy sauce if needed. Scatter over the reserved coriander leaves.. Cut the remaining limes into wedges for squeezing over.  Fluff up the rice with a fork, then take to the table.  Dish up the rice, ladle over the curry and let the compliments roll in!

Cheers to my first intentional vegan meal! Very excited. This is just the beginning!

Tom (my huband) decided at the beginning of last year (2012) that he’s going to try to cut out dairy as much as possible from our diet.  We weren’t thinking of going vegan – but a moderate vegetarian. It was one of those new year resolutions that I thought may or may not last.  Tom stuck to his guns most of the time, while I enjoyed sipping cappuccinos and lattes in cafes.  We haven’t bought a pint of milk for a year now (unless we have guests coming to stay over and we try to act like normal people, hehe)! However, not having milk in the house meant that there was a significantly less amount of hot chocolates for those cold evenings and less coffees for me.  It also meant that the butter and cheeses I bought were just consumed by me and I felt super guilty to enjoy them without my cheese lover Tom.

This year we are taking one step forward and quitting eating other animal products – surprisingly, it hasn’t been that hard and we are enjoying a larger variety of flavours and foods.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons chopped chives
2 large free range eggs
1/2 (red) romano pepper (UK) / bell pepper / banana chilli (in australia)) chopped length-ways
2 proscuito ham slices torn lengthways (along the grain)
50gm Swiss Gouda cheese
6 snow white mushrooms sliced into 1/2 cm slices
1 shitake mushroom sliced into 1/2 cm slices
6 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons of water
Salt and pepper to taste
To serve 2 slices of Toasted bread (seeded/brown)

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Beat eggs in a bowl, add water, chives and a hint of salt and pepper to taste. Keep this mixture aside.

Add 3 tablespoons of oil to a heavy base pan heated on a medium heat. Add the mushrooms and let them cook for about one to two minutes. Add the peppers and cook for further two minutes. Now that the mushrooms start looking golden brown and peppers start to look a bit softer, add these into the bowl with eggs. Mix well.

Now add the remaining oil (3 tablespoons) to pan, and add all the mixture from the bowl into the pan. Let it cook for a few minutes. Lay the torn prosciutto ham, cheese on top while the egg mixture is cooking.

Once the egg starts looking fairly cooked, scoop the omelet and turn it over.

Let it cook for a further minute, and then serve it on two plates with a slice of toast each.

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It serves as a great brunch on those mornings that you wake up late and aren’t sure if you should be serving breakfast or making lunch!

100gm Butternut squash – diced
110gm Parmesan cheese – grate it
Glug of olive oil
Glug of extra virgin olive oil
150gm risotto
Baby Spinach leaves
1 large onion – chopped
8 cloves of garlic – grated
1 stock cube – (mushroom stock makes the risotto creamier) – trade secret!
Prepare 500ml of stock
pinch of salt
quarter teaspoon freshly ground pepper – (to your taste)

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Keep the pan on low heat – Add a glug of olive oil in a pan
Add your crushed/grated garlic and chopped onion
Put the lid on and let it cook until slightly translucent. This will take about 5 to 7 minutes.

Add the risotto rice. Add the diced butternut squash.
Keep stirring the risotto until it starts looking slightly translucent.
Add your pinch of salt.
Add half glass of stock and keep stirring until it gets absorbed in the rice – Carry on adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite. This will take around 15 minutes. If you run out of stock, add boiling water. Stir in ground pepper.

Remove from the heat.
Add the spinach leaves, and stir them in the risotto.
Add 3/4th of the Parmesan. Stir well.
Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes. This is the most important part of making the perfect risotto . Don’t be a curious cat and keep lifting the lid to see if the rice has turned creamy enough.

Serve it in two plates – add the remaining Parmesan on top – hmm, enjoy!

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Serves 4

4 large globe artichokes
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons lemon juice
75gm unsalted butter
4 large slices of smoked salmon
4 medium eggs

Put artichokes in a large pan, cover with water and simmer for about 30 minutes.

While artichokes are cooking, make Hollandaise sauce. Put the egg yolks into a large bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Add 4 tablespoons water and the lemon juice and bring to a very gentle simmer, whisking constantly. Add the butter, one small piece at a time, still whisking constantly, until thickened. This will take about 10 minutes.

Drain the artichokes upside down. When cool enough to handle, open the outside leaves, pull out the central leaves and furry bits (but do not discard them, and serve on the side). Tip in the smoked salmon

Poach the eggs. Add an egg to each artichoke and pour on the hollaindaise sauce.

Ingredients

1 bulb garlic
200g Italian risotto
1 Onion small chopped
100g mushrooms (chestnut & wild mushroom)
Few leaves of thyme
Small bunch of Parsley
2 cloves of garlic

These roasted vegetables go great with meat or fish, or you can just enjoy eating it on its own.

1 1kg organic onion squash
1 large onion
6 cloves of garlic
6 boiled new potatoes
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
15 tablespoons olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 180degC.
2. Peel the boiled potatoes, onions, and onion squash.
3. Chop squash and onion in two inch pieces and chop the potatoes in half.
4. Crush the garlic inside the skin.
5. Add all of the ingredients to the large baking tray and mix them so that they all are covered in oil.
6. Put the baking tray in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes.
Keep an eye on the squash, the squash shouldn’t go brown, it should be golden.
7. Now get a fork and taste it.
Genius isn’t it?!?