Jamie Oliver - Jamie Does - Venice 1:4

Gennaro Contaldo making pesto

Pesto

How to Make Creamy Mushroom Soup - Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe

My Post-d20 Refreshing Salad

This is exactly the kind of thing after a night of rolling dice and making hunger checks. This is what I used:
- iceberg lettuce, a handful of leaves clicked off the salad head, rinsed and spun to remove excess water
- half a tomato
- a thumb-sized piece of cucumber
- a handful of steamed green beans (you can get fresh or frozen)
- half a small red onion
- half a lemon
- a handful or rocket leaves (some people don't like rocket - try parsley or dill)
- salt and pepper, olive oil (i used truffle-infused olive oil for this one, but it was just an experiment)
- some left-over grilled chicken or turkey breast (or salmon)
- a teaspoon of organic horseradish mustard (or regular)

Chop up all the fresh greens (taking the customary Reflex save to avoid taking off your finger tips), and place them in a bowl. Add the diced or sliced chicken breast, season with salt and pepper, then grab your lemon half and squeeze it in. Dress with olive oil, mix it up with your hands (or use a fork if you're squeamish) then plate it up. Simply pile the steamed beans on top and sprinkle a few leaves of rocket.
Done!

Jamie on using herbs, 30-Minute Meals

Salmon Tikka with Yoghurt

Happy days!

Just got me one of these babies - a Kitchen Craft Italian Collection Deluxe Double Cutter Pasta Machine. :D
I'm so very happy about it!
Thanks to all my friends for this lovely gift. I promise i'll put it to good use soon!

Leeks are amazing

A lot of people probably don't give leeks a second chance when it comes to cooking. But they're amazing when cooked in proper ways and with the right ingredients.

Besides what Jamie suggests, I'd add my own recipe of leek-onion soup that I might do for the blog someday.

Crazy about salads

My Quick Beef&Veg Stir Fry

Hi guys

I just made a kick-ass stirfry in just under 20 minutes and it came out delicios. This is what you'll need:

- About 200g of beef sirloin (or any cut you want, really, as long as you remove the fatty bits)

- Fresh veg: a couple of spring onions, some parsley, half a green or red chilli, a bit of bell red pepper, some frozen green beans and a few slices of zucchini (I'd recommed mint or coriander, but I only had parsley). You can swap these with any veg you like, really: broccoli, peas, cauliflower, butternut squash - anything!

- Vegetable oil (olive oil isn't good for stir-frying because it will start to smoke)

- As usual, salt and pepper and spices to your liking (I used powdered ginger and nutmeg). You can replace the powdered ginger by throwing in half a julienne-cut ginger in with your veggies

- Half a lemon or a small lime

- A handful of rice (you can use basmati or plain rice)

- Soy sauce and an egg

This serves two people. First thing you need to do is to put the rice to boil in a salted pan of water.

 Cut the meat into strips then even them out in size - I had to cut the bigger pieces into thinner strips.

Chop up your veg into similarly sized chunks (note, I hadn't chopped the beans yet in this pic) - include the parsley stalks. Put your wok or thick-based non-stick pan onto your stove to 3/4 whack and let it heat up. The key to this is a very  hot pan so don't be afraid to leave it on the fire for 4-5 minutes.

 Once your rice is cooked, you'll have to drain it in a collander and refresh it with some cold water, then rest. 

 Pile your cut strips of beef onto  a plate with the chopped veg. Sprinkle with vegetable oil and add seasoning according to your taste.

Once you've mixed all these beauties up, throw them into the pan and cook while stirring frequently until the meat is cooked (it has to be browned, since it's thin it will cook faster than you probably think), and add a bit of soy sauce. Don't overcook it - you don't want stringy bits of beef everywhere.

This is what you should end up with. Set it on a plate and let it rest while you prepare to stir fry the rice. 

Throw the egg into the hot pan and stir for about 10-15 seconds like you'd be making scrambled eggs. 

 Without allowing the egg to cook yet, add the rice and a handful of parsley leaves, and stirfry for 30 seconds.

Once you've done that, add in the other stuff and after 15 seconds, squeeze in your lemon juice, then cook for another 30.

You'll end up with a beautiful, zingy dish. Enjoy!

Mozarella, chilli and lemon crostini

antipasti of mozzarella, chilli, and lemon crostini

starter | serves 4 
Heat a griddle pan until it’s really smoking hot, then griddle each slice of ciabatta for a couple of minutes on each side until they are nicely charred. 

Cut the garlic clove in half, rub each ciabatta slice with garlic and drizzle with a little olive oil. Tear the mozzarella evenly over the 8 crostini. Season well with salt and pepper, sprinkle over the sliced chilli and basil leaves and grate over the lemon zest. Finish with another drizzle of olive oil.

ingredients

• 8 slices ciabatta bread
• 1 clove garlic
• extra virgin olive oil
• 2 balls of buffalo mozzarella
• Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
• a small handful of fresh basil leaves
• 1 lemon for zesting

This recipe is from jamie's site