Author: chezj9

Hi I'm Janine. I am the author of the blog ChezJ9. I am a freelance Chef who specialises in recipe development from my kitchen at home. I am also a freelance Food writer also. I love to travel and have a passion for Art and gardening especially in my kitchen one. I love ALL foods especially seasonal food and the provenance of my food is important to me aswell as trying to keep things local. One thing I don't like, is food waste. I try to be as Frugal as I can but also do love to have a treat now and then and a tipple of course.

Marinated Feta

July 1, 2015


I wasn’t going to post this as I did this about a year ago now, but a friend of mine changed my mind. 
  I had been talking about this to my friend which I though most people did this I.E marinating cheese but he said he hadn’t ever tried it. He looked very interested in it and started asking me what the process was and how long it took. He knows that Feta isn’t my favourite cheese also which made him even more interested. When I did this to the Feta Oh my! I will always do this with it and experiment with other cheeses too. In fact I may have to do it again this weekend as its great to have in your fridge when friends come round unannounced or even for nibbles.

   It gives a really nice unique flavour to it and also turns a “basic, no frills” cheese into a speciality one. When you do this to feta, you also get a fantastic oil to work with, so do not get rid of it. It works fabulously tossed through pasta or rice and drizzled over bread to make Bruschetta’s, its just heavenly. Not to forget, a ready made salad dressing in itself.

    This would be a great present for a foodie lover, possibly for Christmas, a Birthday or even to turn up to an al fresco party of some kind.  Just imagine, you have an old Jar left over from something, spend 90p roughly on a block of Feta, use up some herbs and oil, stick a bow on it and what a great gift that will surely bring a smile to a friends face.


Marinated Feta:



Ingredients:

–  An Empty Jar, approximately one that had 300g/300ml product in, sterilised
–  A block of Feta or Greek style salad cheese approximatley 200g
–  Olive oil or Rapeseed oil to fill the Jar
–  Handful of “Sun-blushed” Tomatoes 
–  Selection of fresh herbs such as Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano and Lemon Thyme just pulled not chopped
–  3-4 Garlic cloves bashed
–  Small handful of Black peppercorns
–  Few slithers of chopped red chillies or chilli flakes

Method:

*  Its very simple: You put all ingredients into the jar and let it sit in the fridge for about a week for all the flavours to infuse and you are done! 

Lamb Kofta Wraps

June 30, 2015
  I normally like to keep my work recipes separate to the ones I do on here, but occasionally, I just have to share some with my readers and this recipe is one of them.
  The weather today here in the Uk is a scorcher so I felt I had to share this with you for a perfect easy, quick dinner that won’t have you sweating over the oven! 

  These are a great favourite in our house especially at this time of year and throughout Summer.  I tend to cook these as a great Sunday alternative and of course when the Sun is out, the BBQ can be lit. We don’t tend to buy Lamb that often because of price, but if your budget takes you a bit further, it’s a great treat to have. I always freeze some down so that they are there when money doesn’t stretch that far.


   Ive added a spice of Ras el hanout which is a spice blend from North Africa. It is widely available now and gives it that extra flavour such as Garam masala does in Indian Cuisine.  It is a great Blend that can be used in many recipes, of which, I do!
  Once all wrapped up, these are so Juicy and fresh tasting with all that salad packed in and of course with the little added bonuses of Lemon, Yoghurt and pickled chilli peppers, It’s a match made in Heaven. 
 Once you’ve had these, you’ll be making a lot more I assure you.


Lamb Kofta Wraps:




Ingredients:
(Makes approximately 14 Koftas)

Koftas:

  • 500g Lamb Mince
  • 2 Tbsp Rapeseed Oil
  • 1 medium Onion diced finely
  • 1 tsp Ras el hanout ( I use Spice Kitchen for all my dry spices, they are fantastic)
  • 1 tsp Ground Cumin, 
  • 1 tsp Ground Coriander,
  • Half of a small Green Chilli chopped finely
  • 2 cloves of Garlic Chopped Finely
  • 1/2 Tsp Chilli Powder
  • 1 Level Tbsp Tomato Puree
  •   Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper for seasoning 
  •   Small handful of Fresh coriander chopped finely

Salad:

  • A selection of Salad leaves such as Watercress, Rocket, Mizuna (to give a peppery) taste
  •   White Cabbage Sliced fine (to add crunch) You could use Iceberg if you can’t get it.
  •   Salad Cress
  •   Red onion sliced through the whole onion very finely 
  •   Cucumber sliced fine
  •   Fresh Mint leaves
  •   Fresh Coriander Leaves

  •   Soft Tortilla Wraps , If you want to have a go at making your own Flatbreads, I have my recipe click here
  •   Plain Greek Yoghurt
  •   Lemon to spritz over
  •   Pickled Chillis ,if required, to add extra hotness and authenticity (Can be bought in most world sections of supermarkets)


Method:




  • Fry off your Chopped Onion and add your dry spices (Ras el hanout, Cumin, coriander and Chilli powder). Cook for a minute, stirring and allowing not to burn.
  • Add your Garlic and fresh chilli and cook for another minute or two or until onions have started to colour and your Garlic isn’t burning.

  • Add some salt and pepper to season and pop this mixture into a bowl to cool.

  •   In a separate Bowl place your Lamb mince, tomato Puree and a little more Salt and Pepper. Pop into this bowl, all your onion and herb mixture.

  • Mix all ingredients together with your hands and add your Chopped Coriander.

  • Take a small handful of your Kofta mix and start to form a ball in your hands, then slowly shape more into an oval shape. Do this repeatedly with all your mixture. 

  • * N.B If you do too many you can freeze them at this stage.

  • Fry off your Kofta’s in a little oil as with lamb you wont need too much. Turning so that each side is cooked well.

*  Warm your Tortillas to packet instructions and then assemble your Wrap. Add a little salad, then meat, then salad. Spritz Lemon, add chilli if you wish and drizzle with Yoghurt and you’re ready to go!






“Fridge raid pasta” for BBC Radio Leicester

June 19, 2015

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I came up with this recipe about 4 weeks ago for BBC Leicester on my regular slot with Ben Jackson  but it had completely slipped my mind to post it, it sometimes happens with myself as I do so many recipes in a week.  So I must post this now as sadly, our lovely British asparagus are now coming to an end for their season this year, but if  you did want to recreate this as it is, you should just manage to find some still around this week and maybe next. As for the peas though, they are now coming into season so you could even use fresh British ones. They would be brilliant for this recipe.

This was done literally how it says in the title. I let Ben look into my fridge, we picked out a few ingredients ( Seasonal too) and then I came up with a dish on the spot. It was to show people really how easy and quick it is to come up with a dish as great tasting and looking as this, just by using up things that are in your fridge! I suppose one would call this a “Ready steady cook” thing maybe? I love doing that and  I love to show people what they can acheive just from a few ingredients or leftovers they have. Say no to waste!
I cook meals like this quite regularly in the week, maybe not with the exact ingredients but I always ensure I have a bag of pasta in so I can create something like this. It’s also great having a jar of homemade Pesto in your fridge as that alone with pasta and a sprinkling of parmesan is a dish in itself.  It doesn’t have to be a wild garlic one, you could use a basil or another green vegetable/herb pesto. Creating dishes like this in under 15-20 minutes, you’ll never turn back.

Click this link and you can hear me making it on BBC Radio Leicester

 

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Fridge raid pasta

Ingredients:
(Serves 2 -3)

*One thing I must add for this recipe is that I can’t mark it as Vegetarian as it has Parmesan in my pesto recipe*
– Approximately 200g Fusilli Pasta or any pasta of your Choice
– 1/4 Leek sliced
– 2 Spring Onions chopped finely
– 2 cloves of Garlic
– 8 British Asparagus Spears, wood end cut off
– 5-6 British Purple Sprouting Broccoli Stems
– A handful of Petit Pois defrosted and drained or British Fresh podding Peas
– 1 Tbsp Of Wild Garlic Pesto or can use Basil Pesto
– Small Handful of Pea Shoots
– Cracked black Pepper
– Sea salt to season

 

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Method:

*  Take of wood ends off the Asparagus and peel the outer layer at the bottom couple of inches and pop into Ice cold Water to keep them vivid green.

*  Chop Purple Sprouting broccoli into 3 and pop into the Ice cold water too.

*  In boiling water Cook the Asparagus and the Purple sprouting Broccoli for 2 minutes then plunge into Ice cold Water

*  Cook Pasta to packet instructions in the same Pan with boiling water used for the Veg.

*  Fry off your Onion, Leek and Garlic for a couple of Minutes adding a little Cracked Black pepper.

*  Chop your Asparagus into 3 and add them and the Purple Sprouting Broccoli, stir for a minute or two.

*  Drain your Pasta and keep a little water  to pop into the frying pan to add a little moisture. Add your Pasta to the Vegetable mix now.

*  Stir in your Pesto and cook for a minute making sure whilst stirring your pasta it is all coated with it.

*  Pop in your Peas, stir for 30 seconds and then add your pea shoots. Add a little Salt to season and you are ready to serve!

 

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Summer Tart for Food Friday on BBC Radio Leicester

June 6, 2015

Between Saturday 13th and Sunday 21st of June this year it is National Picnic week.  A great opportunity for families and friends to get outdoors and involve food and drink.
  I personally love picnics, I don’t do enough of them but am determined to have more this year, as I love being outdoors and love the countryside. I feel it’s a great way for children to experiment more with food and also learn things such as the wildlife around them from being outdoors.

  Picnics are a great frugal way of spending time together with your loved ones and getting people involved with food.  Now it doesn’t have to be all about “beige food” either, be as colourful as you can with food on picnics, use up your leftovers to create rice, pasta and noodle salads.  Look in your fridge and come up with what you can. Don’t feel you have to go and buy a load of food in, thats the beauty of it, creating what you can on a budget, and thats exactly what I did here for this weeks Food Friday with Ben Jackson on my regular slot on BBC Radio Leicester. (Listen here)
   I took a look at what I had that was on its last legs, of which were my lovely British vine tomatoes and an Aubergine I bought the day before for 10p!
  I decided to do a lovely Summer tart, It is super easy to do, will cost you less to nothing but has some great punchy flavours. 

  Even if Picnics aren’t your thing, you may have some friends over for some “Al fresco” dining which I can assure you, this will impress them immensely! 
One thing to also state is the versatility of this, you can change the vegetables to something such as Peppers or courgettes. Or as Ben suggested, crumble some feta on top. 
  I know one thing, I will be making many different versions of this including a courgette one, when mine come to harvest and look out for some more Picnic recipes for you to try soon.

Summer Tart:



Ingredients:

(One Block of 500g Puff Pastry will make 2 Tarts)

*One Tart


–  Some Plain flour for sprinkling
–  Half block of 5oog Puff Pastry
–  One medium sized Red Onion sliced
–  2-3 large tomatoes sliced into wedges
–  A Few thin slices of Aubergine
–  2 cloves of Garlic finely chopped
–  A selection of fresh herbs, I used Thyme, Lemon Thyme, Oregano, Rosemary
–  Sea salt and Cracked Black pepper to season
–  Drizzle of Chilli oil over the top if you wish or You could use Rapeseed or Olive oil

Method:

*  Preheat Oven to 200-220c

*  Roll out your Pastry on a floured surface with a Rolling pin to just under a Pound coin’s thickness.

*  Score slightly with a knife a couple of cm’s in around the Edge of the Pastry to allow to puff up at the sides.

*   Prick with a fork a good few times so that the Pastry won’t rise to high.

*  Place your Red onion slices on, then your Tomatoes, Season with salt and pepper and pop in the Oven for 10 minutes.

*  After 10 minutes, place your Aubergine slices in between the slices of tomato, add your Garlic, herbs and drizzle your oil over and place back into the Oven for a further 10 minutes or when the tart is Golden brown with no “Soggy bottom”