georgie – Page 14

Sorrel and sausage spaghetti (Lady and the Tramp style)

02.13.2015 by georgie // 2 Comments

Before I start rabbiting on, I just want to start by saying that I love this recipe. LOVE it. It’s so delicious and so easy! (I pretty much ate that entire platter all on my own. I’ll obviously make it again later for Pete…)

So, the reason for this post. Well, yes, you guessed it, it’s for Valentines day. I’m not a big V-day lover I have to say, I like the sentiment, telling people you love them, but do I need a set date to do that? Unfortunately it just feels like another way to get us to spend money. Boo. But we’re not total cynics, Pete and I. We’ll always make each other something, usually a card and a meal. Ok, cooking is something we do almost everyday anyway, but we do try make it a bit more special and imaginative. And this year I have been inspired by that classic Disney love story ‘Lady and the Tramp’. I’m making a platter of meatball spaghetti for 2. Whats more romantic than sharing a plate of food?! (Unless you’re one of those people that doesn’t like sharing food? In that case feel free to plate it up on separate plates of course).

Romantic dinner for two — A Disney inspired romantic dinner for two

However instead of going classic Italiano meatballs with tomato sauce, I thought I’d try something a little different, and boy I’m glad I did. I found a big ol’ bunch of sorrel today at the market and decided to play with making a sorrel pesto. Read more…

Prawn Gyozas

01.30.2015 by georgie // 2 Comments

I want to let you into a little secret. Gyozas are insanely addictive. To make, to eat, the lot. Once you master making these little beauties, you’ll never stop. Pork, prawn and crab, chicken, veggie… You’ll be making them quicker than you can eat them.

A few weeks back my mum came to visit, so I set about making gyozas en masse. I knew full well she’d love them (she’s obsessed with dim sum) but mainly I wanted her to take them home to my dad. My mum and dad struggle with their evening meals – my dad is a pescatarian and my mum is a carnivore that doesn’t eat fish. Its a bleedin nightmare! The only thing they do agree on however is prawns; it’s the only protein they will both eat. So with that in mind I sent her home with a box of these gyozas to see how they’d go down. They were an all round hit. So much so that my dad hasn’t stopped talking about them since! So, a week later, when I had an evening to myself, I stocked up on ingredients and started to make a stash of them for their freezer. It was so incredibly relaxing. Pete was working late and I just stood there folding gyozas for a few hours. It was almost meditative – I highly recommend it for mental well being. And the best bit is they’re not unhealthy. They’re lightly fried to get that gorgeous crispy bottom but that’s it (although I’m sure the amount of soy I drench them in is questionable!), nice and light.

Lightly fried Prawn gyozas with soy and chilli dipping sauce

Lined up and ready for to go — Lined up and ready for to cook

So, here you go. Impressive little prawn parcels, perfect for a party, for a snack or as part of a main meal. Heck, on honeymoon I even had them for breakfast – its all good.

Read on for recipe…

Incredible roast veg salad with a minty yoghurt dressing

01.23.2015 by georgie // 1 Comment

With life starting to slowly return back to ‘normal’ (ha), I find by Friday I am a little bit frazzled/ broken/ exhausted from all the yo-yoing. Take this week for example: Monday was counselling, Tuesday I was at work, Wednesday we saw our therapist back at the maternity unit, Thursday I had to have some blood tests, followed by a day at work, then last night I didn’t get to sleep till around 4am, but woke up at 7.30am when Peter did. Today – I am exhausted.

It’s a stunning day, the view from our apartment is incredible, London looks gorgeous in the sunshine. However I have decided to stay indoors. If you are good at putting on a front (guilty as charged) then I think people assume you’re fine? That’s ok, I need to carry on ‘carrying on’ and can’t talk about what has happened all the time. However it’s surprisingly tiring. I struggle to concentrate. My time was my own before to think about Archie whenever I liked, where as now I go out, do things, work, see people. Just when I think I’ve got my head around the landscape of my grief it changes and I feel a bit lost again.

So today I’ve gone back to the start. The Archers is on the radio, I’m still in my PJ’s (it’s 2pm) and I’ve made myself some good wholesome grub. We bought some gorgeous baby veg from the market on the weekend and I wanted to showcase them quite simply – something nutritious and healthy, whilst getting the most out of these beauties. So here they are, lightly spiced but not hot, with a refreshing yoghurt dressing. A truly perfect sunny lunch. Delicious.

Now, I’m going to go treat myself to a nice long bubble bath, then who knows, maybe I’ll crochet. I hope you all have a lovely weekend x

Incredible roast veg salad with a yoghurt dressing

INCREDIBLE ROAST VEG SALAD WITH A MINTY YOGHURT DRESSING

This salad is simply gorgeous, not too complicated and great on its on as a lunch or dinner. Or, for something a little more substantial try it with a piece of grilled lemony fish.

Serves 4 as a side, 2 as a main

300g baby carrots, scrubbed
A romanesco cauliflower, trimmed (or just a regular cauliflower if you cant get romanesco)
150g curly kale, washed and stems removed
A drizzle of runny honey
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 juicy lime
4 heaped tablespoons natural yoghurt
Handful of mint leaves
A small cloves of garlic
2cm piece of ginger, peeled
1/2 a green chilli, deseeded
2 tablespoons of dried cranberries

Preheat your oven to 200/400/ gas mark 6.

Trim the cleaned carrots, and halve any larger ones lengthways. Cut the cauliflower into even sized florets and place all the veg in a large roasting tray. Drizzle with olive oil, a squeeze of runny honey, and sprinkle over a pinch of salt and pepper. Bash the cumin and coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar until mostly ground, but with a bit of texture still, and scatter over the veg. Toss everything together, mixing it well and spread out in one layer. Pop in the oven for around 20 – 25 minutes, stirring once or twice, until almost cooked through and starting to caramelise (this will depend on the size of your carrots, if they don’t feel quite ready roast them for a further 5 minutes). Remove the tray from the oven, scatter over the washed and torn kale, toss with a little olive oil and return to the oven for a further 6 – 8 minutes until the kale starts to turn crisp and the veg is cooked through. Remove from the oven and leave to one side to cool a little.

Whilst your veg is cooling make your dressing. Spoon the yoghurt into a mixing bowl and squeeze in the juice from the lime. Finely grate in the garlic and ginger. Finely chop the chilli and most of the mint leaves and add to the bowl. Mix everything together and season to taste. Spoon the dressing onto a large plate and pile the roasted veg on top. Scatter over the cranberries and reserved mint leaves and serve.