Butternut and beef chilli con carne

There was a bit of butternut left at home (when isn't there?) and I decided to try this. As a wise man once told me, "Use 2 different kinds of meat when making chilli." I decided I'd add some seasonal veg instead of extra meat. It was lovely. This is an adaptation of a couple of recipes which I have sadly misplaced. My apologies. Trust me, though: this is good.

1-2 onions
1-2 chillies (to taste)
Garlic to taste (around 4 or so)
2 red peppers
400-500 g beef mince

400-500 g butternut, in 1cm cubes

1 tbsp. chilli powder
2 tsp. cumin
¼ tsp. cinnamon
1 bay leaf
2 x 400ml tins diced tomatoes
2 x 400 ml tins beans (black or kidney), drained and rinsed
2 or 3 ripe avocados, diced (to serve)
white rice, cooked
grated cheese (cheddar or comté if possible)
sour cream
coriander

Fry the onions, chillies, garlic and red peppers for a couple of minutes until the onions start going translucent. Add the meat and brown it, add in the butternut and cook for about 30 seconds (to brown it too, I guess), then add in the spices, mix up well, and then add the tomatoes and season well before mixing it all up. Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 20-30 minutes or so. Add the beans after about 10 minutes and check to see if you need to add more spice (another chilli or chilli powder, or cumin or cinnamon). When ready, serve with white rice, top with avo, coriander, cheese and sour cream, to taste. 

Enjoy.

Grilled salmon, courgette salad, rice salad, guacamole, and a full stomach: AKA Jazz Salmon

Source

Tasty special treat courtesy of Jamie Oliver. He's a bit of a git, what with his fabulous this and awesome that, but his recipes are, if you'll excuse the language, fantastic. I have made this a few times - my favourite part is the crunchy skin. It's a bit pricey to make in Estonia, but it's good for an occasional treat.

Definitely not my recipe, and I post this purely because I love it so very much. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

2 peppers
A bunch of spring onions
4 fresh chillies
1 x 1kg salmon fillet with skin, descaled and deboned as far as possible
2 lemons
fennel
1 mug basmati rice
225g pickled red peppers
some fresh mint leaves
balsamic vinegar
400g baby courgettes (although I've done this with larger courgettes too)
fresh coriander
1 clove garlic
2 limes
2-3 ripe avocados
olive oil (lots)
salt and pepper to taste

I agree with Jamie's advice to "get all your ingredients and equipment ready. Fill and boil the kettle. Turn the grill on to full whack. Put a saucepan on a medium heat. Put the standard blade attachment into the food processor (if you've got one)" (which we don't). There's a lot happening in a short period of time. This is from his 30-minute recipes, and even if it takes you slightly longer, you'll still be busy.

Anyway, here we go.

Salmon:

1. Pour a couple of lugs of olive oil into a large roasting tray. Slice the peppers, the spring onions, and 2 chillies.
2. Drizzle olive oil over both sides of the salmon, season, and grate lemon zest over the fillet - it'll need a full lemon for a big fillet.
3. Rub the flavours into the salmon. If needed, halve the salmon so it fits into the tray, then put the salmon in the tray skin up and put the vegetables around it.
4. Put under the grill and set the timer for 14 minutes. Put the rice into a medium saucepan with a pinch of salt and cover by 1.5 cm with boiling water.
5. Put the lid on, turn the heat right up and leave to cook for 7 minutes. Once cooked, take off the heat and leave to steam for 7 minutes, still covered with the lid.

Salad:

1.Squeeze the juice of ½ a lemon into a large serving bowl and add a couple of lugs of extra virgin olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
2. Finely chop the a couple of sprigs of mint leaves and ½ a chilli and add to the bowl.
3. Speed-peel as much of the baby courgettes as you can (using a mandoline if possible but a vegetable peeler works fine, too) over the dressing and put whatever is left behind on a large wooden chopping board.
4. Take the bowl of salad to the table but don’t toss until right before you are ready to serve.

Rice

1. Roughly chop and mix the jarred peppers and remaining mint leaves on the chopping board with the remaining courgette.
2. Add a pinch of salt & pepper, a good lug of extra virgin olive oil and a splash of balsamic.

Salmon

1. When the 14 minutes are up, take the tray out of the oven.
2. Using a knife and your fingers, carefully peel the skin away from the flesh and flip it over.
3. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and the fennel seeds over the exposed side of te skin.
4. Turn the peppers over, then put the tray back under the grill and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the skin is really crispy.

Guacamole (n.b this can be done by hand for a chunkier texture)

1. Trim the rest of the spring onions and put them into the processor with most of the coriander, a chilli (stalk removed), a peeled clove of garlic, the juice of 1 of your limes and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
2.Whiz up while you stone the avocados and quarter the tomatoes.
3. Stop whizzing, and squeeze the avocado flesh out of its skin into the processor.
4. Add the tomatoes and pulse until chunky.
5. Put into a bowl and add more seasoning or lime juice to taste if needed.
6. Take to the table with a few wedges of lime for squeezing over.

Rice

1. Quickly fluff up the rice with a fork, then tip over the board of chopped veg and gently mix together. Take to the table.
2. Use tongs to carefully turn the crispy salmon skin back over.
3. Season with salt & pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Serve with flour tortillas - these can be warmed in the microwave for 30s if bought, or wrapped in foil and placed in the grill after it has been turned off for a few minutes whilst you take everything else to the table.

Ceviche

Ceviche is a lovely South American dish of raw fish, coriander, and citrus fruit. And... that's about it, really. At least, the basics are really basic. But there are lots of possibilities to expand on the base. So go wild. This is the most recent, very basic, but quite fantastic version I used.

500g salmon, cut into 1cm-long strips
500g white fish (can't remember which type, since it was in Estonian), ditto
1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 cup lime juice, ditto
1 chilli, seeded and finely diced
1 1/2 tomatoes, finely diced
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 small red pepper, ditto
Coriander to taste and serve
Dash of Tabasco, salt and pepper to taste, oregano
Avocado to serve

Combine everything in a non-metallic bowl or dish (glass or plastic) and leave to sit for at least 4 hours or overnight. Serve with the avo and extra coriander.

I feel I should point out that this doesn't keep, so it should be eaten within 24 hours. These proportions should serve 6-8.

If you're feeling adventurous, substitute your fish for other fish, or even prawns or other seafood; or add grapefruit, pomegranate, garlic, basil, etc. Go wild.

Have fun.