Creativity Wins!

How do you like to cook? Some people like to read and prepare recipes to the letter creating perfection in every bite.  Others give the ingredients a quick scan and then ditch the recipe book to create their own masterpieces. It is true that a picture speaks a thousand words - just the sight of something yummy can give the inspiration to get creative in the kitchen.


My kind of cooking can be compared to reality singing shows where contestants are encouraged to make songs 'their own'. There is nothing more satisfying to me than to hear of new ways that My Secret Kitchen products and recipes are being enjoyed.

One of my favourite recipes this month is hoummus using our gorgeous Saffron Tagine Paste. Our paste is great value for money - from the same jar you can make a fabulous tagine for six and still have enough left to use in marinades and dressings or to add a touch of exotic flavour to any dish - we've made it unique by adding the evocative spice, saffron. To serve with the hoummus we created another recipe for our versatile Beer Bread Mixes - Sunflower Seeded Honey Beer Bread and turned the loaf into home-made gourmet crisp bread crackers.

Hoummus with Saffron Tagine Chick Pea Topping
and Sunflower Seeded Honey Crisp Bread

The hoummus recipe uses chick peas - some of which are reserved to make a topping along with more Saffron Tagine Paste, red onion, tomato puree and our Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil from Sussex - with its golden colour and distinctive smokey flavour.  The Sunflower Seeded Honey Crisp Breads are made by leaving the prepared loaf to cool completely before cutting into slices and baking in a low oven......

Saffron Tagine Hoummus with
Sunflower seeded Honey Beer Bread

Alternatively, you can interpret the recipe differently (like one of our team leaders Nic Blake did!) by shoving all the ingredients in a blender and whizz away!  Similarly with the bread recipe you can just cut into chunks and serve!  Both serving suggestions are really tasty and great as a starter or for serving with crudites, in sandwiches or with salads.  I then used the last of the hoummus to thicken up a one pot chicken stew that needed some oomph!

In all cases creativity wins - the true pleasure is seeing everyone in the kitchen using and abusing our recipes and products - I'm confident you'll be a winner - after all, every My Secret Kitchen product has the X Factor!

Enjoy!

Clare

x

Hoummus topped with Saffron Tagine Chick Peas & Smoked Oil

Serves 8-10

1 x can of chick peas drained and rinsed (240g)
3 tbsp tahini
1/2 tsp My Secret Kitchen Wild Garlic Secret Spices
Juice of 1 large lemon
2 tbsp light olive oil
50ml cold water, more as required
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp My Secret Kitchen Saffron Tagine Paste
2 tbsp My Secret Kitchen Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil
1 tbsp tomato puree
Handful fresh coriander, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

To make the chick pea topping, take 2 tbsp of the chick peas, mix together in a small bowl with the red onion, tomato puree, chopped coriander, Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil and 1 tbsp of the Saffron Tagine Paste and put to one side. To make the hoummus, blend all the remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor, adding more water as required.  Check the seasoning to taste and serve in a bowl with the seasoned chick peas scattered over the top.

Sunflower Seeded Honey Beer Bread

Makes 1 loaf

1 x My Secret Kitchen Wholegrain Beer Bread Mix
50g sunflower seeds
1 tbsp honey
150ml fizzy beverage

Preheat oven 175°C / Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 1lb loaf tin. Empty the Beer Bread Mix into a bowl, add the sunflower seeds and mix together.  Make a well in the centre and add the fizzy beverage and then the honey.  Mix quickly and thoroughly until all the ingredients are combined.  Spoon the dough into the loaf tin and roughly smooth over. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. For an added touch you can top the loaf with more sunflower seeds and a drizzle of Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil as it goes in the oven.  To make the bread into crackers, leave until completely cold (preferably overnight) and slice into thin slices.  Bake in a low oven, turning once, until crunchy and golden brown.

Store-cupboard Secrets

Store-cupboard Secrets
Clare Moran (Co-founder My Secret Kitchen)

I often gaze at the collection of packets in our kitchen cupboards and consider challenging myself to see how long I could feed our family of 4 on their contents – with a little help from My Secret Kitchen of course and the local village shop for back up. Split peas, puy lentils and polenta occupy our shelves, not to mention the obligatory cans of tuna, white beans and chick peas, just waiting to be transformed into something gorgeous to grace our table.

 The same goes for the freezer with home-made stock, white fish filets and little packets of cheese sauce squirreled away as well as lesser known ingredients that I couldn’t bear to get rid of – the spent sloes from Phil’s sloe gin (destined to be an addition for drunken Ultimate Chocolate Brownies one day), strings of authentic Thai black pepper, and grated pecorino cheese.

January can also feel a little glum and lack lustre in the kitchen department so what better time to put our creativity and store-cupboards to the test?

 The recipes and ideas that follow are the culinary equivalent of ‘make do and mend’ and aim to bring those dull packets that we all have in our cupboards to life with My Secret Kitchen. They all feature Tapenade with Smoked Garlic which is true foodie’s life saver and maybe in a few weeks, like Old Mother Hubbard, our cupboards will be the streamlined version ready to be filled with more secrets.

(Make your own substitutions and tweaks with the store-cupboard ingredients you have available)

Baked Coley with Tapenade & Pecorino Crumb Topping

Bake the fish in paper or foil with a sprinkling of olive oil, fresh herbs and a slice of lemon (or orange) at 190C  for 10 - 12 mins or until just cooked through (if frozen, add another 10 minutes to the cooking time). Top the fish with 1 tbsp Tapenade with Smoked Garlic and a crumb topping made from fresh bread crumbs, Lemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt and grated pecorino (or parmesan or strong cheddar).  (Prepare ahead tip – these can now be chilled until needed) Place under a preheated medium grill until the top is toasted and the Tapenade warmed through. 

Tapenade & Tuna Bean Burgers

Makes 4 burgers

1 can (240g) borlotti beans, rinsed, drained and dried on a paper towel
1 can (130g) tuna fish, drained well
25g fresh breadcrumbs
1 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp My SecretKitchen Tapenade with Smoked Garlic
½ tsp My Secret Kitchen Lemon & Chipotle Spiced SeaSalt, ground
1 tbsp My SecretKitchen Smoked Rapeseed Oil
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp semolina
2 tbsp olive oil

Mash the beans in a large bowl and add the tuna fish, breadcrumbs, parsley, Tapenade, Smoked Oil and Lemon & Chipotle Sea Salt.  Mix together (Prepare ahead tip: the mix can now be refrigerated for later). Form the mixture into 4 burgers (approx. 100g each). Mix the flour and semolina together on a plate and flour the burgers in the mixture on both sides. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the burgers for 1-2 minutes on both sides until golden. Place on a baking sheet and into a preheated oven (190C) and bake for 25 – 30 minutes.  Serve with another dollop of Tapenade and a green salad.  Alternatively serve in a toasted sesame bun with melted swiss cheese or form the mixture into nuggets (25g each) and serve with noodles and a simple tomato sauce of chopped tomatoes whizzed together with another tablespoon of Tapenade. These also freeze well – double the recipe and freeze half for another day.

 Gazpacho with Puy Lentils and Grilled Polenta Wedges

Serves 4

1/2 jar My SecretKitchen Tapenade with Smoked Garlic
2 tbsp My SecretKitchen Balsamic Reduction
1 can chopped tomatoes
½ cucumber, finely chopped
25g puy lentils, cooked and chilled
2 tbsp olive oil
My Secret KitchenLemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt
Handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
500ml cold water

Combine all of the ingredients together and serve very cold (put your servings bowls in the fridge for extra effect).  For the polenta wedges, prepare the polenta as instructed but substituting half of the water with milk and season with Lemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt.  Rub a tray with Smoked Rapeseed Oil and pour the polenta onto the tray and smooth over – chill until set.  Cut the polenta into wedges, brush with more Smoked Rapeseed Oil and under a preheated grill until the polenta is golden and sizzling.

What secrets have you found in your cupboard?  We'd love to hear from you so do get in touch,

Enjoy!

Clare