QUICK FIX: Guacamole

With the Superbowl this weekend I figured that providing you with my guacamole recipe might come in handy. I don’t want to toot my own horn but it’s seriously the best guacamole I’ve ever eaten. Handsdown. The Best. No questions asked. It is a little more detailed than most recipes but I figure if you’re going to the effort of making guacamole you may as well make it right! Even if you don’t need my recipe, please whatever you do- don’t buy it pre-made, it’s just doesn’t taste the same. I’ve provided the recipe using 1 avocado but you can easily double, tripple or quadruple depending on how many guests you have at your part. Me? I’ll be working (what a suprise).

Guacamole
Serves 1-2

Peel and de-seed 1 avocado. Mash half of it and chop the other half into rough cubes. Gently fold into the mashed half

2 Tbsp diced red onion,

1 seeded and diced tomato

2 Tbsp diced red pepper

1 large diced garlic clove

1 Tbsp lime juice

3/4 tsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp diced jalepeno (optional)

pinch of chilli flakes (to taste)

1 Tbsp finely chopped coriander (cilantro)

and the remaining chopped avocado.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and adjust the heat. If you don’t intend to serve immediately press plastic wrap directly on top. Serve with crunchy chips or vegetables.

Quick Fix: Brie & prosciutto grilled cheese

I have a new toy which has made me just a little bit overexcited. Actually I have two new toys and the best part about my toys is that you are going to benefit from them. Those are the only gifts I really like after all- the one where giver and receiver equally benefit from said gift. It brings a whole new level of joy to the actual giving of the gift- like giving yourself a present every time you give someone else a present. It’s a policy I firmly stand by and it works in several ways. I give Don a shirt because I want to see him wear something other than a polo with his school logo on it. I give my sister a weekend in New York because it’s really like giving myself a fun weekend in New York. If I go to a dinner and I’m asked to bring along something- I bring something that I know I want to eat. I give my doorman cookies because I want him to hold my keys when I go running. Some may call this bribing, I prefer to call it gifts with benefits.

My little gifts with benefits are a new camera- the Canon Rebel EOS and a photo studio light so I can snap away at all times of the day. Gone are the days where I have to worry about the lights or the sun and Don will be given a deserved rest from sun blocking duty. And for you, my dearest readers- it means a new series called quick fixes. It’s what I’m cooking on the weeknights, which means it’s quick and easy because like most people I can’t face much time in the kitchen after work. Most of the recipes will keep the ingredients flexible and I’ll keep the recipe format simple. This week it’s a brioche grilled brie and prosciutto sandwich- something that I made in ten minutes for Don when he thought he was dying of the flu (it was actually just a minor cold but he’s a sensitive soul, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt).  This is trashy gourmet at it’s finest.

A RECIPE: Sweet potato, apple & cheese tart

I feel like a bit of a jet-setter or late- a tour around the UK followed by a jaunt to Naples, Florida before heading to Miami for the marathon. It hasn’t been a glamorous trip- travel in piggery class, dinners on a budget, nights slept on various friends/family sofa beds and of course the marathon on Sunday will be no jaunt in the park. I did have five glorious days in the UK though. Sure, the sun only came out on day four, I worked my way through an entire box of kleenex tissues having picked up a cold from some germ-riden plane passenger and Don and I ran around from village to village making sure that everybody who needed to be seen was seen, our wedding was planned and to restock on the necessary staples. It has been a holiday of endurance testing- the way a Helm holiday always is. If it weren’t for a few days relaxing in Naples the marathon might have become the most relaxing part of the whole trip.

And whilst it has been glorious not to be at work, I’ve found myself missing my home kitchen (the leaky tap and temperamental dishwasher, not so much) but the cooking I’ve missed. Eating on the run, in the car and on planes out of Tupperware with plastic forks has such limited appeal to me. No scrap that, it has no appeal to me. The nostalgia has only been made worse from the many food magazines that I picked up in the UK all dog-eared for my return. In the meantime I leave you with a recipe from before I left, which I know sounds rather mean but after the marathon on Sunday I will be back on full blogging form.

A RECIPE: Wintry red wine lentils

These lentils have become a firm resident in my fridge at home. I make a big batch up at the weekend enjoy the aromas of bacon rosemary and red wine wafting around as I potter about the apartment; satisfied that a week of good meals awaits. Not only do I love this way to cook lentils but I have started somewhat of a love affair with these little pebbles and even Don seems relatively content despite the lack of a big steak or chop on the table. It starts with the smell of pancetta filling the air as it renders it’s fat. Then the holy trinity of carrot, onion and celery meddles in the mix- that homely smell that always leads to random visitors peeking into the kitchen and then an enthusiastic glug of red wine a spoonful of dijon and a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme carry the party through until the lentils are satiated. You may find it hard to believe that it’s not a beef stew simmering on the stove.

I confess, it was only recently when I,  post-run and collapsed on the sofa, that I was lazily grazing my eyes through Nigella’s Feast cookbook that I thought to cook them. This was one part curiosity, one part already having all of the ingredients and one part knowing that I wouldn’t have to leave the sofa and stand on my aching legs for very long. That’s the irony of all this running- I spend half my day Saturday running and the other half unable to move. Talk about balance.

I always knew that I liked lentils- the way they could absorb flavours, the fact that they could be saucey or dry and the way that they comfortingly fill a hungry belly. I’d always been happy to order lentils off the menu, and there was that one lentil salad recipe that I made back in cooking school that still lingers in the back of my head itching for recreation; but I’ve never actually hunted down the recipe. I guess they just never screamed make me as loud as rib roasts and chocolate cakes do. Now all they do is scream.

Lentils are far from the timely, cancel your weekend plans and plan far ahead category that I had previously placed them in. In fact lentils arrive in a whole different category of cooking and one that I assure you is quite pleasant and not half as time consuming as one would think. The beauty of this recipe is that it can either serve as the base for a more complex meal or you can eat them as they are. I’ve turned them into soup by adding extra broth and blending half of them, I’ve made salads with roasted sweet potato and feta, stirred through caramelised onions and walnuts- you get the idea.  But be warned once you start making them- they won’t stop screaming.