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Coconut chia seed and strawberry overnight oats proats recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 packet of coconut, chia seed instant porridge or your favourite flavour
  • 1 liberte high protein yogurt (I’ve used strawberry and blueberry and both equally as good)
  • Couple of teaspoons of ground oats to bulk out
  • 2 teaspoons of desiccated coconut
  • 100 ml of whole milk (depening on thickness you might want to top up in the morning before you devour the bowl)
  • Handfull of your favourite fruit. I used sliced strawberries but you could add desecated coconut, chopped nuts, blueberries, extra chia seeds or mixed frozen berries to keep costs down)

Instructions

I use a glass kilner jar with clasp to allow me safe transport to work as plastic Tupperware boxes have exploded more than once in my bag and left me pulling the last few strands of hair out damping down and sponging as it’s leather and won’t go in the washing machine.

Mix the instant oats with the yogurt to make sure all the oats are coated otherwise they will be dry and chewy if not fully incorporated. Add the milk a bit at a time till you get a good consistency but remember the oats will absorb the liquids overnight so you always need a bit more than you think but can top up in the morning if too dry.

Put in the fridge overnight and top with your favourite fruit in the morning at your leisure.

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Sweet potato, bacon and courgette frittata recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes diced
  • 1 medium red onion
  • 3 – 4 rashers of bacon depending how see through they’ve been cut
  • ¼ chorizo sausage chopped
  • 6 free range eggs
  • 1 courgette
  • 1 chilli chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic chopped
  • Slithers of your favourite cheese or enough to grate and melt on top to liking (I used a mixture of brie, Welsh Seaweed and Welsh Cheddar but you can leave out all together if you wish)

Instructions

Peel and dice the sweet potato and heat on a medium heat in a high sided frying pan or wok with a bit of olive oil. Whilst that is softening up chop the onions, chorizo, chilli, garlic and rashers of bacon into small lardons.

Use a spiralizer or julienne on the courgette but discard the soft centre as this has too much moisture and doesn’t hold a decent shape or consistency. When the potato starts to soften a bit after about 8-10 minutes add the onions and chopped bacon and give a good stir. Continue cooking until the bacon starts to crisp a bit and the fat renders along with the onions starting to brown for a another 5 minutes depending on the power of your hob.

Now add the chilli, garlic, chorizo and courgette strips to the pan and stir to incorporate everything. Continue cooking for a few minutes and whilst it’s cooking crack 6 eggs, add a bit of sea salt and pepper and whisk for a few minutes by hand to fluff them up and get some air into the mix so the frittata has a bit more volume to it than a standard omelette.  Once the courgette and chorizo has cooked a bit drizzle the freshly whisked eggs to evenly to the pan trying to coat everything.

I dropped a few nuggets of leftover brie, some Welsh Seaweed Cheese that I’d picked up from Riverside Market in Cardiff on Sunday and a little bit of some Welsh Cheddar to fill in the gaps. Add as much cheese to your liking or skip all together if you’re cutting the calories. Continue to cook for a few minutes so the bottom of the egg mixture cooks but put the grill on a medium high whilst it’s cooking and finish off under there so the top cooks and cheese melts into the frittata mixture below.

I halved it between two plates but I was pretty full after my half so could easily do 4 meals with a side salad or 3 on its own. Can be eaten warm or I had it the following day for lunch in work and was equally delish eaten cold.

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Chorizo and egg breakfast cup – egg muffin recipe

Ingredients

  • 6 free range eggs
  • 1/2 pack feta cheese
  • Around 75g your favourite chorizo sausage chopped finely. I used venison and chilli from a recent trip to Borough Market in London.
  • 1/2 a small onion or a couple of spring onions chopped
  • Salt
  • Black Pepper

Instructions

Crack the eggs in a bowl and whisk. Add the chopped onion of choice, chorizo and crumble the feta into the mixture.

Oil a muffin or yorkshire pudding tin and divide the mixture between the holes in the tray.

Cook in the oven on 200C for around 12 minutes but check from 10 minutes and every two minutes until cooked to your desired liking. Remember the cheese and chorizo oil will mean it will be slightly moist and mushy to the touch but if you take them out and leave to rest for a few minutes they will continue to cook in their residual heat.

Eat immediately or refrigerate when cooled slightly and warm in the microwave for breakfast the day later.

You could add any other cheese of your preference but halloumi probably wouldn’t work so well as it keeps its shape and won’t melt into the eggy mixture whilst cooking. You could add some mustard to the mix, chiptole tobasco, peas, spinach, bacon, salami, ham, finely chopped broccoli or chopped tomato so get experimenting.

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Tuscan sausage and arrabiata squashetti

Ingredients

1 butternut squash julienned or spilarized
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small jar arrabiata pasta sauce
1 packet of Tuscan sausages ( I used ones from M & S)

Instructions

Cook the sausages in the oven for around 20 minutes to brown and almost cook. Chop into bitesized pieces and set aside.

Peel the outer skin of the butternut squash and either spiralize or I bought a small potato peeler like julienne peeler for around £5 in TK MaxX and used that to cut into linquine shaped strips.

Fry the red onion for a few minutes to brown, add the chopped garlic and cook for a further minute then add the julienned butternut squash, a good glug of olive oil and use tongs to evenly coat the oil and onion mixture. Cook in the pan making sure to move the mixture about not to burn for around 8 minutes on a medium heat.

Add the sausage pieces to the pan to and any juices and toss in the mixture for a minute. Add the jar of arrabiata to the pan and coat evenly. Warm in the pan then divide between two bowls, grind a bit of pepper and maybe a dousing of fresh parmesan if you want too.

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Bacon and leek cauliflower cheese recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 bulb of cauliflower with root and leaves removed and chopped into chunks
  • 1 slices of bacon chopped into little chunks ( I used Cure & Simple Pancetta bacon)
  • 1/2 a leek slices thinly
  • 1/2 red onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 box corn flower
  • 1 jar of dijon mustard ( I used horseradish and dijon mustard from M & S)
  • 125 ml whipping cream
  • 125ml whole milk
  • cayenne pepper
  • black pepper
  • sea salt
  • 100g of your favourite mature cheddar
  • 1 pack parmesan cheese

Instructions

Cook the bacon pieces until they render out the fat and start to brown then set aside. Place the chopped leeks and half the chopped garlic with some oil in the oven for about 10 minutes on 200C.

Place the chopped cauliflower in a pan of boiling salted water and reduce the heat to a simmer for around 10 minutes checking that it’s cooked and for this so a knife goes through the stalks with little effort but not boiled to a mush like my grandmother as we want it to keep it’s shape. When cooked, drain and set aside.

In a sauce pan add the chopped red onion and fry in a little bit of real butter for a few minutes to sweat out, add a sprinkle of sea salt, black pepper and add the remaining garlic. Continue cooking for another minute or two.

Add a tablespoon of the cornflower to the pan mixing it all in. Add a teaspoon or 2 of the mustard depending on taste mixing it in then add a small amount of whipping cream to make a rue, adding a bit more at a time to make sure there are no lumps. When the mixture is the right consistency and there are no lumps add the rest of the cream and milk and stir well and continue to heat gently. When the mixture begins to get hot add the mature cheese to the mix, stiring to melt and bring to a gooey heaven then take off the heat.

Place the cooked cauliflower in a casserole dish spreading evenly to fill the gaps. Top with the creamy cheese mixture making sure it’s evenly coated. Top with the crispy bacon and leek slithers then finely grate parmesan cheese over the top and freshly ground pepper.

Place in the pre-heated oven at around 200C for 15-20 minutes until golden and desired cooked finish.

Great accompaniment to my keto inspired wheat free herb crusted lamb rack.

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Keto Wheat-free, breadcrump free herb crusted lamb rack recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 decent sized bag of pork scratchings ( I used the ones in M & S as they are bigger than your average
  • pub snack sized ones)
  • 2 stalks of rosemary chopped finely
  • leaves from a couple of stalks of thyme chopped finely
  • 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 1 nob of butter
  • 1 jar horseradish and dijon mustard ( I used M & S one but you could just use normal dijon mustard)
  • 500g roughly lamb rack

keto-herb-crusted-lamb-recipe-2

Instructions

Smash the pork scratchings to within an inch of it’s life in the packet with a rolling pin or other heavy object.You could also blitz it if you have a food processor. Mix together the fine scratching dust with a small knob of butter to help bind, the chopped herbs, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl.

Make a crosshatch in the skin of the lamb rack and cook for 2-3 minutes each side in a hot pan. Remove from the pan and let cool for a minute to touch before giving a nice slather of the horseradish and mustard on the skin. Then take the the herb and scratching mixture and pack it onto the crosshatches and mustard coated skin.

Place in the Oven on 200c for around 25 minutes depending on size and power of oven. Remove from the oven and let rest for around 10 minutes and carve between each rib to allow you to gnaw at the gorgeous pink flesh and crust with your hands. No knife and fork needed.

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Ras el hanout lamb patties with pesto courgetti spaghetti recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 medium size red onion
  • 1 of rasel han’out seasoning. Shwartz do one but I got my herbs and spices from Riverside Market in
  • Cardiff.
  • 500g lamb mince
  • 1 jar of harrisa paste or jar of dried spice
  • 100ml greek yogurt
  • 2 pitta breads
  • 1/2 pack of halloumi sliced
  • Bag of salad

Instructions

Chop the onion and fry to a light brown colour and set to one side to cool. Cut a crosshatch shape in the mince whilst still in the plastic container and season with the rasel han’out spice mix to taste and depending on strength of mix i used around 2tsp.

Mix the lamb mince, cooked red onion and rasel han’out seasoning in a bowl gently with your fingers making sure not to squeeze too hard or the meat will become too compact and will be dry and tough when cooked. I tend to break bits and massage them into the rest of the clump of meat until combined to a good consistency about 30 seconds then shape into desired patty shape. I don’t like them uniform so just made a kind of oblong rather than burger shape to fit into my pitta bread.

In a bowl mix the yogurt and harrisa paste or dry spice. Add a teaspoon and go from there tasting to get the desired punch from the harrisa. You could also add a squeeze of lemon if you want a bit of extra citrus flavour and set aside to infuse.

Put a griddle pan on a medium to high heat and cook the lamb patties through between 10-15 mins depending on power of the cooker. 5 minutes before the patties are due to cook place the halloumi slices on the griddle to cook. I prefer a crispy halloumi rather than aneamic looking rubber as I love the texture and saltiness it brings out.

Leave the patties rest for a few minutes and put the pitta in the toaster or on the griddle to toast whilst they are resting.

Assemble the patties, griddled halloumi, toasted pitta, tossed salad and a dolop of the harrisa yogurt on a plate and make sure to watch your fingers as you devour your masterpiece.

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Jerk Turkey and mango one pan wonder

Ingredients

  • 500g of turkey thigh mince
  • 6 stalks of stem broccoli chopped up
  • 1/2 sweet red pepper chopped
  • 1 medium red onion chopped
  • 1/2 a mango chopped up
  • Garlic granules
  • Mixed herbs (i used Barrts chicken seasoning. No chicken included don’t worry just aimed to season chicken)
  • Jerk sauce
  • Sea salt

Instructions

Turn your grill / broiler on full to warm.

Chop the veg up and put to one side. I usually take a knife and cut crosshatches in the mince whilst still in it’s plastic container to break it up a bit.

Scatter the turkey thigh mince to cover a regular oven tray lined with foil and sprinkle over the garlic granules, mixed herbs, small bit of sea salt and liberal dollops of the jerk seasoning.

Top with the chopped vegetables and mango making sure to scatter it over evenly. I sprinkled a bit more garlic granules, salt and jerk sauce over the top and a small glug of olive oil over the top.

Position the overn tray containing the turkey mince and mixture under the grill about 6 inches from the grills so that it cooks through but doesn’t burn. Cook for around 15 minutes depending on power of the grill but check after 10 and go from there. May sure to check the colour and temperature of the mince as it should be cooked through with no pink or blood showing as this is a white meat and can’t be eaten medium.

I pulled mine out and let sit in the juices and pan for 10 minutes after to make sure it was cooked through.

I find grilling like this instead of making burgers or meatballs means the meat doesn’t dry out and is less mess. If warming up to eat later on or the day after cook in the microwave and stir to toss and coat the ingredients in the juices.

This recipe is great with loads of things for lunch such as stuffing a pitta or flatbread, on a jacket potato, sweet potato mash, with a bit of salad or straight up on is own as it’s a meal in itself with the meat and grilled veg.

jerk turkey and mango recipe

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Blueberry overnight oats – Proats recipe

Ingredients

1 packet of flavoured Quaker Oaks (i used the blueberry super goodness porridge ones)
1 pot of Liberte yogurt as it’s got around 7g of protein (again I used blueberry or you can use plain Greek yogurt)
1 dessert spoon of ground oatmeal. I prefer the finer ground as I don’t like the texture of chunky oats
about 100ml of whole milk

Toppings

You can add some of your favourite dried or fresh fruit if you like from fresh blueberries, strawberry, kiwi, mango,rasberries, blackberries, chopped almonds, toasted coconut or any other nuts.

Instructions

Mix the oats in the yogurt then add the milk a bit at a time stiring as you go along to make sure it is fully incorporated so that you don’t have dry clumps in your proats.

I tried making chocolate and peanut butter the day before but ended in disaster. I used a pouch of chocolate whey protein from my recent Tribe box, which seemed to heavily overtip the balance of other ingredients.

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Amesoeur Bistro Restaurant Review Crwys Road, Cardiff

I’ll be honest I’d not heard of Amesoeur until this week and me being me i’m always keen to try something knew so was more than happy to attend to sample some items on the new menu.

Located at 98 Crwys Road, opposite Shaws it was easy to find although I always dread going anywhere for food along City Road, Crwys Road or anywhere in Pontcanna usually but 2 attempts up the side streets and we happily found a small space to squeeze the Abarth into.

Based on the name Amesoeur Bistro I was expecting some french flair in the food menu but was suprised to see a more tapas style offering. Not that that’s a bad thing as I tend to prefer to order a selection of small plates to share as opposed to a mound of the same thing especially if it’s not quite to your taste if you’re being adventurous as you’ve still got 5 or 6 more that make up for it.

The menu is broken up into 3 sections with those from the farm featuring mainly meaty plates, then there was the sea with you guessed it seafood and then those from the field so more of your veggy side dishes.

We were given a brief overview of the menu by the owner who was very friendly and happy to help with any questions and recommended dinners usually go for around 3 dishes each. I’m always worried when I go for tapas style food or mezze as you never know what the portion size is going to be like and being left hungry with no option to grab a bag of chips on the way home.

Food

We were both drawn to the seafood section and the trust favourites of prawns, muscles and squid so went for the garlic king prawns, cayenne and parsley butter (£4), salt and chilli squid rings in lemon and coriander dip (£4), steamed muscles in garlic and cream sauce (£4).

Although the options on the meat section sounded good I wasnít in the mood for most of them but the sautéed potatoes with crispy cured beef sausage, coriander, chilli, garlic and ginger (£3.50) sounded too delicious to skip over.

No meal is complete without some form of melted cheese and another fav added to the list lately is goats cheese especially after my eggy crumped, goats cheese and bacon brekkie I did last weekend. We opted for the deep fried goats cheese with honey dip (£3.50) and thought we might have to have at least one veggie dish so the butter beans in paprika and bbq glaze was an obvious choice.

Drinks

I decided to sample the one cocktail as it was my last day in my job the day after and celebrating the new job but didnít want to overdo it so stuck to the one and a beer. There cocktail list wasnít overly expansive but thatís not what they specialist but what was on there did look inviting. Iím always weary with cocktails of late since switching over to the dark side with my gin or whiskies with little or no mixer so I find cocktails and even my previous fav spiced rum and coke way too sweet. Most of them had the inclusion of sugar syrup and based on other more well known places in Cardiff who rely on ready made syrups they leave me feeling a bit sickly so I opted for the Earl Grey containing Earl Grey surprise surprise, double measure of Gin, honey and lemon.

gin-cocktails-at-ameseour-cardiff

I didn’t know what to expect again before it came especially as the menu seemed to display the measures of the mixers as well including 50ml of lemon, which I was hoping wasnít going to be too sour but the drink was so refreshing and perfect balance of gin and mixer. Mwsh opted for another gin cocktail with the Elderflower, Cucumber Collins and that was equally as fresh and moreish. I could easily have sunk another few and not felt the sugar eating away at the insides of my stomach like they do in some places.

Partial to a good beer I thought I’d see what was on offer, sadly there were no draughts on tap but they had Brooklyn, Corona, a cider I believe but I opted for a Samuel Adams as I’d not tried that before.

The Verdict

I was very suprised by the food as I really didn’t know what to expect with the suprise tapas style as opposed to what I was expecting in the way of French Bistro esque menu items. We couldn’t fault anything on our plates and everything was so tasty and just so inviting to eat with it glistening in flavour and seasoning. It was a welcome change from the bland, microwaved plates I’d become used to with tapas from La Tasca over the years. You could see the chef put love into each little plate, which was validated when our food came out and they opologised that we would have to wait for the goats cheese as he had another batch on as he wasn’t happy plating up the first one so that just goes to show he’s proud of every dish that leaves the kitchen doors.

I was apprehensive when I saw the extent of items on the menu as I wondered how fresh the food would be or how long we would be waiting to put together the vast amount of items on the list as it was probably bigger than any tapas menu i’d seen previously but I was pleasantly surprised how fresh and tasty each dish was. The only thing and this is clutching at straws that I could give in terms of constructive feedback is the bread and oils starter we ordered was difficult to soak up any of the balsamic with the oil and we came to the conclusion this was because the bread was toasted. Tasted find but I do like a good evenly proportion of oil to balsamic on my ciabatta but being toasted none of the vinegar seemed to stick.

We were looking for flaws but couldn’t really find any to be honest each dish was equally as delicious. I was expecting onion ring style squid but it was more like fresh chunks without the usual overbearing stodgy batter. The surprise dish was the butter beans in paprika and bbq glaze that packed a such a flavour punch and we were discussing recreating them even as we ate with a recently purchased jar of Gran Luchito chilli honey and even bought a tin of butter beans from Tesco on the way home to try this weekend.

We couldn’t see a dessert menu anywhere to hand or blackboard as you sometimes get so on asking if they did any there was a carrot cake or strawberry cheese cake to choose from. Sold! One each to share and sample it was and both priced at £4.

I did see a cheese sharing platter on the main menu so there was always that option too I guess. Anyway the cakes came out and both in mammoth portions. I was expecting the carrot cake to be a bit dry as I think it might have been from the bar under a glass cover and Iím always conscious of how long theyíve been festering there sometimes but it was perfectly moist with just the right proportion of buttercream sandwiched in the middle and on top. The cheese cake came in a ceramic taps style dish and had a surprisingly uncompressed biscuity base under the strawberry cheesecake top but didnít detract from the moreishly addiction Iíd just acquired from both desserts whilst taking a stab at each on in turn with my fork.

Offers

After doing a bit of searching for Amesoeur online I noticed they were on Wriggle back last week with 6 plates and 2 desserts for £19.95 with a value of £33 so keep an eye on Wriggle Cardiff to see if they pop back up on there. If you use the discount code AUHPSS at the checkout on the Wriggle Website or going to refer a friend and add a code you get £3 discount off your order and get it for £16.95 for an even better discount.

They also did 3 courses and a glass of wine for £10 for black Friday so I’d keep an eye on their social media for the latest deals too.

Details

Amesoeur Bistro
98 Crwys Road
Cardiff
CF24 4NQ

Tel: 029 2022 8808
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