Sweet Potato and Black Bean Empanadas

These little pasties are really moreish and pretty simple to make, albeit there’s a few different elements to prepare. Given that, I have no compunction about using ready made puff pastry, though if you’re prepared to make your own, these could be even nicer I imagine! When I’m making these, I do extra black beans…

Slow-Cooked Spiced Pork Pibil

No-one in my house will now eat processed meats. Sounds fair enough, but in fact it’s a pain when it comes to making packed lunches. No more easy peasy slices of ham or roast beef, oh no, it has to be ‘proper’ cooked meat. What this means is that every weekend, I have to roast…

Spiced Salmon Tacos with Avocado Cream

For my Mexican Bistro Night at the end of June, I wanted a second main course that would be light, tasty, fresh and would appeal to non-meat eaters (who eat fish though). This fits the bill perfectly and I suspect there may be many who wish they’d chosen this option rather than the beef (even…

Slow-Cooker Smoky Chilli Beef

This was my second attempt at a slow-cooked chilli beef to add to my Mexican Bistro Night menu. The first one worked well and you can find in on here, but this is a smokier version, made with brisket that just pulls apart and shreds into sumptious, softly spiced, melt in the mouth meat and…

Slow-Cooker ‘Real’ Beef Chilli

If you have a slow-cooker, it’s perfect for this chilli beef dish made with steak pieces rather than mince. The slow cooking means you can get the most out of an inexpensive cut of meat and enjoy chunks of smokey beef with beans and a chilli-infused rich sauce. If your slow cooker has a delay…

Chicken, chorizo and black bean enchiladas

Serves 3-4  |  50 mins including cooking I found a pack of tortillas in the cupboard that needed used up, youngest son wanted enchiladas for his birthday eve dinner and this is what I pulled together with the ingredients in my fridge and storecupboard to keep him happy. We served this with some soured cream,…

Mexican Night Preparations Part 2

So a couple of weeks ago I promised to come back and share more of the recipes that will feature in my first pop-up restaurant night later this month. It’s less than two week away now and in the meantime, I have a trip to London this weekend to attend Jamie Oliver’s Cookery School for…

Mexican Night Preparations Part 1

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a slow-cook chilli beef and a mojito inspired cheesecake I’d made and I hinted that the cheesecake in particular needed some tweaks and refinement. So, this weekend, as a practice run for my Mexican bistro night in June (which is now fully booked no less!), I made…

One for my Baby…

I have been utterly dire at blogging so far. Having set up the site almost a year ago and filled with good intentions, I discovered that I am very interested in cooking, baking and experimenting with food, but I am completely uninterested in and consequently rubbish at, taking pictures of it. A food blog doesn’t…