Tofu Red Curry

I turn 40 at the end of this week and about a year ago I drew up a list of 40 things that I wanted to do before I wave goodbye to my 30s. Some were new experiences and others were things I wanted to achieve. I love food, so there were a few eating and cooking tasks on the list, of which one was 'make tofu taste like food'. I've only cooked with tofu once or twice and it's been not great but I gave it another go and was actually very pleased with the results.

I think the key is to have patience when it comes to pressing the tofu before cooking. It makes the tofu former and less likely to disintegrate in the pan.

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 pack cauldron tofu

1 onion, sliced

1 tin coconut milk

4 tbsp Thai red curry paste

2 tbsp oil

Salt/pepper

Any other veg you fancy

* take the tofu out of the packet and drain off the liquid. Wrap the tofu loosely in several layers of kitchen towel, sandwich between 2 chopping boards or similar and weigh down with a couple of heavy cookbooks. Leave of at least 15 minutes

* unwrap the tofu and cut into strips or cubes. Season

* heat the oil in a large pan and fry the tofu in batches making sure it is fairly crispy on all sides

* add the onion and any other veg (I used some sliced green beans) and curry paste and fry for a few more minutes before adding the coconut milk

* simmer for 15-20 minutes and serve with rice

Pearl barley with sardines

This was a bit of an experiment loosely based on a recipe I saw somewhere which called for mackerel. Didn't have any mackerel, but I did have a tin of sardines.

Ingredients (serves 1)

80g pearl barley
1/2 onion, diced
Tin of sardines (mine were in tomato sauce, but I rinsed them)
1 egg
1/2 veg stock cube

* make up the stock cube with 400ml water
* fry the onion for a couple of minutes, then add the barley and stock
* simmer gently for around 35 minutes or until the barley is soft and the stock has mostly been absorbed
* meanwhile, hard boil the egg and if necessary rinse and halve the sardines

Eat!

I 

Tuna with spicy chilli noodles

I fancied something totally different after all the heavy Christmas food and this really hit the spot!

Ingredients (serves 1)
1 tuna steak
1 nest fine egg noodles
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp lazy ginger, finely chopped
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp mirin
1/8 tsp lazy red chilli

* mix together all the ingredients except the noodles and tuna to form a dressing
* cook the noodles and drain
* cook the tuna in a griddle pan for a couple of minutes per side
* mix the noodles with the dressing and serve with the tuna on top

Butternut Squash Chilli

More or less my usual chilli recipe, but I had a butternut squash lurking in the fridge so I thought I'd try using it instead of meat.

Ingredients (serves 4)
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 red onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin beans in chilli sauce
1/2 tsp each of paprika, thyme, coriander, worcestershire sauce, lazy red chilli
1/2 tsp sunflower oil

* fry the onion, garlic and squash in the oil for a few minutes
* chuck in the tinned tomatoes and beans, and the seasonings
* simmer for 45 minutes or until the squash is nice and soft
* serve with rice

Nutritional information
Calories: 133, Fat: 1.2g, Carbs: 23.1g, Protein: 6.9g

Apple and cinnamon jam

Totally experimental this one. I had more apples than I was ever going to eat and I'm just getting into making preserves, so I decided to give it a go.

Ingredients
600g apple, peeled cored and chopped
250g caster sugar
50g brown sugar
1tsp ground cinnamon
200ml water
1 sachet pectin

* chuck all the ingredients into a large pan
* bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for around an hour
* pour into sterilised jars

Cherry and Blackberry Clafoutis

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 tin black cherries, drained and stoned
100g blackberries
80g sugar
2 large eggs
90g flour
150ml milk
Vanilla extract

* lightly butter a shallow 20cm dish and sprinkle with 1tbsp sugar
* tip the cherries and blackberries into the dish
* beat the remaining ingredients together to form a batter
* pour the batter over the fruit and bake for 35 minutes at 180C
* serve warm and dusted with icing sugar

Blackberry and Apple Chutney

The allotment is still yielding plenty of blackberries, and there's only so many pies and cakes I can eat so I decided to make my first foray into the realms of chutney. I got 6 jars of various sizes out of this batch, which will make great gifts this Christmas.

Ingredients
3 bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks
3 eating apples, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks
1 large red onion, chopped
1/2 tsp crushed black peppercorns
1/2 tsp chopped red chillies
25g fresh ginger, finely chopped
220g sugar
150ml white wine vinegar
400g blackberries

* first prepare the jars. Wash them in hot soapy water then place in a roasting tin and put in the oven at 100C to dry out for an hour, or as long as it takes to make the chutney
* put all the ingredients except the blackberries in a big pan and heat whilst stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for half an hour or until the apples and onions have softened and the liquid has reduced and stopped being watery.
* add the blackberries and cook for another 10 minutes so the blackberries soften but still hold their shape
* spoon the chutney into the hot jars and screw the lads on tightly
* store in a cool dark place and refrigerate once opened