Hi
everyone, I just wanted to share a notice to confirm that I won’t be updating
the website anymore for the ChefBeHere blog. You can still find me sharing
recipes and photos of my greatest meals if you head to Instagram @chefbehere
and this website will stay live, so you can check back here to look up recipes
that I’ve shared over years gone by. Rather than keeping up the blog though, I’ve
decided it’s time to give something new a go and try my hand at writing
something different for a change. Thank you to everyone though who’s been
reading my blog posts all these years and getting stuck in with the recipes at
home. I hope you continue to eat great food – I know I will. Thanks for all
your support, Hayley x
Thursday 1 August 2019
Saturday 8 June 2019
THE SPEEDY SPAGHETTI ONE-PAN WONDER
Recipe of the week... ...Syn-Free One-Pan Prawn Pasta |
Ingredients:
Low-calorie cooking spray e.g. Frylight, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 3 fresh
tomatoes, 450g baby spinach leaves, 240ml passata, 1 vegetable stock cube, 2
drops tabasco sauce, 20 large peeled raw prawns, 200g spaghetti, salt and
pepper to season
Serves:
2 portions
Time
taken: 45 mins max
Dietary:
Pescetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free (and syn-free on Slimming World!)
--
Hi
readers,
How
are you all today? Is your weekend off to a good start? Do you have anything
exciting planned?
As
I write, it’s a gusty and rainy Saturday evening in June. Not at all the
balmy summer weather that we love to imagine here in the UK, as Storm Miguel
has blown in to spoil our barbecue plans. And it’s landed just in time for the
weekend.
As
they say – you really can’t rely on the weather, readers. I have a ticket to
attend an outdoorsy folk music event this evening and looking out of my window
right now, it’s not very tempting to go! Think of me this evening, readers, while
you settle in on your settee for the return of Killing Eve. I will likely be
wind-battered out in a muddy field somewhere up north. Standing as close to the
campfire as is feasible, in a bid to not freeze my tits off. Trying to catch faint
strains of folk music over the deafening sound of a gale force wind.
But
I’ve prepaid for the ticket. So, I’m going.
--
- Food
for thought -
This
week, readers, I can recommend you a few things. Lately, I’ve been…
Listening
The
song that we’d all love to hate! No one is supposed to admit they like Just
Bieber or, heaven forbid, they like Ed Sheeran. But I do like singing along to
their best songs on a sunny day, and I think this song is a summer smash! It’s
lifting me up when I hear it on the radio during a long commute, and powering
me on during runs around the park... it rocks my socks.
Watching
Again,
think of me what you will, but I was raised on Disney films and it’s exciting
when a new remake comes out. Me and the Mr made it to the cinema last week for a
date night to see Aladdin and, despite ending up on the very front row being
blasted by the aircon, we enjoyed it! A spectacular, upbeat, colourful evening
of light entertainment. I’ve been singing A Whole New World ever since –
much to the Mr’s joy. He wasn’t so impressed with the bad guy Jaffar in this
new 2019 version of the film – not bad enough, is the verdict. But,
otherwise, a fun and uplifting film that I’d recommend you all go to see.
Reading
I’m
squeezing in a read of my own between Book Club selections and have taken on a
whodunnit-type crime thriller, following a troubled young journalist with a
history of self-harm and a dangerous relationship with sharp objects, as she
reports on a double murder in her hometown. Right now, it seems like everyone
one of the characters could be the murderer! The plot has me gripped and it’s not
a big book, so I don’t think it’ll be long before I make it to the end. I’d
recommend this book as an easy read. If you’re not that big on reading and
looking for a slim page-turner to take on holiday with you. Or if, like me, you’re
in a monthly Book Club and like to squeeze in a shorter read between your meet-ups,
then Sharp Objects could be a spot-on addition to your reading list.
Enjoying
Walking a dog
If
you’re local to Sheffield and would love to own-your-own doggos, but can’t
right now, then Mill House Animal Sanctuary is the place to go. Located up Fulwood
way, the sanctuary takes in dogs and looks after them until they can be found a
new home. If you head on over, and pop some change in their collection bucket,
they’re happy for you to take a dog out on a walk around the local area. You
just need to be back by 3pm. I think this is a great idea! Free dog walkers for
the sanctuary, donations to keep them running, and lots of love and attention
for the dogs while they’re staying at Mill House. Plus, I imagine plenty of dog
walkers make it back to the sanctuary enquiring how to adopt their new
four-legged friend. We walked a little Jack Russell called Oscar, with a funny
skip as he walked and a dislike of most people that we crossed paths with. A
little character!
Wondering
Whether
I can shift the final 2 pounds in 2 weeks?
For
any regulars to the blog, you may have heard of me joining Slimming World just
after Christmas, in a bid to lose a little winter weight and slim down for a
holiday in June. That holiday is now a mere 17 days away (woohoo!) and this week at Slimming World I was handed my 1-stone certificate, which is a massive
achievement for me. I’ve 2 pounds more to go in order to achieve my target,
before we fly away on holiday, and 2 more weigh-ins to attend. So, I’m planning
on eating lots of speed foods this next couple of weeks!! Can I do it, readers?
Watch this space…
--
-
Feeding a friend -
My
recipe this week, readers, is one that my housemate cooked for me for Flat
Dinner recently. It’s so lovely to have my tea cooked for me, and my housemate’s
made us some excellent teas so I always look forward to nights when she’s
feeding me – the food is good every time!
On
the menu this week was a prawn spaghetti based on a recipe which she found on the Slimming
Eats website – you can read the original here. We’ve both been trying
really hard lately with our slimming as we’d quite like to call it a day soon
and be free of Slimming World, so this is a syn-free recipe. You can tuck in
with no guilt whatsoever.
I enjoyed this recipe so much, readers, that I've gone on to make it again. I can't get enough! To me, this pasta tastes how good food should. And it’s wonderfully easy to prepare – with only one pan required!
I enjoyed this recipe so much, readers, that I've gone on to make it again. I can't get enough! To me, this pasta tastes how good food should. And it’s wonderfully easy to prepare – with only one pan required!
Want
to give it a go? Well, check it out – here’s the recipe in just ten simple
steps…
--
- Syn-Free
One-Pan Prawn Pasta -
Ingredients:
Low-calorie cooking spray e.g. Frylight, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 3 fresh
tomatoes, 450g baby spinach leaves, 240ml passata, 1 vegetable stock cube, 2
drops tabasco sauce, 20 large peeled raw prawns, 200g spaghetti, salt and
pepper to season
1. Get in
the groove! Let’s make this enjoyable – set the radio playing and pour a tasty
drink. Crack open the window (if there isn’t a gale force wind blowing) and let
some fresh air in. Tidy around and set the table. Give your surface a quick
wipe and gather together the ingredients. Now, you’re all set.
2. Begin
with some veg prep – chop the onion and crush the cloves of garlic. Peel and
chop your tomatoes.
3. Set a
large frying pan or wok warming on a medium heat and spray liberally with
Frylight.
4. Add
the onions and garlic and cook until they’re beginning to brown.
5. Then,
add the tomatoes and cook until they’re just beginning to break down.
6. Fill
and boil the kettle, and make up your stock using 500ml of boiling water.
7. Add
your dry spaghetti to the frying pan, along with the stock, passata, tabasco, and
spinach.
8. Turn
up the heat under the frying pan and bring it to a boil. Simmer until the sauce
reduces, stirring often, for 5-10 minutes.
9. Then
add in the raw prawns and continue to simmer, stirring often for another 5-10
minutes until the pasta and prawns are cooked.
10. Season
generously with salt and pepper, then turn off the hob under the pan. Spoon
your pasta out evenly between two bowls, and serve up. Time to tuck in!
--
- Recipe
round up -
And
that’s all there is to it, readers! Would you have thought that you could cook
your spaghetti and your prawns in the sauce for your pasta while it reduces? It’s
not something that I’d have though to try and not something I’ve heard of being
done before – but somehow it works, and it comes out tasting delicious, I can
report.
If
you’re a fan of a prawn and you’re a pasta lover, too, then this is dish that
will float your boat, readers. It’s just simple home-cooked food, tasting great
and prepared in no time at all. Filling and delicious to tuck into. If you’re
considering pinging a microwave meal in tonight or sliding a tray of freezer
food in the oven… or calling the local takeaway! I say make that little extra
effort and prepare yourself, and your friend or your partner, a proper meal
from scratch which will be made with love and a total taste sensation.
Good
luck in the kitchen if you brave it, readers. And, for anyone trying out this
recipe, I hope you enjoy your pasta just as much as I did when you get to tuck
in. Here’s wishing you all a fab rest of your weekend – take care, stay dry,
and eat well, readers!
Simmer
safely,
Hayley
--
-
Closing thoughts -
If
you’ve been inspired to give this recipe a try, readers, whether I’m speaking
to you on the day of this post or you’re reading some far out time in the
future... please drop me a line to let me know whether it went okay. I’d love
to hear how you got on in the kitchen and your thoughts on this dish. Plus,
it’d be fab if you’re able to share any tips you have for success, or your
suggestions to improve the recipe? Please send your wisdom my way.
Thank
you for reading!
Monday 29 April 2019
SEA BASS ON A SATURDAY NIGHT
Recipe of the week... ... Sammy Sea Bass with Crunchy Carrots |
Ingredients:
4 sea bass fillets, 2 carrots, 1 cucumber, 6 radishes, 2 red chillies, 2
tablespoons fish sauce, 4 teaspoons sesame oil, juice of 1 lime, big handful of
coriander sprigs, 70g cashew nuts, low-calorie cooking spray e.g. Frylight,
salt and pepper
Serves:
2 decent portions
Time
taken: Half an hour
Dietary:
Pescetarian (and 14.5 syns per portion on Slimming World)
--
Hi
readers,
How
are we all today? Is your week off to a wonderful start yet? Monday’s firmly
out of the way now as we head on to bedtime. And that can only be a good thing –
the week’s an easy ride from here, I tell you.
And,
has your Monday been that bad, really? Nah, I bet not! We all love to moan
about Mondays, readers, and it’s no joy when the alarm clock sprigs back into
action. But, they’re never that bad in the end. Today it was a bit foggy in
Sheffield, and I cc’d the wrong person on an email, and the shower would not be
warm when it could instead alternate dramatically between hot and cold.
BUT,
also, the weather stayed dry today and so I made it on a lunchtime walk. And the
oven at home has amazingly been repaired and now, for the first time in a year
living here, we even have an oven light. And, on my run this evening, the
shuffle mode on my phone’s music library kindly played me some absolute banging
tunes.
Sooo
great day after all – thank you, universe! And how has your Monday been,
readers? If you were throwing together a highlights reel right now – what would
be the best moments that you’d select from your day today?
--
- Food
for thought -
This
week, readers, even though it’s only Monday I already have much to recommend
for you. Lately, I’ve been…
Listening
To:
I’ll
say no more, readers, but highly recommend each of these tracks which I keep listening
to recently.
Watching
Fleabag
A
friend recommended this show to me recently. The second series has just
finished and, as they’re six-part series with half-an-hour long episodes, it’s
not that much of an undertaking at this point to catch up. And I’d definitely
advise getting in now, readers, before you find yourself on the fringe of a Fleabag
centred conversation, with no clue and twenty series in the way of you joining
in. I’d summarily say Fleabag is random, smart, funny, sweet, and unexpected. And
if you consider yourself to be anything of the sort – then do give the show a
watch.
Reading
The
Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton
My
dad bought me this book for Christmas, presumably based on either a good review
or a prominent placing on a bookshop display. Whatever made him choose it – I’m
glad he did! A real Cluedo-style murder mystery, this whodunnit is set among
the corridors and grounds of a crumbling, grand old mansion, walked by a
ruthless host of characters all enemies to each other and themselves... And,
also, there’s a mind-bending twist on the plot whereby the main character (you)
has eight days to solve the murder which takes place, of Evelyn Hardcastle, that’s
eight of the same day though repeated over and over but in the body of a
different character each time. Yes! What great reading. It’s one to keep your
mind ticking over, readers, with a plotline to rival Inception I’d say. Do read.
Enjoying
Some good old fresh air
Get
out and stretch your legs, readers, if you haven’t recently. Go traipse around
the local shops with a tenner in your pocket, or pick a town you’ve never
visited before and drive there to explore. Or look up routes for walks in some far-flung
corner of your county which you’ve never felt the need to visit. Go there. Or,
be impulsive, set off walking from home and turn left and right at random until
you’re quite lost in your own area. Or think of somewhere that you’d like to go
to and which you deem to be within driving distance, but tell yourself you can
only go if you in fact walk it on this occasion… anything for a good walk, readers.
Wondering
Whether
some people choose to eat quark?
As
opposed to feeling compelled to eat quark, as part of their
gruelling mission towards weight loss, following a diet which insists on this unearthly cross between natural yogurt... and cream cheese. I suspect I’m among the majority on the health
kick bandwagon – but do some people out there genuinely eat quark because they
like it? Or, out of serious fandom, because Nicole Sherzinger eats it, too? I
wonder if non-dieters really eat and, possibly, enjoy quark.
--
-
Feeding a friend -
My
recipe this week, readers, is one with absolutely not quark in it – hurray!
It’s
one I cooked for the Mr on Saturday night after he’d been at work all day –
boo! – as a reward for all his hard work. I thought it was a nice gesture. And
it did seem to improve his mood from the starter to the dessert, in a gin-fuelled
vision of cheer, once he shook off all the cares of the working world.
I
believe my sea bass dinner concoction played a large part in this all, readers –
and it holds great potential to lift the spirits of your date, too! Not that they
wouldn’t be skipping to the front door with kisses on their ready lips, in the
first place. But, say, they’ve had a bloody hard day at work, their lunch was subpar,
and the traffic was terrible… do not fear as you’re armed with a (well above
par) sea bass recipe, which is certainly going to turn things around for your
romantic date night in.
This
week’s recipe, readers, for Sammy Sea Bass
with Crunchy Carrots is one from the dashing Joe Wicks’ ‘Lean in 15’ recipe
book, which I’ve recently been gifted. And if you’d like to give this recipe a
go yourself, readers, then here it is in just ten simple steps…
--
- Sammy
Sea Bass with Crunchy Carrots -
Ingredients:
4 sea bass fillets, 2 carrots, 1 cucumber, 6 radishes, 2 red chillies, 2
tablespoons fish sauce, 4 teaspoons sesame oil, juice of 1 lime, big handful of
coriander sprigs, 70g cashew nuts, low-calorie cooking spray e.g. Frylight, salt
and pepper
1. If you’re
cooking this for a date night in, like myself, then you’re going to want to prep
heavily before your date arrives. Leave a good 45 mins for the prep (that’s not
taking into account any additional graft required for the starter or dessert).
ChefBeHere Top
Tip: To make this less stressful – crack open a window for some fresh air, pour
yourself an alcoholic drink, and set Smooth Radio playing.
2. Then,
have a good wipe around so you’re beginning with a tidy kitchen, set your
table, light a candle, and make sure the glasses for drinks are nicely clean. Is
dessert prepped and chilling in the fridge? Is starter either ready to cook, or
ready to eat?
ChefBeHere Top
Tip: I went for the full three course dinner, but the starter was simply olives
from the cupboard – which I drizzled with olive oil, then seasoned with salt,
pepper, and mixed herbs. Any excuse to get out my special olive dish from
France! And I opted for a shop bough dessert – fresh cream yoyos – so no prep
work at all. That, I highly recommend.
3. Now,
time to move on to main course prep. First, begin by slicing the carrots and
cucumber into ribbons, using either a vegetable peeler or a cheese slicer.
De-seed and finely slice your red chillies (be careful not to touch your eyes,
during). Top, tail and slice your radishes. Roughly chop the cashew nuts and
the coriander, too.
4. Next,
put the carrot in a large bowl with the cucumber, radishes and chilli. Pour
over the fish sauce, sesame oil, and squeeze the juice of your lime into the
bowl. Mix the whole lot together until all your ingredients are well coated.
5. Then,
lay the sea bass with the skin still on, skin side up on a baking tray lined
with baking parchment. Squirt liberally with Frylight and season the fish with salt.
ChefBeHere Top
Tip: At this point, pause to freshen up and then greet your date. Enjoy your
starter course together before proceeding onto Step 6… and wowing them with
your culinary skills in-action.
6. Begin
by heating the grill to maximum – don’t be afraid. Slide the fish that you’ve
prepared under the hot grill. Cook the fish, without turning, for about seven
minutes, by which time the skin will have crisped up and blistered in a few
places.
ChefBeHere Top
Tip: While the fish is cooking, use this time to top up both your drinks. Why
not share a joke, if you have one? Compliment your date on their sharp outfit /
glowing tan / how well they look.
7. Make
sure the sea bass is done by checking that the flesh has turned from a raw pale
colour to a cooked bright white, then switch off the grill.
8. While
the fish is sitting under the turned-off grill, keeping warm, take out two
dinner plates and spoon the carrot salad out evenly between the two plates.
9. Safely
remove your tray of fish from the oven (no matter how drunk you are – do use oven
gloves here) and, with a spatula in hand, slide the fish out over the salad so
that there are two fillets of seabass on each plate.
10. Scatter
over some coriander and garnish with cashew nuts to finish, then season with
salt and black pepper, before serving up dinner to your lovely date.
--
- Recipe
round up -
And
that’s all there is to it, readers! What do you reckon? Could you pull this off
under the hot spotlight of a date night-in scenario? With your hair big, your
outfit small, and the drinks flowing?
Just
think, readers, if you can pull this off and dazzle throughout, then all that’s
left to do afterwards is retrieve the desserts from the fridge and triumphantly
sink your spoon into something chocolatey, while your date reels off the
highlights of the meal for them on a course-by-course basis, proffers never to
have tasted fish like it before, and generally overwhelms you with outrageous
compliments in favour of your cooking…
Whether
these are entirely true or not, whether they’re a device aimed to encourage you
to feed your date more often, whether it’s all part of an effort to spur you
into digging out that Baileys (yes! it’s in here somewhere) still left over
from Christmas… Who cares, readers, you’ll feel pretty good all the same while
you’re deservedly tucking into dessert.
And,
who knows? Your date might even tackle the dishes for you! A chef can always
hope.
If
you take on this recipe, readers, inspired by all that you’ve read here today,
I wish you good luck in the kitchen. Go forth and be lean. Have fun, remember, while
cooking. Dance around a bit and sing along to all the best songs. No improv on
the night – even if you’re tempted – do stick to the recipe no matter what, and
follow all the steps as they’re written from start to finish. It’ll work out
for the best, trust me. I believe – you can do it!
Go,
grill safely,
Hayley
--
-
Closing thoughts -
If
you’ve been inspired to give this recipe a try, readers, whether I’m speaking
to you on the day of this post or you’re reading some far out time in the
future... please drop me a line to let me know whether it went okay. I’d love
to hear how you got on in the kitchen and your thoughts on this dish. Plus,
it’d be fab if you’re able to share any tips you have for success, or your
suggestions to improve the recipe? Please send your wisdom my way.
Thank
you for reading!
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