Thai Spiced Pork Stir Fry - Gourmet Garden's Blog Off Cook Off

Gourmet Garden are the the producer of fresh herbs and spices easy for weekday cooking.  Their passion is organically-grown herbs and spices packaged in a convenient squeezable tube that lasts for up to 3 months in your fridge.  They are currently running a Blog Off Cook Off competition where one lucky blogger can win a trip to Australia and a whopping £3000!

Using some of their great range of fresh herbs and spices, I have to develop and make a recipe to be judged by the great Rosemary Shrager.

So here we go - here's one of my entries to the fantastic Gourmet Garden's Blog Off Cook Off competition.

Thai Spiced Pork Stir Fry - serves 2

2 lean pork fillets, finely sliced
1 tsp Gourmet Garden garlic
1 tbsp Gourmet Garden Thai Spices
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
Fresh egg noodles
Thinly sliced spring onions to garnish, if required

1. Place the sliced pork into a large bowl; add the garlic, Thai spices, oyster sauce and brown sugar.  Cover and marinate in the fridge overnight, if possible, or for at least 1 hour.
2. Remove the marinated pork from the fridge.  Heat the olive oil in a wok or frying pan and add the pork and marinade juices.  Stir fry over a medium high heat for 4-5 minutes until the pork is cooked through and piping hot.
3. Heat the fresh egg noodles.
4. Serve the pork over a bed of noodles.  Garnish with the sliced spring onions, to taste.

Chilli Meatballs with a Tomato & Basil Sauce - Gourmet Garden's Blog Off Cook Off

Gourmet Garden are the the producer of fresh herbs and spices easy for weekday cooking.  Their passion is organically-grown herbs and spices packaged in a convenient squeezable tube that lasts for up to 3 months in your fridge.  They are currently running a Blog Off Cook Off competition where one lucky blogger can win a trip to Australia and a whopping £3000!

Using some of their great range of fresh herbs and spices, I have to develop and make a recipe to be judged by the great Rosemary Shrager.

So here we go - here's one of my entries to the fantastic Gourmet Garden's Blog Off Cook Off competition.
Chilli Meatballs with a Basil & Tomato Sauce - serves 1-2
For the meatballs
150g minced beef or lamb
1 tbsp Gourmet Garden garlic
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp Gourmet Garden chilli
2 tbsp olive oil

For the tomato and basil sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 small carton of passata (250g)
1/2 onion, very finely chopped
1 tbsp Gourmet Garden basil
1 tsp Gourmet Garden garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve
Freshly cooked spaghetti
Green side salad

1. Add all the meatball ingredients (except the olive oil) to a large bowl, mix with your hands and shape into small meatballs (about 6-8).
2. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the meatballs for 5-6 minutes.  Remove from the pan, set aside and keep warm.
3. Whilst the meatballs are cooking, fry the onion in a little oil in a small saucepan until soft.  Add the passata, basil and garlic and heat through gently.
4. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
5. Serve the meatballs on top of the tomato and basil sauce on a bed of freshly cooked spaghetti, with a fresh green side salad.

Chilli Chocolate Ginger Cupcakes - Gourmet Garden's Blog Off Cook Off

Gourmet Garden are the the producer of fresh herbs and spices easy for weekday cooking.  Their passion is organically-grown herbs and spices packaged in a convenient squeezable tube that lasts for up to 3 months in your fridge.  They are currently running a Blog Off Cook Off competition where one lucky blogger can win a trip to Australia and a whopping £3000!

Using some of their great range of fresh herbs and spices, I have to develop and make a recipe to be judged by the great Rosemary Shrager.

So here we go - here's one of my entries to the fantastic Gourmet Garden's Blog Off Cook Off competition.

Chilli Chocolate Ginger Cupcakes  - makes 12

Cupcakes
140g self raising flour
115g unsalted butter (softened) or liquid Stork margarine
115g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 medium eggs
1 tbsp Gourmet Garden ginger

Buttercream
200g icing sugar, sifted
100g unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp cocoa powder mixed with 1 tbsp hot water (cooled)
1 tsp Gourmet Garden chilli
12 strawberries, washed and wiped

1. Add all of the cupcake ingredients to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 3-5 minutes until all the ingredients are well combined.
2. Divide between 12 large cupcake/muffin cases and bake in a preheated oven (Gas 4) for 12-15 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire cooling rack.
4. For the buttercream; beat the icing sugar and butter for 5-6 minutes until pale, light and fluffy.  Add the cooled cocoa powder/water and the chilli - mix until well combined.
5. Pipe swirls of the buttercream on top of the cooled cupcakes and top with a fan-cut strawberry.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Beetroot & Chilli Brownies - Gourmet Garden's Blog Off Cook Off

Gourmet Garden are the the producer of fresh herbs and spices easy for weekday cooking.  Their passion is organically-grown herbs and spices packaged in a convenient squeezable tube that lasts for up to 3 months in your fridge.  They are currently running a Blog Off Cook Off competition where one lucky blogger can win a trip to Australia and a whopping £3000!

Using some of their great range of fresh herbs and spices, I have to develop and make a recipe to be judged by the great Rosemary Shrager.

So here we go - here's one of my entries to the fantastic Gourmet Garden's Blog Off Cook Off competition.

Beetroot & Chilli Chocolate Brownies

Makes 16 brownies, preparation time 15 minutes, cooking time 30-40 minutes.

250g milk or dark chocolate - preferably dark 70% cocoa solids
100g butter
250g cooked beetroot, drained and cooled
3 eggs
250g light brown soft sugar
150g flaked almonds
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1-2 tsp Gourmet Garden fresh chilli
Icing sugar to dust, optional
Freshly whipped cream, to serve, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.  Prepare a 23cm square baking tin by greasing with butter and lining with a wide strip of baking paper - leave two "tails" at each side to help you to lift the brownie out of the tin.
2. Break the chocolate into squares and put into a heatproof bowl along with the butter.  Place over a pan of simmering water and allow to gently melt, stirring to mix.
3. Tip the beetroot into a food processor and blend to a coarse puree.  Add the melted chocolate and butter and eggs and mix again to incorporate the ingredients together.  Add the sugar, almonds, cocoa, baking powder and chilli and process until you have a smooth(ish) batter.
4. Pour into the prepared baking tin and bake for about 40 mintues, checking after 30 minutes, until the top is set and the edge is starting to pull away from the tin slightly.  A skewer inserted into the centre will come out fairly clean but still a bit sticky.
5. Remove from the oven, leave in the tin, place on a cooling rack and cool completely in the tin.
6. When cold, remove from the tin using the "tails" and cut into 16 squares.  Dust with icing sugar and serve with whipped cream.

This brownie has a definite warm kick and so the cream serves as a coolant if required!  You can adjust the amount of chilli to taste - 2 tsp was just right for my tastebuds, I wouldn't go much higher though, unless you want a large kick of heat!

I also used home grown beetroot... one of the few sucesses that I had this year with my "home grown trials"!  So, if I can manage to grow a good crop of beetroot from scratch, I'm sure you can give it a go too!