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Posts Tagged ‘Oregano’

Sausage Rolls with Barberries & Dill

Posted in Food, Party Food, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 30 October 2022| Leave a Comment »

These are a nice spin on regular sausage roll. Great for a snack with some ketchup.

Sausage rolls with barberries & dill – makes 16

  • 370g ready-rolled puff pastry
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds

FOR THE FILLING:

  • 350g sausagemeat
  • 3 scallions, finely sliced
  • 15g dill, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp dried barberries
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp garlic granules
  • 1 tsp pul biber chilli flakes

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas 7.

Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Put all of the filling ingredients into a large bowl. Season generously with maldon salt and black pepper, then mix with your hands for a couple of minutes until evenly combined.

Divide the puff pastry sheet in two, lengthways.

Divide the sausage mixture in two, then form two long sausages, almost the same length as the pastry strips. Place a sausage in the middle of each piece of pastry. Brush one edge of the pastry with egg, then fold the pastry edges over to enclose the sausage. The beaten egg will help to seal them.

Turn the rolls over so the seam is underneath, then cut each roll into 8 pieces.

Transfer to the baking tray and brush the tops with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds, then bake in the hot oven for 22-25 minutes or until well browned. Leave to cool for a few minutes before serving with some ketchup if you like.

(Original recipe from Persiana Everyday by Sabrina Ghayour, Aster, 2022.)

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Baked Feta with Cherry Tomatoes & Garlic Toast

Posted in Brunch, Cheese, Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 22 June 2022| Leave a Comment »

We often make this for lunch, and sometimes late breakfast. So simple but very tasty.

Baked feta with cherry tomatoes & garlic toast – serves 2

  • 200g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 200g block feta, halved
  • 4 slices sourdough
  • 1 clove of garlic, halved
  • a drizzle of balsamic vinegar
  • a few leaves of oregano or basil, picked and chopped or torn

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.

Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of 2 small ovenproof dishes. Sprinkle some tomatoes into each and season with salt and black pepper. Set the pieces of feta on top, then top with the rest of the tomatoes, season again and drizzle with a little more oil.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Toast the sourdoubh and rub one side with the cut side of the garlic and drizzle with olive oil.

Take the foil off the dishes, drizzle with the balsamic and sprinkle over the herbs. Serve the salad with the sourdough toast.

(Original recipe by Janinie Ratcliffe in Olive Magazine, April 2016.)

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Spaghetti with Chilli, Sardines and Oregano

Posted in Fish, Food, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 10 April 2022| Leave a Comment »

Tinned fish seems to be having a moment, which is fine with us because we love it. We especially like Shines of Killybegs who do great sardines in sunflower oil, amongst lots of other delicious fishy things.

Wine Suggestion: An Italian white with a nutty twist at the end like Sartarelli’s Tralivio, a verdicchio from low yielding old vines that epitomises the very best of this grape and a perfect match to the umami saltiness of this dish.

Spaghetti with chilli, sardines & oregano – serves 2

  • olive oil, for cooking
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • 75g rough breadcrumbs, made from stale bread
  • 200g dried spaghetti
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 1 x 120g tin good-quality sardines in oil, drained
  • ½ tsp dried oregano
  • 50g rocket

Heat a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add a good glug of olive oil and when it’s hot add the breadcrumbs and half the garlic. Cook for a few minutes until golden and toasted, then season with salt and pepper and toss well. Drain on kitchen paper if needed.

Cook the pasta according the pack timings in lots of very salty water.

Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add a little oil, then add the remaining garlic and the chilli for 1-2 minutes. Flake the sardines into small pieces, then toss in the pan with the garlic and chilli.

Lift the cooked pasta out of the cooking water with tongs and add straight to the frying pan with the sardines. Toss to mix well, then add the oregano and season to taste.

Stir in the rocket and divide between two plates. Garnish with the garlicky breadcrumbs.

(Original recipe from Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course,

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Fried Halloumi with Oregano, Orzo & Pesto

Posted in Cheese, Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 20 December 2021| Leave a Comment »

A perfect lunchbox dish, keeping our December weekdays cheery.

Fried halloumi with oregano, orzo & pesto – serves 4

  • 350g orzo
  • 15g oregano, leaves picked
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 250g halloumi, sliced
  • 200g plum cherry tomatoes, halved
  • handful black olives, chopped
  • 140g tub fresh pesto

Bring a pan of salty water to the boil and cook the orzo according to the pack instructions.

Meanwhile, mix the oregano in a small bowl with the oil and brush some over the halloumi.

Heat a non-stick frying pan and fry the halloumi for a few minutes on each side or until golden.

Drain the orzo and mix in a large bowl with the tomatoes, olives and pesto, then season. Divide into lunchboxes, then top with the halloumi and drizzle over the rest of the oregano oil.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Oregano Pesto

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 1 July 2020| 2 Comments »

Oregano pesto

Our Oregano plants have gone mad, so we thought it a shame not to use them more. Taking inspiration from the Classic Basil Pesto and with a little adjustment this is of course good on pasta. It also really comes into it’s own on top of roast chicken: simply roast some chicken thighs and drumsticks and top with this when cooked.

Oregano Pesto – enough to serve 2 with pasta

  • 25g pine nuts
  • 25g oregano leaves
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 50ml olive oil
  • 15g Parmesan

Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan until lightly coloured, then remove from the pan and leave to cool.

Pound the oregano in a pestle and mortar with a pinch of salt, some coarse ground black pepper and the garlic. When the oregano has broken down, add the pine nuts and pound until finely crushed. Stir in the oil and Parmesan, then season to taste. Cover with a layer of oil and store in the fridge.

 

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Paprika & Oregano Marinated Fish with Cherry Tomato Salsa

Posted in Barbecue, Fish, Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 13 April 2020| Leave a Comment »

Paprika & Oregano marinated fish with Cherry Tomato Salsa

We made it too late to the fish shop to get mussels. I tried to sign through the window to get something for the barbecue instead and Oralith (age 6) opened the door and yelled – try and get a lobster! Entertained the fishmonger anyway and we had tuna steaks in the end. Little did he know that she wanted to bring the lobster home to keep as a pet.

Wine Suggestion: We never get over how the Rustenberg Chardonnay so completely over delivers for its price and perfectly works with food, but as we’d not had some for ages opened this on a whim and we weren’t disappointed. Another successful match for this wine.

Paprika- and oregano-marinated fish with cherry tomato salsa – serves 4

  • 4 tuna steaks
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika

FOR THE SALSA:

  • 250g cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 4 scallions, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
  • 1 long red chilli, seeded and finely chopped (we only had a green one which worked fine too)
  • 1 tbsp sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

Mix the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, paprika and some seasoning together in a bowl. Put the tuna steaks into a ceramic dish and pour over the marinade. Cover the dish and leave in the fridge for half an hour.

To make the salsa, mix the tomatoes, scallions, oregano, chilli and vinegar in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Cook the tuna over a hot barbecue for a couple of minutes on each side.

Serve the tuna with some salsa spooned over and some lemon wedges to squeeze over.

(Original recipe from Holiday by Bill Granger, Murdoch Books, 2007.)

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Greek Lamb with Orzo

Posted in Food, Greek, Lamb, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 4 April 2020| 4 Comments »

Greek Lamb with Orzo

A treat for the weekend without too many ingredients. There is also just a tiny bit of work at the start and then this can be left to pretty much cook itself for a few hours. You can serve with crusty bread or just by itself.

Wine Suggestion: we think that a southern French blend like Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre is a really good combination as long as the wine is fresh and not too jammy. Tonight we enjoyed the Domaine de Cébène Faugeres “Felgaria” which had a majority of Mourvedre and was pure, elegant and expressive with spices and warm aromas.

Greek lamb with orzo – serves 6

  • 1kg shoulder of lamb, cut into large cubes
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 1 tbsp chopped oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1.2 litres hot chicken or veg stock
  • 400g orzo
  • freshly grated Parmesan, to serve

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

Put the lamb into a large casserole dish with the onions, oregano, ground cinnamon, cinnamon sticks and olive oil. Toss with your hands to ensure everything is coated with oil. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 45 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Add the tomatoes and stock, then cover and return to the oven for a further 1½ hours or until the lamb is meltingly tender. You can throw away the cinnamon sticks at this point.

Stir in the orzo and return to the oven again, with the lid on. Cook for another 20 minutes, stirring halfway through, or until the orzo is cooked and the sauce has thickened. Serve sprinkled with grated Parmesan.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Genoese Squid with Potatoes

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Italian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 27 March 2020| Leave a Comment »

Genoese Squid with Potatoes

Mothers Day dinner 2020. Not a huge roast or a barbecue with the rest of the family but a glorious sunny day and this Diana Henry recipe, which was perfect! Great for all of us on a budget now too, squid is cheap, and not everyone realises that you can slow cook it. The sauce this dish has is so vibrant and rich and when we reheated the leftovers in the oven two days later it was still amazing.

Wine Suggestion: we chose a classic wine for seafood and an explemary winery, the  Pazo de Señorans Albariño 2018 which is a wine we love both in youth and as it ages and gains texture and complexity. The salty sea air ideas you get from Albariño just seem to work so well.

Genoese squid with potatoes – serves 4

  • 750g squid, cleaned (look up online how to do it if you need, we used some pre-cleaned squid tubes from the fish shop)
  • 550g waxy potatoes
  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 350ml white wine
  • leaves from 2 oregano/marjoram sprigs
  • 2½ tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 400g tin cherry tomatoes
  • extra virgin olive oil, to finish

Wash the squid and remove any gunge from the inside the tubes. Cut the tubes into thick rings. Cut the hard bit from the end of each tentacle and slice the wings into 2 or 3. Cut the tentacles too if they’re big. Rinse everything in a sieve, then dry well with kitchen roll.

Wash the potatoes (you can peel or not) and cut into 4cm thick slices.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. When the oil is really hot, tip in the squid and garlic and toss around for a minute. Add the white wine, oregano, 1½ tbsp of the parsley, tomatoes and plenty of seasoning. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the potatoes, then season again, cover and cook for a further 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Taste again for seasoning, you might need to add a bit of extra salt to make the sauce sing, sprinkle over the rest of the parsley and serve with your best olive oil drizzled on top.

(Original recipe from Food from Plenty by Diana Henry, Mitchell Beazley, 2010)

 

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Easiest Ever Lamb Kebabs

Posted in Barbecue, Food, Gluten-free, Lamb, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 17 February 2018| Leave a Comment »

Easy lamb kebabs

These definitely taste best off a barbecue but if you’re not up for that in February then you could cook them on a griddle pan instead. Marinade the lamb up to a day in advance if you can.

Wine Suggestion: A juicy Californian Zinfandel or Italian Primitivo; cheers!

Easiest ever lamb kebabs – serves 4

  • 600g lamb neck fillet, cut into 2cm chunks
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 red onions, cut into small wedges

Heat the barbecue or griddle pan.

Put the lamb into a large bowl and toss with the oil and oregano. Season with salt and pepper, then set aside for as long as you can (overnight ideally).

Thread alternate pieces of lamb and onions onto metal skewers (you can use wooden skewers either but you need to soak them in cold water for about 20 minutes so they don’t catch fire).

Cook the skewers for about 8 minutes, turning regularly.

 

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Rick Stein’s Steak n Mushrooms

Posted in Barbecue, Beef, Food, Greek, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 21 March 2016| Leave a Comment »

Steak & Mushrooms

What could be better than steak, mushrooms & chips? Nothing too groundbreaking here but we do recommend taking some inspiration from the Greeks when cooking your mushrooms.

Wine Suggestion: We always fall for a big red when having steak and this dish caused us to try one of our 2009 Bordeaux’s lying waiting in the cellar; this time the Ch Capbern Gasquetton. Full of flavour and still very youthful but the seven years from vintage has brought it all together and made it a great match.

Grilled steak with village mushrooms – serves 4

  • 4 rib-eye or sirloin steaks (rib-eye would be our preference), about 250g each
  • 50ml olive oil, plus a bit extra for brushing on the steaks
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ a lemon
  • 200g button mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 25ml balsamic vinegar

Brush the steaks with oil, season with salt, pepper and half the oregano, then grill on a hot barbecue until cooked the way you like.

Sauté the mushrooms in the 50ml of olive oil with the garlic, balsamic vinegar, ½ tsp salt, 20 turns of the black pepper mill and the rest of the oregano. Serve with the steak (and some chips if you like).

(Original recipe from Venice to Istanbul by Rick Stein, BBC Books, 2015.)

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Greek Lemon Roast Chicken

Posted in Chicken, Food, tagged , , , , , , , on 11 March 2016| Leave a Comment »

Greek Lemon roast chicken

Sooo delicious! We never tire of variations on a roast chicken dinner and the potatoes are the best bit here which doesn’t take away from the delicious chicken! This variation has been made multiple times in our kitchen which says something as we’re always trying something new.

You need to roast chicken for 20 minutes at 190C/375F/gas 5 for each 500g, plus an extra 10 minutes.

Wine Suggestion: a rich white is the business with chicken, and Chardonnay is the usual go-to variety. For this dish, however, we’ve successfully opened oaked Godello from Spain, the Dominio de Tares Bierzo; and an oaked Alvarinho from Portugal, the Soalheiro Alvarinho Reserva. Both brought delicious nuances to the chicken and are really worth seeking out.

Greek lemon roast chicken with potatoes & oregano

  • 2.2kg chicken
  • 4 lemons
  • bay leaves
  • 2 large red onions, peeled and cut into wedges
  • 1kg small waxy potatoes, halved
  • 2 heads of garlic, cloves separated but not peeled
  • dried oregano

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5.

Season the outside and the cavity of the chicken. Put half a lemon and a few bay leaves inside and place in a very large roasting tin.

Drizzle some olive oil over the skin, squeeze over the other lemon half and roast for about 1 hour and 50 minutes.

Cut 2 of the lemons into wedges and put in a bowl with the onions, potatoes and garlic cloves. Add some olive oil, salt and pepper, ½ tbsp dried oregano and the juice of half a lemon. Toss everything together until well coated.

45 minutes before the roasting time is up, put the vegetables around the chicken, sprinkle another 2 tsps of oregano over the top and return to the oven.

(Original recipe from Food From Plenty by Diana Henry, Mitchell Beazley, 2010.)

 

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Something to use up courgettes and feta cheese

Posted in Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 21 June 2011| Leave a Comment »

We came across this while searching for inspiration on how to use some courgettes and feta cheese that had been lurking in the fridge since the weekend. It was really tasty, very quick and cheap to make (even if you don’t happen to have any courgettes and feta in the fridge). All we had to buy today was some salad leaves and ciabatta bread to go with it. Perfect summer fare for a weeknight.

Courgette & bean bake with feta – to serve 4 (easy to half)

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 courgettes, halved lengthways and sliced into half moons
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 tbsp chopped oregano
  • 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 x 410g tins cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 200g pack feta
  • crusty bread and salad to serve
  1. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the courgettes for 5 minutes or until golden. Stir in the garlic and half of the oregano and cook for 30 seconds before gently folding in the tomatoes and beans. Heat through for about 4 minutes. Season to taste, then heat the grill to medium.
  2. Transfer to an ovenproof serving dish. Crumble over the feta, drizzle with the remaining oil, then grill for 5 minutes until the cheese has turned golden brown. Sprinkle with the rest of the oregano and serve with crusty bread and salad.
Wine Suggestion: Stick to the summer theme with a glass of rosé – we recommend the 2010 Chateau de L’Engarran from the Languedoc (€13.95 from Mitchell & Son). Perfectly dry and fresh; a great accompaniment to food.
(Original recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine, June 2009).

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