Curry Mutton 

One of the most famous dishes in Caribbean cuisine is curry goat. I couldn’t find any goat at the shops so I bought mutton instead, but use goat if you’re lucky enough to find some.

I made rice and peas to go with my curry but plain rice is equally as good with this dish.

I also had to fry up some plantain as I’m obsessed with it, could literally eat it all day, everyday!

This curry is full of flavour and tastes pretty damn good! The meat is so tender it literally falls off the bone!

You don’t want the liquid to cook out so make sure you keep topping up with water as you want sauce with this dish or it’ll be dry.

Ingredients:

• 3lbs mutton or goat 
• 5 tbsp medium curry powder 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp ground ginger 
• 1 tsp allspice
• 2 tsp ground turmeric
• 4 tbsp sunflower oil 
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, minced 
• 1 x 400ml can coconut milk 
• 800ml water 
• 3 spring onions, chopped 
• Large handful of fresh thyme 
• 8 baby potatoes, peeled and chopped into small chunks
• 1 scotch bonnet 

Put the mutton in a bowl and add 2 tbsp of the curry powder alike with the salt, pepper, ginger, allspice and turmeric. Mix it all into the meat, cover with cling film and leave to marinate over night to get the most flavour, or for 3 hours if you’re short on time.

Heat the oil in a Dutch pot or a large pot over a medium heat and add the onions along with 1 tsp of curry powder and the garlic. Cook for 3-5 minutes until dark brown. Then add 2 tbsp of the coconut milk to create a paste.

Add the mutton to the pot and sauté until the meat has browned all over. Add half the water and the rest of the coconut milk, stir then cover and leave to simmer on a low-medium heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally to endure the meat doesn’t catch at the bottom of the pot. Add 2 tbsp of curry powder after an hour of cooking and add more water if necessary.

After 2 hours, add the remaining curry powder, to taste and more water if needed.

Add the spring onions, thyme, potatoes and scotch bonnet and cook for a further 20 minutes. Remove the scotch bonnet (or leave it for longer if you’re feeling brave/ like it hot!!), cover and cook for a further 30 minutes until the meat is tender. 

Serve with rice and plantain. Bon appétit! 

Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake

This lemon drizzle is super easy to make. It requires no effort on your part but produces a delicious cake with a moist sponge and super lemon taste.

Ingredients:

• 200g unsalted butter, softened 
• 200g caster sugar
• 4 large free range eggs 
• 200g self raising flour 
• 4 lemons 
• 3tbsp milk
• 135g caster sugar for the drizzle 

Line a loaf tin with baking paper and preheat your oven to 170C.

Best the butter and 200g caster sugar in a mixer for 5 minutes, until pale and creamy. 

Add the eggs one at a time (don’t worry if it looks curdled), beating well inbetween adding each egg. Add the flour and mix until well incorporated, now add the lemon zest of 3 lemons and the milk and mix.

Spoon the mixture into your prepared loaf tin and bake for 50-55 minutes until golden and a skewer pushed in the centre comes out clean.

Meanwhile, mix the juice of 3 lemons with 75g caster sugar in a jug and mix until the sugar has dissolved. As soon as the cake has come out of the oven, poke lots of holes all over the cake then pour the lemon mixture all over. Leave to cool in the cake tin.

After 20 minutes, grate the zest of 1 lemon and and add the juice to a bowl. Add 60g of caster sugar and mix. Brush the mixture onto the cake. Leave the cake to cool completely before taking out of the tin.

Enjoy your lemon drizzle loaf cake! Bon appétit!!

Creamy Tomato Chicken Gnocchi

Want a zero effort tomato sauce that you can rustle up in under 20 minutes and that’s full of flavour? Then keep on reading!!

This dish is pact full of flavour and requires zero cooking skills! It’s so simple to make, I’m sure it’ll be a dish you cook again and again.

You can make this vegan by omitting the chicken and Parmesan.

Ingredients:

• 500g fresh gnocchi
• 225g chicken breast, cut into chunks
• 450g vine tomatoes, cut into quarters 
• Red wine vinegar
• Chilli flakes
• 8 garlic cloves 
• Salt & pepper
• 150g spinach 
• 30g basil
• Walnuts
• Olive oil
• Parmesan 

Heat a pan on a medium heat, add some olive oil and once hot, add your chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Once cooked, put in a bowl and set aside.

In the same pan, add some more olive oil and add the tomatoes. Cover and leave to cook on a low heat until softened. Once soft, get masher and mash them until they are smooth (they’ll still be the odd chunk of tomato and that’s ok, we’re going for a rustic tomato sauce). Add a splash of red wine vinegar, crush 6 garlic cloves in, add chilli flakes to taste sad season with salt & pepper. Stir then add the spinach and chicken. Mix well.

Add the gnocchi to a pan of boiling water and cook. They’re done once they float to the top. Add a ladle of the gnocchi water to the sauce and stir. This will thicken it up.

To make the pesto, add the basil to a food processor or mini mixer, add 2 garlic cloves, a splash of red wine vinegar, olive oil, Parmesan, salt & pepper and a handful of walnuts. Blitz it all up and add more olive oil if needed. 

Serve the gnocchi dish, sprinkle with Parmesan and add a spoonful (or more!) of the pesto on top.

Voilà!! Your meal is ready to serve, bon appétit!