mrthebigman in the flesh

So I have been spending a lot of time creating food that fits in with my overall day, depending on which shift I am working.

Today I would like to share one of the 3-12am recipes I came up with.

Like most of my meals, it is made up of 3 constituent parts usually in Protein, Vegetables and Carbohydrates.

Everything a growing FatLad needs!

Cous Cous

You buy this directly from your local supermarket, and is fairly easy to prepare.

Ingredients

• 200g Cous Cous
• Enough water to cover

How to make Cous Cous

1. Boil a kettle of water.

2. Add the Cous Cous into a bowl, and cover up to 1cm above the Cous Cous, with the boiling water.

3. Cover the bowl with a plate or a towel, in order to keep the moisture in.

4. After 5mins the Cous Cous will have fully taken in the water, and you should mix it through with a fork.

Beetroot and Apple Coleslaw

I had the idea for this recipe a while back and have just recently been playing around with other tastes within it, outside of the usual coleslaw requirements.

Ingredients

• 1 Pak Choi
• 1 Courgette
• 2 Carrots
• 2 Beetroots
• 2 Apples, cored
• 113g of Mayonnaise
• 1tsp of Dijon Mustard
• 1tsp Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt & Pepper to taste

How to make the Coleslaw

1. Chop up the vegetables so they fit into the feed shoot of your food processor. Keep the leaves of the Bok Choi separate.

2. Grate all of the vegetables using the food processor grating attachment. Notice how putting the vegetables in on their side, that the vegetables are grated into longer chards.

3. Chop up the leaves of the Bok Choi into fine lengths.

4. Take all of the grated vegetables out of the processor, putting them on top of a towel.

5. Put the apple into the food processor and grate. Add to the other vegetables on top of the towel.

6. Pull all the corners in, and squeeze as much liquid out of the vegetables as you can.

7. In a large bowl put in the mayonnaise and the mustard. Add the Balsamic and the seasoning and mix well.

8. Add in all of the vegetables and mix through the mayonnaise mixture until it is completely mixed.

9. Take the two pieces of Beetroot and cut them into batons.

10. Add to the coleslaw, mixing thoroughly. You will note the coleslaw taking on a light purple tinge.

Gerry’s Ratatouille

This is making it into a lot of my recipes recently, as it is just delicious.

Ingredients

• 2 aubergines
• ¾ courgettes
• 2 good sized onions
• 3 peppers
• 2 x 400g tins of Italian plum tomatoes in tomato juice
• Just under ¼ pint of olive oil
• 4 Cloves of Garlic
• Salt & Pepper to taste

How to make the Ratatouille

1. After washing, slice the aubergines and courgettes unpeeled – not too thick. Sprinkle them with a fair amount of salt and lay them out on a large plate or plates and cover with another plate(s) for about 45 mins.

This allows the moisture to drain, thus removing the bitterness of the aubergines and courgettes.

Don’t worry if they look a bit soggy afterwards.  Then place in collandar/container and wash off salt.

2. Seed the peppers and cut into your desired shape and size of pieces,

3. Fry the sliced or diced onions in the oil in a good sized pot (stockpot is best) for a few mins until soft and slightly coloured, adding chopped garlic,

4. Then add aubergines and peppers first and simmer for 10 mins, also add any seasoning at this stage.

5. Then pour plum tomatoes and juice into a bowl and cut up tomatoes, add along with courgettes to the pot, cover with lid and stew gently (low heat) for around 45 mins.