THE ADDER BITES!

By Jerry the Adder.

Hiiii

Happy New Year chaps and chapetts!

Jerry here and once more I’ve been told to tell you that I’m ‘Too hard for hibernation’.

Speaking of which I have fond memories of hibernation, although I have only done it once, back in 2009. Slept like a log, under a log.

Hope you all had a lovely holiday season! Mine was exceedingly refined. After beating Fortnum and Mason’s main suppliers in a mince pie making competition I turned my attentions to that quintessential German cake, the Stollen! I thought this Jerry would be rather apt at taking on those Jerries’ at their own game!

For those that don’t know Stollen is a bread like fruit cake with dried fruit, marzipan in the middle and covered with powdered sugar. It has gained popularity in the UK due to the introduction of certain German supermarkets.

Obviously I smashed the competition hands down. An impartial panel of snake phobic’s and bite victims gave me first place in front of the Lidl and Aldi variants.

It all boils down to the spicy rum I personally distilled a few years back. I lace my teeth with it and then bite the judges! Subsequently they start hallucinating and give me the win.

With all these enticing and damaging dishes I thought it poignant to present for you some yummy ideas for the January blues!

Especially to all you detoxing diva’s out there! The January diet is not fun at all!

Well > It is now! These dishes may sound a little hippy but trust me, they're flavours will make you very happy indeed, so why not have a go and give them a little chance?

To start: Baked peppers with egg and puy lentils!

These babies make a great main meal in themselves; say if you add a splash of broccoli and asparagus, drizzled with some lemon and lime!

You can use them as a side if you are grilling some fish or even preparing lamb!

But as a starter – gobble the lot!

So for four:

75g of Puy lentils

½ tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp paprika

¾ pint of vegetable stock

1 tsp of chopped fresh mint

4 eggs

Some ground black pepper

Sprig of coriander to garnish

First things first:

Put the Puy lentils in a large pan with the turmeric, coriander, paprika and vegetable stock

Then:

Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat, part cover the pan and simmer for 30-40 minutes. If the lentils start to dry out, add some more stock or a little water during cooking.

Go on to:

Brush the peppers lightly with a little olive oil and place them close together on a large non-stick baking try, skin side down.

After that:

Pre-heat an oven to 190 degrees C or 375 degrees F or gas mark 5. Stir the chopped fresh mint into the lentils. Then fill the half peppers with the lentil mixture.

Crack on with:

Cracking the eggs, one at a time into a small jug or pitcher. Poor them into the middle of each stuffed pepper. Stir the edges of the egg white into the lentils with a fork – add a dash of pepper

Finally:

Bake those babies for about ten minutes or until the egg white is just set. Serve straight up and garnish.

Main Course:

Spicy chickpea and aubergine stew!

This will balance the blood sugars brilliantly after all the eating frivolities from December. (Sorry folks, Jock insists I use alliteration to death on each post)

For your four:

Get 3 large aubergines and cube them

Soak 200g of chickpeas over night

2tblsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves finely chopped

2 large onions, chopped

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground cinemon

½ tsp ground coriander

1 tsp cayenne pepper

3 400g cans of tomatoes

Basmati rice to serve

For the garnish:

2tblsp extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1 garlic clove, sliced

A few sprigs of fresh coriander

One:

Place the diced aubergines in a colander and sprinkle them with some salt. Sit the colander in a bowl and leave to stand for 30 minutes, to allow the bitter juices to seep out of the flesh

Two:

Rinse the aubergine cubes thoroughly in running water and pat dry on kitchen paper.

Three:

Drain the chickpeas and put them in a large pan with enough water to cover them. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until tender. Drain them thoroughly.

Four:

Heat the oil in a large plan. Add the garlic and chopped onion and cook gently until soft. Add the spices and cook, stirring for a few seconds.

Five:

Add the aubergine cubes and stir to coat with spices and onion. Cook for five minutes. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas. Cover and simmer for twenty minutes

Six:

To make the garnish, heat the olive oil in a frying pan and, when very hot, add the sliced onion and garlic. Fry until golden and crisp.

Seven:

Serve the thick stew with rice, topped with the crispy fried onion and garlic and garnished with a sprig of coriander!

Enjoy folks! And will see you in the spring time…..