If you are anything like me then you are obsessed with the mozzarella sticks from Lotteria. What could be finer than a delicious soft and gooey piece of cheese, coated in golden bread crumbs and deep-fried to perfection. Yes I realise they do not belong to the gourmet culinary arts but by God are they yummy! You can pick these babies up in plenty of supermarkets, but it’s also fairly easy to have a go at making them yourself. The cheese texture isn’t quite the same but it is good and the results are delicious. Niall declared after finishing the batch that he wouldn’t mind having them again next weekend. High praise indeed.

Ingredients

6 string cheeses

100-150g of panko crumbs

1 egg (beaten)

4 tablespoons of flour

1 teaspoon of mixed herbs

1 teaspoon of paprika

Directions

1. Cut the cheese sticks in half then put them on a baking sheet and pop them into the freezer for about 20 minutes to firm up. Meanwhile mix the panko crumbs, mixed herbs, and paprika together.

2. Roll the frozen cheese sticks in seasoned flour.

3. Dip the floured sticks into the beaten egg.

4. Roll the sticks in the panko crumbs so they are completely coated. Then put them back onto the baking sheet and put them back in the freezer for 30 minutes-1 hour.

5. Pour enough oil into your frying pan so that the bottom is coated, then heat on a medium heat. When the oil is hot, fry the cheese sticks on one side for a minute or two, before turning them over to brown the other side. When they are golden brown, remove from the pan and enjoy. I served mine with my delicious homemade salsa.

I can’t believe I’m actually posting this as it’s such an easy thing to make, however I totally forgot how awesome it can be. I used to make it loads when I was a teenager but haven’t had it in years. I always see the boxes  in the foreign food mart but never end up buying one. I usually have a bag of macaroni in my cupboard that I rarely use for anything other than pasta salad. Macaroni is so easy to find in Korea. They sell it in every supermarket so I though it was about time I made use of it.

It was actually my lovely friends over at Pumpkinface that turned me back on to wanting it. They recently put up some pictures of their vegan Mac and Cheese that looked so good I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Then it dawned on me I could just make some when I got home. So quick and easy but incredibly comforting this was just what I needed on a day I felt a bit down in the dumps. Comfort food at its finest! I also threw in a bit of spinach, just because I love it and it to give it a meager amount of nutrition.

Ingredients

250g of macaroni (no need to precook)

1 litre of milk

1/2 stick of butter

50g of flour

A teaspoon of mustard

200g of  cheddar cheese (grated)

100g of breadcrumbs (빵가루)

200g of spinach

1/2 a chicken stock cube (dissolved in a small amount of hot water)

A pinch of Salt and pepper

Directions

Melt the butter in a sauce pan, turn down the heat then stir in the flour to make a paste. Add the milk to the saucepan and keep whisking. After a while the mixture should thicken and become a lovely white sauce. If it’s too thick add a little more milk. Add half of the cheese and the mustard and stir until the cheese has melted. Add the dissolved stock cube to the mixture and keep on stirring.   Roughly chop the spinach and add to the cheese sauce. You can remove it from the heat at this point. The sauce will still be warm enough to wilt the spinach. Put your uncooked macaroni in your oven proof dish, pour in the sauce and and mix it all together. Top with the other half of the grated cheese and then the breadcrumbs. Bake in the oven at 170 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes until golden and brown and the macaroni has cooked though. Voilà an easy dinner that will always put a smile on your face.

Next week is one of my favourite holidays, Shrove Tuesday, better known as pancake day. The day before the start of lent when everyone eats lots and lots of pancakes. I can always remember my excitement as a child as we would always eat pancakes for dinner on this momentous occasion. Despite their ease we didn’t really eat pancakes too often and they were always considered as a special treat. Plus there was the excitement of seeing if you could flip the pancake just like they did on Blue Peter. It was an exciting day to behold.

In England we like to make our pancakes more like the French crepes than the fluffy American ones, drizzled with just a little lemon and sugar and maybe some golden syrup for good measure. However this year I decided I wanted to bring you something different and bring back another nostalgic treat, the Findus Crispy pancake! Findus crispy pancakes are a frozen snack food that come in a variety of flavours. Popular in the 70s and 80s they have now gained notoriety for being the food of the Chavs but personally I will always look back on them with fondness.

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall brought out his own recipe for homemade crispy pancakes which is what I present to you today with a few changes. I filled mine with a creamy cheesy chicken filling but you can do whatever you like. Even just grated cheese works well. Minced beef or cheese and ham are other good alternatives.

Ingredients

Pancakes

165g of all purpose flour

1 egg

300ml of milk

A pinch of salt

Filling

1 chicken breast

1 green pepper

4 mushrooms

1/2 an onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon of mixed herbs

Cheese sauce

2 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of flour

300ml of milk

100g of cheddar cheese

Coating

A plate of seasoned flour

2-3 eggs beaten in a large bowl

A bowl of breadcrumbs (빵가루)

Directions

To make the filling, finely chop the onion and garlic and fry off in a little olive oil for a few minutes. Chop the chicken, green pepper, and mushrooms into very small pieces and add to the pan. Add the mixed herbs and fry until the chicken has cooked through and the vegetables have softened.

To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan then add the flour. Stir together to form a roux then add the milk. Stir continuously over a low heat until the sauce thickens. This will happen very quickly so make sure you keep an eye on it. Once the sauce has thickened (you may need to add more milk if its too thick). Add the cheese and stir until melted. Pour over the chicken chicken and vegetables and mix together.

To make the pancakes put the flour and salt in a bowl and mix together. Beat the egg into the milk then add it to the flour and mix together until there are no lumps. Leave the batter to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. When the batter is ready, heat a spoon or two full of oil in a frying pan until it is nice and hot then add a ladle-full of the batter and move it all around the pan. You don’t want them to be too thin, but not too thick either, about 1-2mm. After about a minute or so the pancake should be nicely browned, flip it over and cook the other side for another 30 seconds or so. Put the pancake on a plate to cool while you cook the remaining pancakes.

When the pancakes are done put a 2 tablespoons on the mixture in the middle and top with a little grated cheese. You don’t want too much as it will splodge out the sides. Fold the pancake over to make sure the edges come together. Then unfold and brush beaten egg all around the edge to seal it together. Take your pancake then dip first into the flour, then into the egg, and finally into the breadcrumbs. Fry in a little oil for about 3 minutes on each site. To warm through the middle and give the breadcrumbs a nice golden brown colour. Voilà the perfect savoury pancake for Shrove Tuesday!

I don’t like to think of myself as a bragger, but I make the best stuffing in the world! (Ok, maybe not the world but definitely in Korea). I’m a huge stuffing fan and evidently so are my friends. For those of you not lucky enough to know me, I have decided to share my recipe with you, so you too can be as popular as me. It’s a good time as you always get lots of Christmas presents. I originally learned how to make stuffing from my nan. I have had to adapt it as you can’t get lard in Korea, although I think I’ve actually improved on my own nan’s original with the addition of chestnuts and mushrooms. If you’re feeling daring you could even add in some bacon. It is Christmas after all.

Ingredients

1/2 a loaf of white sliced bread (about 12 slices)

1 large onion or 2 small

6 cloves of garlic

8 button mushrooms or chestnut mushrooms (usually found in homeplus)

3 tablespoons of sage (at the foreign food mart)

1 tablespoon of mixed herbs

1 tablespoon of rosemary

400ml of chicken stock (stock cube not real)

400g of chestnuts

A knob of butter

Oil for frying

Directions

Cut crosses in the top of your chestnuts and roast them in the oven for about 20 minutes. Grate or blend your bread to make it into bread crumbs and set aside. Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry in the oil for 5 minutes until it has softened. Then put it into the same bowl as the breadcrumbs. Cut the mushrooms into small pieces and fry them in the butter until they have cooked then add them to the breadcrumbs too. Remove the chestnuts from their shells and crumble them into the breadcrumb mixture. Mix in all the herbs then add the chicken stock and combine everything together and put in a tin. Cook in the oven for about 20-30 minutes or until it had a nice crust on top. If you are taking this to a pot luck dinner you may want to double this recipe as everyone loves it, then you can make in those foil containers and just throw them away after you’re done. Voilá there you have the best stuffing ever!