The Tropical Treat

Weekend Dishes

Lemon and passion fruit drizzle cake

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Lemon and passion fruit drizzle cake

An easy passion fruit cake recipe – great for when you want a classic lemon drizzle with a tropical twist.

Passion fruit and lemon curd has got to be one of my favourite flavour combinations at the moment. Fruity, fresh and zesty – what’s not to like? A couple of weeks ago I made a lovely tart from BBC Good Food using the same ingredients and I’ll definitely be making both deserts again.

This particular recipe, however, is from Bonne Maman and there are lots of other lovely recipes you can make using their jams or sauces.

Lemon and passion fruit drizzle cake

Make this passion fruit cake recipe for the most light, soft and fluffy cake. So the trick is the drizzle goes inside the cake too, when the cake comes out of the oven make fine holes with a cocktail stick and spoon over. If you’re looking for another passion fruit recipe try this creamy delicious panna cotta.

Serves 8
Prep 15 mins
Cook 90 mins
Total 105 mins

Ingredients

3 passion fruits
6 tbsp Bonne Maman Lemon Curd
30g ground almonds
150g unsalted butter, softened
185g golden caster sugar
2 medium eggs
225g plain flour
150ml sour cream
1 lemon, finely grated zest
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
Icing sugar, to dust

Method

First, make the lemon and passion fruit drizzle. Halve the passion fruit and sieve the pulp into a small bowl, reserving the seeds. Stir 2 tbsp of the lemon curd into the juice and set aside. Stir the remaining lemon curd into the ground almonds and set aside. Wash about 2 tsp of the passionfruit seeds and leave to dry.

Heat the oven to 180C/160 fan/gas mark 4. Grease and flour a 1 litre bundt mould, a 900g loaf tine or a 20cm, deep, round cake tin.

Beat the butter and caster sugar together until light and fluffy then add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of the flour. Beat well until smooth.

Beat in the sour cream and lemon zest. Finally fold in the remaining flour and baking powder.

Spoon half the cake mixture into the prepared mould or tin then dot the lemon curd and almond mixture evenly over the top. Finish with the remaining cake mixture.Bake for 45 mins then cover the top loosely with foil and continue to bake for a further 30-40mins or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool for 10mins then turn out onto a wire rack placed over a plate. Make fine holes in the sponge using a cocktail stick and spoon the lemon and passionfruit drizzle over the cake whilst warm. Leave to cool.

Sprinkle with passion fruit seeds, pistachio nuts and dust lightly with icing sugar to serve.

Oven baked chicken wings with burnt lime butter

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Oven baked chicken wings with burnt lime butter

The best oven baked chicken wings. First things first – these sweet, sticky salty chicken wings are the ultimate comfort food.

To make the seasoning is fairly simple – sprinkle over dried rosemary, sea salt and black pepper (I like to use this Cornish Sea Salt blend for the latter) and then coat with cornflour.

Oven baked chicken wings with burnt lime butter

Place the chicken wings onto a very hot baking tray and then an equally hot oven to get lovely crispy – all without frying.

If you dislike deep frying then this recipe for oven baked chicken wings is perfect for you.

Oven baked chicken wings with burnt lime butter

Now the burnt lime butter sauce is flavoursome, fresh and zesty. Immediately after the wings come out of the oven brush over the sauce (don’t skip this step!) and then use any extra for dipping.

When barbecue season hits they will be absolutely perfect, I’m thinking you could serve this up with my watermelon salad and some crispy corn ribs.

Serves 4
Prep 10 mins
Cook 40 mins
Total 50 mins

Ingredients

1kg chicken wings, cut into two and wing tips removed
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
4 tbsp cornflour
1-2 tbsp sunflower oil, for brushing

For the sauce

3 limes, halved
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp demerara sugar 
1 tbsp clear honey 
2 garlic cloves, crushed
20g unsalted butter

Method

First, preheat the oven to 230C / gas mark 8 / 450F. Put a large baking tray in the oven to heat up. Put the chicken wings in a bowl and season with the dried rosemary, salt and pepper, then coat in the cornflour.

Carefully line the hot baking tray with greaseproof paper. Put the chicken wings on the top; brush with sunflower oil. 

Reduce the heat to 220C / gas mark 7 and cook for 40 minutes ensuring to turn the chicken halfway through and until the skin is golden and crispy (the meat is cooked through when the juices run clear). 

Meanwhile, scorch the lime halves by placing them on a hot griddle pan, cut-side down, for 2-3 minutes. Take off the heat and juice two halves.

When the chicken wings are almost cooked, put the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, honey and crushed garlic in a saucepan with 100 ml. Bring to the boil and cook until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce has thickened slightly (5-6 minutes). 

Add the lime juice then take off the heat and stir in the butter. Brush the soy and lime butter all over the crispy chicken wings and serve with the remaining scorched lime halves on the side. Enjoy!

Jerk salmon with avocado quinoa

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Jerk salmon with avocado quinoa

A very easy jerk salmon with avocado quinoa – a pretty healthy dish that’s full of so much flavour.

Jerk really needs no introduction as one of Jamaica’s greatest exports.

Firstly, have you ever made jerk from scratch? It’s game changing. I found a jerk paste recipe by Levi Roots, ‘reggae reggae sauce anyone’? on the BBC food website and it worked a treat.

So after blitzing all the ingredients (see below) and making the paste, I let it marinate over the salmon fillets for about an hour (would be even better overnight) and pan fried it in a little butter.

Jerk salmon with avocado quinoa

Another thing to note is that this easy jerk salmon is very versatile, it can be served with some rice and peas, roasted veggies or perhaps even a Buddha bowl for instance.

However, for this recipe, I’ve made the pan-fried jerk salmon with a fresh avocado quinoa salad which is from The Avocado Cookbook by Heather Thomas. To make it, just dice some avocado, spring onions, chives, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of fresh lemon and little sea salt and pepper.

To sum up, it’s something super bright and summery perfect for a quick lunch and make sure to take a look at my Tik Tok video to see how I made it!

Serves 2
Prep 15 mins
Cook 25 mins
Total 40 mins

Ingredients

For the jerk salmon

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2cm/1 inch piece fresh root ginger, roughly chopped
1 yellow scotch bonnet chilli, chopped 
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 cloves
1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp curry powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
480g salmon fillets (2x 240g )
25g butter
Lemon wedge, to serve

For the avocado quinoa 
 
100g quinoa
240ml vegetable stock
1 large ripe avocado, diced
1-2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 spring onions, diced
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
A few chives, snipped
Salt and freshly black pepper

Method

Make the jerk marinade – put all the ingredients in the blender and blitz to a paste. Place the salmon on a plate and cover with the jerk paste ensuring it is evenly coated. Cover and chill for at least 30 mins (overnight is best if you can).

Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa under cold water, then drain. Bring the stock to the boil in a pan and add the quinoa. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for about 15 mins until tender and most of the stock is absorbed. Remove from the heat and leave to steam in the pan, drain off any excess liquid. Fluff up the quinoa with a fork.

In a medium sized bowl, mix the avocado, a drizzle of olive oil, spring onions, lemon juice and herbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

In a large pan, heat butter and pan fry the salmon for roughly 10 mins or until golden and crisp, occasionally spooning the butter over the fish. 

Divide the avocado quinoa between two plates and place the salmon on top. Enjoy!

Cuban tomato, pepper and beef stew (Ropa Vieja)

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My take on one of Cuba’s most loved dishes – Ropa Vieja which in Spanish translates to old clothes (the dish is said to resemble a pile of old colourful old rags). Here I use pre-diced braising steak but traditionally cuts such as flank, skirt or chuck are slowly cooked for hours with tomatoes and vegetables. The beef is then shredded and the stew served with rice, plantain and black beans on the side.

It’s a rich, warming and tropical stew perfect for cold weather! London is very grey so I decided to make a comforting dish with a hint of something bright and tropical of course. Cuban food is a blend of Spanish, African and Carribbean food which means lots of spices, bold and exotic flavours.

Although I’m not a huge red meat eater this stew is definitely worth it. Only a little bit of oil is used to initially brown the meat so it’s fairly low fat and packed with lots of veggies. It take a couple of hours in the oven (low heat for a long time) but the beef comes super tender in a deliciously rich tomato sauce. If you don’t want the rice, plantains and black beans it could also be served with some cornbread or piled inside warm tortillas and topped with a little sour cream. There are lots of options with this one, it’s surprisingly good! 

Serves 4
Prep 15 mins
Cook 180 mins
Total 195 mins

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
400g good quality braising or casserole steak cut into 2cm cubes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced 
1 orange pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 large carrot, sliced into matchsticks
1 tsp dried oregano 
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sugar
2 bay leaves
400g can of chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree 
200ml chicken stock
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped – to serve 
White rice – to serve
Refried beans – to serve (see link to recipe below)
1 large yellow plantain, cut into 1cm diagonal slices and fried – to serve

Method

First pat the beef dry and season with salt and black pepper. Preheat the oven to 160C / gas 3 / 140F. 

Heat 1tbsp oil in a large ovenproof pan or casserole dish with a lid over a high heat. Add the steak and brown all sides until the beef has charred spots. Transfer to a plate and set aside (keep any juices).

In the same pan heat 1 tbsp oil over a medium heat and fry onion and garlic for a few minutes. Add the peppers, carrot and spices (oregano, cumin, paprika, sugar, bay leaves) and cook for 10 minutes or until the peppers are softened.

Add the chopped tomatoes, puree, chicken stock and white wine. Bring to the boil and then return the beef to the stew, simmer for 10 minutes.

Put the stew in oven for 2 1/2 – 3 hours or until the beef is tender (you may need to remove vegetables after an hour and add them back later) and remove the bay leaves.

Serve with white rice, fried plantain, refried beans and top with fresh coriander.

Chipotle tomato, black bean & potato scramble

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Sometimes toast or cereal just isn’t going to cut it…

So why not try a simple, wholesome and colourful Mexican inspired one pan breakfast dish. It’s made with only a few ingredients – baby plum tomatoes, black beans, spring onions, eggs and new potatoes topped off with a little chipotle chilli. 

You might be thinking this dish isn’t very tropical but both potatoes and tomatoes originate from Latin America (modern day Peru to be exact).

It’s one of the speediest cooked breakfasts you’ll probably ever make and packed with lots of health boosting ingredients, what’s not to love!

This is very child friendly with everything mixed in together too and great for when you have lots of people over for breakfast and everyone’s helping themselves. If you do eat meat, some chorizo or streaky bacon would pair perfectly with this dish.

With a great blend of carbs and protein this scramble is the ideal post run or workout breakfast. It’s crammed full of restorative protein rich ingredients such as black beans essential for regaining your energy levels but would work perfectly well too

Boil the potatoes first making sure they are nice and tender. Fry the spring onions, tomatoes and black beans and then add the potatoes, remove from the pan after a couple of minutes. 

Serve up with some extra coriander and enjoy!

Chipotle tomato, black bean & potato scramble

A simple, wholesome and colourful Mexican inspired one pan breakfast dish made with only a few ingredients – baby plum tomatoes, black beans, spring onions, eggs and new potatoes topped off with a little chipotle chilli. You could probably make this scramble with ingredients already in your kitchen cupboard, it’s so easy and deliciously good. It’s also the perfect post-run breakfast with an ideal blend of carbs and essential protein to help nourish and repair the body.  

  • 350g baby new potatoes, halved
  • 2 tsp butter
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 tsp chipotle chilli flakes
  • 100g baby plum tomatoes, halved
  • 100g black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 4 medium free range eggs, beaten
  • 1 tbsp chopped coriander

  1. First boil the potatoes for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain, crush and season with 1 tsp butter, salt and black pepper.

  2. Heat oil in small pan and fry the potatoes, onions and chilli for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and black beans and cook for 1-2 minutes further, remove from the pan, cover and set aside.

  3. Using the same pan, add 1 tsp butter, the eggs and stir gently until scrambled. 

  4. Add the potato mixture, corianders season with salt and pepper and serve up straight away.

*Adapted from Waitrose’s chilli tomato potato scramble