Tuna sandwich filler

We're on a health kick at the moment to reduce the amount of crap we eat - ie weird preservatives, added sugar etc. So we're starting to make more things ourselves rather than buying ready made stuff.

Ingredients
2 tins of tuna
6-8 pickled gerkins
half a white onion
salt to season
4 tbsp red wine vinegar

Blend until smooth - season to taste. You could add mayonnaise instead of the vinegar but this is a healthier option.
Not the prettiest food in the world but pretty tasty.

Hoummus

Hoummus is easy and really cheap. We tend to buy big pots from CostCo but when I saw chickpeas on offer, I thought why not make a big batch up. And fill an old CostCo hoummus pot....

Ingredients
4 tbsp tahini
2 tins chickpeas - save the water in one tin
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lime
3 cloves garlic
salt to taste

Add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth. Season with salt and lemon juice to taste.
If the hoummus is thicker than you like, add the water from one of the tins of chickpeas until you get the consistency you want.

Thrice cooked chips

Definitely not my recipe - first inspired by Heston and loads of people seem to do it now.  Best chips I've ever eaten and I'm now starting to do them in large batches as they take far too long to make otherwise.


Ingredients
Decent potatoes
Big bottle of oil
Salt
Dipping sauce

Peel and slice potatoes into reasonably chunky chips
Discard any bits which are too small or too thin
Keep them under water whilst preparing to stop them going black

Bring a big pan of water to the boil and add the chips for 10 minutes.
When done, spread on a tray to cool then place in the fridge until actually cold

Heat a pan of oil on a medium heat until a grain of cooked rice (or a breadcrumb) floats to the surface immediately when dropped in
Seperate your chips into batches of around 15
Deep fry the chips in batches until the edges start going brown - about 3-5 minutes

Remove and drain of oil on kitchen roll
Place in fridge until actually cold  - I'm freezing a few batches at this point so will let you know how they get on. I also have a set in the fridge to keep for a few days.

When ready to eat -
Deep fry the chips again until a nice deep golden brown colour - roughly about 6-8 minutes

I recommend serving with mayonnaise :)

Stuffed mushrooms

Ingredients
4 portobello mushrooms
handful of peanuts
2 peppers (yellow and orange)
10 cherry tomatoes
3 slices granary bread
handful of basil leaves
1/2 tbsp salt
good glug of olive oil
grated cheddar
salad (spinach, cucumber, 2 tomatoes)

Blend peanuts, peppers, tomatoes, bread, basil, salt and a hefty glug of olive oil
Remove stalks from mushrooms and fill with the blended mixture
Cover with grated cheese
Put under grill until cheese is brown (note that this leaves the mushroom with a lot of bite so cook longer if you prefer)
Serve with a salad

Omit the bread if you want to reduce the carbs