Pasta with gammon, olives & med veg

A simple but delicious dinner I've been meaning to cook most of the week - but just didn't get round to! A handful of diced gammon sauteed with garlic, onions, peppers, courgettes and mushrooms until softened; add a teaspooon of flour and make a roux; stir in milk and add a handful of grated cheddar. Flavour with chicken bouillon powder, oregano, salt and cracked black pepper.

Stir in a few olives and a dash of olive oil. Add to cooked pasta and serve - I had mine with a simple mixed salad and a toasted garlic bagel - a knob of butter mixed with garlic puree and a pinch of chopped parsley.

Full now!

Buck Rarebit

 

 

Defrost 2 beer ice cubes - if you don't know this Cheat's Tip: fill a couple of ice cube trays with beer (flat leftovers are fine but strain out the ciggy butts first!) and when they're frozen store in a bag. Adding a couple to a basic stew really lifts the flavour!

In a bowl with the beer add 4 handfuls grated cheddar, 50 ml milk, 50 ml beaten egg, 1 dstsp Worcester, 3 tsp English mustard and  a pinch of S+P. Mix well.

Toast 2 slices on both sides, butter each and dollop the rarebit mix thickly on top; put under preheated grill. In a pan on the stove poach an egg or two.

When the cheese mix is bubbling and browning, top with poached egg and eat!

Business in Birkenhead Buffet (Part Deux)

I had a thoroughly enjoyable and successful night yesterday: meeting new people, catching up with old friends and contacts - including the lovely (and supremely-talented) Annie Long who gave me an autographed copy of her new CD Swan Song. (Annie on Youtube performing live at Ness Gardens)

......and I received lots of welcome compliments for my food!!!

We're hoping that the next meeting will be a Christmas Social - so I'd better dust off the recipe for Turkey & Cranberry Meatballs - possibly with Annie performing live!

Bon appetit!

Business in Birkenhead Buffet

Just putting the finishing touches.......

 Garlicky Hummus

Mixing the pork & paprika

 

Chicken Tikka Kofte and Pork & Paprika ready to fry

 Red Pepper & Cheddar Bruschetta in progress

Pollock En Papillote With Dauphinoise Potatoes

For the Dauphinoise:
A cup of milk, brought to a quick simmer; add a heaped tsp veg bouillon powder, a good pinch of pepper, a pinch of salt and pinch of nutmeg. Stir well and whisk in 1 heaped tsp cornflour dissolved in a little water. Stir in to form a thick sauce.

 

 

Peel 2 medium potatoes and slice into 0.5cm rounds. Grease bottom of oven-proof dish and layer with potatoes; salt lightly and cover with a small handful of sliced onions. Top with another layer of potatoes and pour over sauce. Bake uncovered on gas Mk 6 for 45-50 minutes.

The main part of the meal was not strictly "En Papillote" as I baked the fish in a parcel of tin foil, on a bed of baby spinach leaves - and the lovely white Pollock became slightly discoloured! Simply wrap the fish in baking parchment (or tin foil), season with S+P and cook for about 10 - 15 minutes. 

Voila!

Piquant Pork & Pineapple

180g pork cut in strips; a 2cm thick slice of pineapple, skinned and cored, cut in batons; a small handful red peppers in strips; 4 sugar snap peas diagonally cut into thirds; 1 spring onion chopped.

Soften the snow-peas and peppers, add the meat and brown; add the pineapple and toss. Season with S+P, add 1 dstsp ginger puree, 1 dstp marmalade and a scant tsp cinnamon. Mix well and add spring onions, followed by 100ml water, 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder and 1 tsp tomato puree. Bring to the boil and add another dstsp of marmalade and 1 scant tsp sugar. Bubble vigorously until the sauce reduces and thickens.

 

 

 Served with basmati rice

 

Mediterranean Vegetables with Couscous & Meatballs

I came back from the pub, starving, and wanted something quick and spicy. I boiled the kettle and poured hot water over the couscous in bowl. In a wok I sauteed some red onions with peppers, courgettes, halved cherry tomatoes (I bought 2 punnets reduced to 25p each on Sunday) with some garlic, chopped chillies from a jar and a handful of chick peas from the freezer. 

(CHEAT'S TIP: I cook a whole bag of dried chickpeas in the pressure cooker, rinse and spread out on a tray; freeze overnight and then store in a resealable bag - they only take a minute to defrost for use).

I added to the veg mix a little ground coriander, cumin, paprika, sugar, oregano and a pinch of cayenne pepper. I did another cheat and opened a tin of meatballs in gravy and put half in with the veg mix, heated through, stirred in the cooked couscous and....

 
......a delicious meal in less than 10 minutes!

Cottage Pie with Pork and Chives

I'd been out at The Liverpool Food Festival earlier and had Jerk Chicken with Peas 'n' rice for breakfast/lunch so I fancied something traditional for tea - except I used a mixed mince of beef and pork (only a £1.00 for 400g from Asda, and not full of grease or water) and I spiced it up with garlic and chives!

INGREDIENTS & METHOD

Peel a couple of medium potatoes and boil in salted water. Mash.
In another pan soften a handful of onions, stir in 200g mince (pork and beef) and brown the meat. Add 2tsp garlic puree and 1 dstsp chives (dried). Stir in 1 tsp flour to make a roux, add 100ml water and 1 scant tsp beef bouillon. Boil rapidly to reduce. Mine looked a bit pale but I slightly overdid the gravy browning! Put into an oven-proof pie dish, top with mash - score with a fork and brush with beaten egg. Bake for 30 minutes in a very hot oven.

Grand!

Tuna & Wasabi Mayo, Drizzled Tomato

It was getting towards lunchtime on this lovely, Indian-summery, day - and I got the mental taste of tomatoes ....drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and maybe a pinch of salt.... Luckily I've got a good local greengrocers less than a five-minute walk away. So, English tomatoes, garnished with cucumber, stoned black olives and a few shreds of red onion. The tuna was an afterthought!

Half a tin of drained tuna chunks mixed with 2d stsp of mayo, 2 cm squeeze of Wasabi (I buy it in a tube like a toothpaste one = 1 tsp); 1 tsp tomato ketchup; 1dstsp cooked green beans, chopped; 1 heaped dstsp red onions, thinly-sliced; a small handful of celery, thinly sliced; 2 dstsp mixed peppers, chopped. I heaped mine on cup of lettuce leaves: I used Cos............

Sirloin Sandwich

 I picked up a piece of reduced-price rolled sirloin at Asda this morning - at just over half a kilo, too small for 3 steaks but a tad too greedy for only 2! I put it into the freezer for about 45 minutes and then carved 2 slices off before halving the remainder for 2 generous portions.

I heated a wok with a little veg oil, when it was smoking I tipped the oil away and gave the meat 20 seconds on each side; served with buttered red onions, lettuce, tomato and plenty of English mustard......

Cheese with a Communard

  

Most of you sophisticats will have heard of Kir (white wine & creme de cassis) or my favourite, Kir Royale (with champagne) But who knows what a Communard is?
 

I was digging into the cheese board late the other night and really craved a glass of Port - red wine just didn't cut it on this occasion.......Then I had a brainwave - yes, you've guessed where this is going!
 

I thought that red wine and creme de cassis was my own invention, but no: it's called a Communard Cocktail. Did the trick too!

Light Lunch Salad Bowl

Cos lettuce, diced radish, sweet yellow peppers, celery, red onion, mature cheddar & double gloucester cheeses, garlic sausage, kidney beans, raw peas, tossed with a classic French dressing (with oregano & basil added) and topped with a poached egg. Craving bread & butter, but I'm being good!

Omelette Fines Herbes

I was in one of those moods last night when I didn't really have a clue what I fancied for dinner, but knew instictively that I'd been overdoing the rich food recently. I'd got lots of fresh stuff  - a bumper crop of reduced price veg in the Co-op again - but protein? Plenty of eggs in the fridge.....look at dry goods: "Fines Herbes" which I think one of my sisters gave me. Real 1960s pseudo-sophistication. Everyone has their own theory about how to make the perfect omelette: I cheat! I get a little veg oil almost smoking in a heavy-bottomed pan, swill the oil all around and then tip it out; turn the heat down slightly and pour in the beaten eggs (a dash of milk, a little salt, and in this case a pinch of herbs). As the egg starts to set I lift a corner with a palette knife and run some liquid underneath, repeating until most has been cooked. So far, traditional: then I put the pan under a pre-heated, very hot grill to finish off - the effect is like a souffle! I was tempted to strip the corn kernels off the cob but nobody would believe they were fresh then: use a very VERY sharp knife to cut the cobs into bite-size pieces. Leftover fresh peas and beans with boiled new potatoes and a sauteed field mushroom completed the meal. Oh, and a big glass of South African Cape!