Pan-fried Mushroom and Chorizo Frittata

There's a lot of discussion from time to time about what a frittata is, and what shape it ought to be. I'm way past that discussion now, but generally it is round, cooked in the oven, and made with eggs and other ingredients. How you make it largely depends on how many people you intend to serve.

In this case, the frittata was pan-fried, because I was not using up pre-cooked left overs, and I was cooking it for myself. I used no cream in the recipe, just a little  water, as if I was cooking an omelette.

I chopped the chorizo, the potato, two spring onions, and the chestnut mushrooms first, and added them to a preheated flat and lidded pan. Initially at a high heat, all the oil for the cooking process came from the chorizo sausage. Once the potato started to brown, I turned down the heat and covered it with a glass lid. Cooked for 25 minutes, stirring the ingredients frequently.

Normally I would have beaten two eggs together for a minute before adding them to the pan, but decided not to do that in this case. I cracked the eggs into the pan and stirred the vegetables through the egg thoroughly. When the egg had become firm enough I grouped all the ingredients together in one part of the pan, and cooked it slowly for about another twelve minutes under glass. I added two pinches of herbes de provence. I removed the frittata from the pan with a silicon fish slice. Served with a squeeze of tomato ketchup. Altogether delicious!

A lot of variations can be rung on this dish (cream, cheese, yoghurts, leftovers, etc), and it is fun to cook. I will revisit this one from time to time.

Vegetable Soup with Cabbage, Lentils and Tarragon

A vegetable soup made with red and green lentils, chopped Spanish onion, half a Savoy cabbage, potato, green beans, vegetable stock, turmeric, Worcester sauce, and some Rosemary.

I began the soup base with cubed potato and the diced Spanish onion, stir-fried in sunflower oil. Cooked for ten to fifteen minutes at a moderate heat, stirring frequently. Then I added a pint of boiling water, plus the lentils (handful of green, and a third of a cup of red lentils). Stir together thoroughly, turn down the the heat, and simmer under glass for half an hour.

During which time I chopped the green beans into centimetre lengths, and finely diced the cabbage.

After adding the cabbage and green beans, the soup was allowed to cook for another fifteen minutes, when it was semi-blended with an electric handmixer. I added the vegetable stock, the turmeric (half a level teaspoonful), two dashes of Worcester sauce, the Tarragon and the Rosemary (one pinch each). Cooked for another twenty minutes or so, and served with black pepper.

Apple and Blueberry Fruit Salad

Simplicity itself - core an apple, and cut into quarters. Then cut the quarters into three lengthwise strips. Then chop the strips into small pieces using a sharp knife.

Wash about 50g of blueberries, drain, and then add both ingredients to a serving bowl.

I found some milk-free soya yoghurt (unflavoured) in Asda today. Not as pretty as milk based yoghurt or cream, but tastes delicious, and is kinder to my digestive system. Stir two dessert spoonfuls of the yoghurt through the fruit. 

The dish is best served with a  drizzle of maple syrup.

Chillied Bratwurst Sausage Casoulet, with Leek and Tomato

A simple casoulet, made with two chopped bratwurst sausages (made with chilli and one of the options available from Aldi), potato chunks, shredded tomato (3), and a large leek. The green beans were added last (about 100g), since they take very little time to cook.

I browned the bratwurst pieces first in some sunflower oil in a sautee pan. While that was going on, I cut the leek into four lengthwise, and then chopped it into smallish pieces. Added to the pan with the shredded tomato. I prepared the potato, and then added half a pint of boiling water to the pan along with the potato pieces. Cooked at a low heat under glass for about an hour.

After that, I added some vegetable stock, and some Quixo onion gravy granules (a dessert spoonful), which was also bought in Aldi. As well as imparting flavour to the dish, it also functions as a thickener. Thoroughly stirred the mix together before leaving it to simmer under glass for another fifteen minutes.

Finally the diced and washed green beans were added to the pan, and allowed to cook at a low heat for between five and ten minutes. Delicious! Almost as good as bratwurst cooked with onions and peppers!

Lorne Sausage Breakfast, with Fried Onion and Tomato

I've always enjoyed the square Scottish beef sausage known as Lorne sausage, or steak Lorne. But it took me a very long time to cook it in such a way that it didn't buckle in the middle. This meant it was difficult to cook evenly.

In the end I discovered the secret was to cook it at a lower temperature, and to cook it for the most part under glass.

There is sufficient fat in the sausage so that it isn't necessary to prime the pan with oil. Preheat the pan, and turn down the temperature to close to the lowest heat. Add the sausage, and cover the pan. Cook slowly for seven minutes on each side. If it looks done, it probably is, so watch its progress carefully.

Served in this instance with fried onions and tomato, an egg fried in a separate pan with a little oil, and garnished with some English mustard.

Cauliflower Cheese

A gorgeous dish of cauliflower cheese, with red and white onion, tomato, cornmeal, and cheddar cheese.

I cooked the cauliflower and the diced onion first, for about fifteen minutes, in a pan of water brought to the boil, and then turned down to a simmer. A little turmeric was added, turning the cauliflower yellow.

I mixed three dessert spoonfuls of cornmeal into about 200mls of milk and stirred until thoroughly mixed.

The mixture was added to the pan containing the vegetables.and stirred in for two minutes, until the sauce began to thicken. The cheddar, thinly sliced (about 150g), was stirred into the sauce until entirely melted.

I shredded a salad tomato, and stirred it in. Also added some vegetable stock. Left to simmer on the hob at the lowest heat under glass.

After twenty minutes I decanted the contents of the pan into a medium sized casserole dish. About 150g of cheddar was finely grated, and spread over the top, pinch by pinch. Then the casserole dish was placed in an oven preheated to 190 deg C, on the middle shelf. Cooked for an hour uncovered. Check every fifteen minutes to see how it is doing.

Carrot, Lentil and Potato Soup

This is one of those dishes created to use up surplus items in the fridge. In this case some carrots, boiled potato, and the remains of a savoy cabbage.

The soup base was made with two grated carrots, diced apple, one chopped Spanish onion, and a third of a cup of red lentils. Cooked at a low heat under glass for half an hour.

After that the boiled potato and the chopped cabbage were added, plus the vegetable stock. Cook under glass for another half hour or so, then add dried marjoram and oregano. Serve with black or white pepper. Simple and delicious!

Beef and Chestnut Mushroom Chilli

Scotch Beef, cooked in its own fat until browned (about twenty minutes at a medium heat), and then drained through a metal sieve into a metal pan.

Once drained, return the mince to the pan, and add the chopped vegetables, the garlic, and about 200g of tomato passata, plus a cupful of water. Simmer under glass for about an hour to tenderise the beef. Stir occasionally. after half an hour, add the beef stock and two pinches of paprika. Add a carefully deseeded Scotch Bonnet chilli, divided into eight pieces, and stir through.

Interestingly, the addition of dried basil noticeably decreases the intensity of the chilli flavour. Serve with basmati or American long grain rice.

Salmon Fillet with Spicy Sauce

Scottish Salmon fillet, bought from Sainsbury's. Taken from the freezer and steamed for half an hour to thirty-five minutes.

The spicy sauce was made with tomato puree, onion, spring onion and diced chestnut mushrooms, plus garlic, black pepper, and some green chilli. The sauce was cooked for forty minutes at a simmer under glass, stirring occasionally.

Served with steamed green beans, in a separate steamer section, for five to ten minutes.

Simple and delicious!

Bratwurst Sausage, Pepper & Mushroom Stew

Diced Bratwurst sausage (each cut into 5 or 6 pieces), with garlic and green chilli in a tomato sauce with onion, green pepper, green beans, and chopped mushrooms.

The sausage pieces were fried slowly in sunflower oil until golden brown. Then the vegetables were added to the pan. Cooked under glass for another ten minutes at a low heat.

Add the tomato sauce (passata or puree) and  vegetable stock, and simmer gently under glass for half an hour, stirring occasionally.  I added some dried coriander and basil (optional).

Served with salted boiled potato pieces.

Pork, Mushroom and Chilli Stir-Fry

 Diced pork steak stir-fried in sunflower oil, with a deseeded chopped scotch bonnet chilli pepper. With bean sprouts, mushrooms, white and green cabbage, carrot, and crushed garlic.

Scotch bonnet chillies are about as hot as they come, so the diced pieces were added to the pork stir-fry. The pork was cooked for twenty to twenty five minutes at a medium heat.

The beansprouts were blanched for three minutes in boiling water before being added to a wok with a drizzle of sunflower oil. Then the other ingredients were added. Cooked at a medium to high heat until the mushrooms, white and green cabbage, and carrot strips begin to soften.

Decant the vegetables to a serving plate on a spiral of dark soy sauce, and pick out the pork pieces from the cooking pan, discarding the remains of the chilli as far as possible.

A very hot dish, but delicious!

Minestrone with German Salami

A minestrone soup made with carrot, onion, courgette, green beans, potato, garlic, paprika, turmeric, tomato puree, plus the herbs oregano, basil and marjoram. Plus some diced German salami, chicken stock, and broken wheat-free spaghetti.

The vegetables were diced first, along with the garlic, then added to a pot of boiling water. They were boiled for thirty minutes before being mashed.

Add the turmeric and paprika, the chicken stock (vegetable stock will do instead),  two squirts of tomato puree, the salami sausage (four thin slices is enough), and finally the broken spaghetti pieces. Cook for another forty five minutes under glass, and add the herbs fifteen minutes before the dish is ready to serve. Stir occasionally to prevent the spaghetti sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Serve with garlic bread, or another bread, according to choice.

Sweetcorn and Red Pepper Soup

A soup made to use up half a can of sweetcorn in the fridge.

The ingredients are carrot, sweetcorn, red pepper, potato, onion, turmeric, paprika, black pepper, plus a little dried basil and some vegetable stock. .

The potato and carrot were diced and batoned. Half a red pepper was also diced into small pieces. Everything was added to boiling water, and allowed to simmer for half an hour. Stir occasionally.

Afterwards the dish was mashed (sweetcorn survives this) and cooked for a further half an hour or so. Serve with some toasted potato bread, and a dash of Worcester sauce.

Salmon in a Garlic and Black Bean Risotto

Made with one fillet of Scottish Salmon, from the fridge, which had been steamed the previous day for around fifteen minutes (from chilled, not frozen). The fillet was broken up into  flakes using a fork, and the skin of the fillet was discarded. 

I added the flakes to a bowl, and added two dessert spoonfuls of garlic and black bean sauce (available from most supermarkets). The sauce and the salmon flakes were thoroughly mixed together. Cover the bowl, and set aside. 

Boil some white basmati rice for eight to ten minutes until the rice is ready, and drain. Allow to cool for five minutes. 

Add some sunflower oil to the wok, and turn up the heat. Add the rice and the salmon and black bean sauce, and stir together thoroughly for a couple of minutes. Turn the heat down to low, and continue to stir the risotto for another couple of minutes. 

Serve exactly as it is, or perhaps enjoy the dish with some jasmine tea.

A baked variant of this dish, without stir-frying, is elsewhere on this site. 

Fluffy Omelette Wrap

This is about as simple as cooked food gets - a plain omelette, cooked with a little salt, inside a plain bread wrap.

The omelette was made with two small eggs, white pepper, a dash of turmeric, with about a dessert spoonful and a half of water added, which is more than I usually add. They take a little longer to cook that way, but they are usually fluffier and more pliable - ideal for wrapping.

Cooked in an open omelette pan on both sides - about three to four minutes on each side at a low to medium heat. Cooked in sunflower or olive oil, according to taste.

The wrap was drizzled with some tomato ketchup before the omelette was added. Fold in the sides, and roll slowly and carefully, making sure the ends are properly tucked in. Cut in two at an angle of around 20 degrees. Voila!

The omelette can be laced with dried or chopped herbs, according to your choice - coriander, basil, oregano, etc. Other condiments can be used to flavour the wrap of course - experiment!

Bratwurst, Onion & Peppers

 Bratwurst sausage (with chilli) from Aldi, with onions and peppers (2 halves) served with a teaspoonful of English Mustard.

Pierce the bratwurst in a random pattern with a sharp knife. Begin cooking at a high heat, and then reduce to a low heat. Brown around as much of the sausage as possible (tricky, because of the shape of the sausage). After ten minutes, add the diced onion and peppers. Stir every five minutes or so, and cook under an angled lid for twenty to twenty five minutes.

Since Bratwurst is a German variety of sausage, it can of course be served with German mustard. Delicious in either case!

Chicken Kiev with Pesto

Chicken Kievs from Sainsbury's with a variant pesto sauce.

Cooked in the middle of the oven for 21-25 minutes at 200 deg C, in an uncovered roasting tray (they weren't being cooked from frozen). Some of the oil came out, but the pesto sauce didn't. They were delicious. Watch them carefully during the last five minutes.

Though I didn't make them, they are easy to describe - usually whole or part pieces of chicken breast in a sauce and some cooking oil, coated in a mixture of breadcrumbs and flour.

Served in this case with topped and tailed green beans boiled with a little salt.

Mushroom Omelette in a Herbed Wrap

I had a little tomato sauce left over (made with spanish onion cooked in butter, and some tomato puree and paprika). I added this to the beaten eggs.

I cooked three diced chestnut mushrooms, and fried these in sunflower oil until cooked. Then I added the beaten egg mixture. The omelette was cooked at a medium to low heat, and was turned once.

I diced some iceberg lettuce, and dampended the herb wrap from the fridge. I laid the lettuce across one end of the wrap.

When the omelette was done, it was laid across the side with the lettuce. I folded in the sides, and gently rolled the omelette into the wrap, tucking in the ends.

The wrap was cut diagonally into two, and garnished with a little tomato ketchup. Quick and delicious!