Chicken and Chorizo Casoulet

Recipe built on what was left of a Chorizo Casoulet. I added extra potatoes and diced onions. Plus diced red pepper. 

I chopped up one chicken breast, and added the pieces to the pan, along with extra water, and chicken stock, and half a garlic clove. Plus a squirt of tomato puree. Cooked for half an hour under glass at a lowish heat. Dressed with dried basil ten minutes before serving. Fabulous dish!

 

Cauliflower soup, with Red Pepper and Potato

Cheap cauliflower and cabbage from the Coop resulted in this wonderful soup. The cauliflower was cooked first, after it was stripped of its leaves. Thirty minutes all told. Then it was diced with a sharp knife in the pot. Then I added the diced red pepper and potato, plus the chopped green cabbage.

Simmered for twenty minutes. Mash if you prefer. I added vegetable stock and  black pepper. Simple and fabulous!

 

Banana Loaf

I had some bananas which I'd forgotten about, so I made this loaf with five of them. I used 335g of spelt flour, an egg, the mashed bananas, two pinches of salt, two tablespoonfuls of Allinson's yeast, and two tablespoonfuls of olive oil, and about 150 mls of whole milk. Beaten together with an electric mixer, until smooth. 

Allowed to rise overnight, and then decanted into a silicon bread tray. Cooked on the middle shelf of the oven for 45 minutes at 180 deg C. Then allowed to cool in a dry cupboard for half a day. Great texture and flavour. Great with marmalade!

(NB: I used two tablespoonfuls of Allinson's yeast, because it had been sitting on the shelf for some time. Fresh yeast will be fine with one tablespoonful). 

 

Carrot Soup with a Garlic and Coriander Naan Bread

 A couple of medium sized carrots grated in a rotary grater I bought from Aldi many moons ago, and diced one small onion. Cooked together in a small pan with some water for about two hours at a low heat under glass. I added some arrowroot mixed with water (cornflour will do as well). Plus two bay leaves. Then I added a pinch of paprika, a pinch of turmeric, black pepper, and some dried coriander leaf. Allowed to cook for a further ten minutes. 

Served with a piece of garlic and coriander naan bread, toasted for a couple of minutes in a standard kitchen toaster. 

Smoked Gammon Risotto, with Green Beans

Smoked gammon pieces cut from a roasted joint. Served with diced green beans and steamed Basmati rice. Drizzled with a little soy sauce. The joint took 1 hour and 45 minutes in the oven, was allowed to cool and was kept in the fridge overnight. The gammon was stir fried with the beans, and then was added to the steamed rice and served in a standard chinese bowl. 

 

Chicken with Chinese style Rice

I've taken to cooking rice along the lines of the process in China. I don't have a rice cooker, but basically the idea is to cook the rice slowly, and to allow it to stick together (oobviously the opposite of most western practice). You can do this by putting the rice in a small pan, and cooking it until the water has evaporated. If you leave it for a bit longer, and add something like sunflower oil, it will become a little crispy underneath. Fabulous! I used turmericed rice with a handful of thai black rice, cooked and drained separately, so most of the purple dye was removed. 

The rest of the dish is composed of diced chicken breast, diced red and green pepper, diced onion, chopped pak choi leaves, diced ginger and garlic. Cooked for about ten minutes in a separate pan. Dressed in a little dark soy sauce on serving. 

 

Breaded Haddock Fillets

My favourite way of serving shop bought breaded fish fillets, whether cod, haddock, basa fish, etc. Really easy to prepare. 16 to 18 minutes in a roasting tray on the middle shelve of an oven preheated to 180 deg C. The (semi-skinned) potatoes were boiled for twenty minutes on the hob, These peas came from a can, and were heated in a small saucepan. Served with a little black pepper.

 

Ground Beef with Black Pepper

A great dish which largely cooks itself after you have browned the minced beef and diced the vegetables. Brown the beef at a medium heat until it begins to spark, stirring frequently. Then add the diced vegetables and cook for another five minutes, having turned the heat down to low. Then add boiling water, the beef stock, and some arrowroot (or cornflour) mixed with water, to produce a thicker gravy. Add a generous amount of freshly ground black peppercorns, according to taste. Stir together, and once thoroughly mixed, simmer under glass for about forty-five minutes. 

Serve with basmati rice. 

 

Singapore Fried Noodles with Chicken

I respect many aspects of chinese cooking, but I tend to avoid cooking at very high temperatures (I can't stand the smoke in the kitchen). The vegetables (with the ginger, garlic and diced chillies) were fried at a very low heat for about twenty minutes. Then set aside. After that I cooked the diced chicken breast, again very slowly at first - altogether for about twenty minutes in the same oil I used to cook the vegetables. 

The Singapore noodles were sourced from Sainsbury's, who supply a couple of varieties (plain and curried) which are pretty authentic. I steamed them first for a few minutes (or you can blanche them in boiling water). Then they were drained and then fried in sunflower oil at a high heat for a couple of minutes in a skillet. Meanwhile the chicken and vegetables were being reheated in another pan. 

Assembled on a plate with a drizzle of dark soy sauce. Utterly delicious!

 

Chorizo and Rice Risotto, with Carrot and Green Pepper

A simple risotto, made to use up some unused rice from the fridge. Essentially chorizo sausage with green peppers, carrot, and onion, with the vegetables cooked in the oil which comes from the chorizo under heat. Add garlic and chilli if that is your preference.