Lamb Meatloaf in Chilli Sauce

A meatloaf made with minced lamb with 20% fat, so no oil was added to the bread tin in which I cooked the meatloaf. The vegetables were diced (Polish red pepper, Purple Onion) and added to a pyrex bowl along with half a cup of oats, and a third of a cup of Khorasan wheat. Mixed together by hand (about ten minutes work), and then forked into the bread tin, and levelled. Cooked for about half an hour at a medium to high heat (watch carefully by eye).

Served with chopped spinach and spring onions, and lightly fried button mushrooms. The chilli sauce for the meatloaf was cooked with chilli, garlic and tomato puree.
 

Pamplona Sausage, Spring Onion, Red Pepper

An interesting selection of Spanish sausage from Aldi yesterday. An easy to prepare salad with Basmati rice, spring onion and diced red pepper. All done in five minutes (apart from the rice of course. That was pre-prepared). Served with a little horseradish sauce.

[Chorizo de Pamplona is a sausage that is typical in the cuisine of the Navarre region of Spain It is prepared with equal parts of finely-chopped beef and pork and significant amounts of a strong smoked paprika, and pork fat.]

 
 

Chicken with Ras El Hanout spices

A simple dish of chicken and vegetables, enlivened by the addition of ras el hanout spices. Served with basmati rice. 

Chicken, Egg Noodles and Beansprouts

 Fresh egg noodles bought from Aldi, along with a large bag of beansprouts. 

The chicken was cooked first at a medium heat in some rapeseed oil, along with the spring onions and diced chestnut mushrooms. Then a large handful of beansprouts was added to the pan at a high heat. Once they looked done I added  the egg noodles (which I'd soaked in a pasta bowl with boiling water while the beansprouts were cooking), and turned the heat down to medium again. Constantly stir, otherwise the noodles will stick.

Add chilli and garlic and soy sauce according to taste.

Chicken and Green Bean Minestrone

 The contents of the fridge needed to be reorganised. I rescued what could still be used to construct a dish, and I ended up with a minestrone. The onion and the chicken were cooked first in some olive oil, The rest of the vegetables were prepared and added to the flat pot at a medium heat, along with about half a pint of water. Cooked for ninety minutes under glass, stirring frequently. Delicious!

Cajun Chicken

Chopped chicken breast, onion, garlic and chilli. The chilli, onion and garlic were cooked first in some rape seed oil. Then I added the chopped chicken breast after about 12 minutes. Cooked at a medium heat until the chicken began to brown. Stirred frequently. The cajun seasoning was added to the basmati rice (cooked in a separate pan) along with a shake of paprika. 
 

Shoulder Pork Strips in Black Bean Sauce

 Shoulder pork steak from the fridge, cut into strips and marinaded in a black bean sauce. Use a Chinese one rather than something from a supermarket, which will be pretty bland. Cooked for at least half an hour. 

The rice was basmati, and cooked with some turmeric and Chinese five spice in a separate pan. Served with raw spinach leaves. 

Smoked Pork and Leek Soup

Some smoked pork trimmings in the fridge needed to be used, so I put together this soup. The soup base is essentially half a courgette (diced), one medium sized leek cut into wheels, and one carrot (grated with a rotary grater). Plus a diced handful of fresh coriander, salt, and some ham (or pork) stock. The vegetables were first fried in some rape seed oil (ten minutes at a medium heat).

I added a generous amount of boiling water (about one pint).

I diced about 200g of the pork trimmings and added them to the pot about half an hour later. Cooked at a medium heat under glass for at least 90 minutes.

Completely delicious!
 

Spaghetti in Chilli Sauce

It is what it is. Spaghetti in a chilli sauce. You can make the sauce yourself if you like. Obviously this could be the basis of a hundred different dishes. I used wheat-free spaghetti because I gave up on wheat about twenty years ago. 

 

Winter Salad, with Ham, Apple, grated Carrot, and Spring Onion

Another one of those salads which can be put together in less than five minutes. The beetroot came from a jar (pickled), the ham came from the local supermarket, as did the apple, carrot, and spring onion. Dressed in a little dried coriander.
 

Egg Noodles with Yellow Pepper, Spring Onion, and Green Beans

 A simple vegetarian dish. The diced vegetables were cooked first in a wok with a little rapeseed oil (five to seven minutes at a medium heat). The noodles were prepared in another pan of boiled water (about five minutes - judge by eye). Add the noodles to the wok and stir together for about four minutes or so at a medium heat. Serve and dress with soy sauce.