Stir-Fry Roast Chicken

Made with skinned roast chicken pieces, carrots, spring onion, mushroom, red pepper, celery, pak choi, garlic, finger chillies and fresh ginger. The ingredients were soused in oyster sauce and rice wine for half an hour before cooking in sunflower oil. Since the chicken had been cooked earlier in the day, it was not fried in the wok for a while without the other ingredients. The leaves of the pak choi were separated from the stems and added whole. The stems were diced. About twenty minutes of preparation, and about twelve minutes of stir-frying, at a high heat until the wok began to smoke, and at a medium heat the rest of the way. Served on a question mark of dark soy sauce and freshly ground black pepper. 

Stir-Fry Roast Chicken

Pineapple Chunks with Cream and Pomegranate Molasses

At last, I've found the ideal use for Pomegranate molasses! I cut up a whole pineapple with a breadknife. First it was topped and tailed, then the outer covering was cut away. I used an apple segmenter to cut out the centre and to divide the body of the pineapple into eight pieces.  The eight pieces were then cut into chunks with the breadknife,  two at a time.

The pineapple chunks were soused in a little white wine and left to stand for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. Then the chunks were placed in a serving bowl, single cream was added, plus a dash of pomegranate molasses.

The flavours complement each other beautifully, and the result is completely delicious!

Pineapple Chunks with Cream and Pomegranate Molasses

Chicken, Mushroom and Black Bean Soup

Found some cheap chestnut mushrooms in town this afternoon, so this dish is the result.

I had some leftover roast chicken in a black bean sauce, to which I added chopped red chilli, a chopped clove of garlic, two spring onions, and 300 grammes of chopped chestnut mushrooms. I also added some water, a handful of khorasan wheat (also known as Kamut), and two dessert spoonfuls of oyster sauce. Cooked for forty minutes at a low heat under glass. Delicious!

A note from 20 May 2018. This is my most popular dish by a mile, and I don't know why. Sometimes I withdraw the recipe for a bit, to see what else might take its place at the top of the list. I did that over the past month, before restoring it. And it is back at the top in just a few days! It is a really delicious soup, which I've made a number of times since posting the recipe. Enjoy!

Chicken, Mushroom and Black Bean Soup

Beetroot and Cherry Tomato Salad

Quick and simple salad, which can have various permutations. according to what ingredients you have available. Six whole chopped beetroot, soused in vinegar, two finely chopped spring onions, half a dozen quartered cherry tomatoes, about thirty grammes of grated cheddar cheese, and a couple of twists of freshly squeezed lemon. Served with chopped iceberg lettuce, and freshly ground black pepper. Serves two. 

Plain beetroot is an alternative, and other kinds of cheese. Can also be served with a dusting of herbs. 

Beetroot and Cherry Tomato Salad

Black Bean Chicken

Roast chicken pieces in a black bean sauce. Prepared in a saucepan. Served with stir-fried bean sprouts, pak choi, and spring onions. Black bean sauce from Tesco, and unfortunately not free of wheat. But minimal quantity. The bean sprouts were blanched for five minutes in boiling water before being added to the stir-fry with the pak choi and the spring onions. I stir-fried for ten minutes, since I don't use the same high temperatures common in chinese kitchens. Less smoke, but it still works. 

Black Bean Chicken

Chicken Soup with Sage and Tarragon

A simple and easy to prepare chicken soup.

Chicken, with onion, swede, celeriac, chicken juices and stock. Plus sage and fresh tarragon. Served with black pepper.

Cooked in a glass lidded pan for an hour, at a gentle simmer. The herbs were added ten minutes before the heat was turned off. The soup was served with bread from a home-made spelt loaf, crumbled into the soup. Delicious!

Chicken Soup with Sage and Tarragon

Creamy Porridge with Rhubarb and Ginger

Three sticks of rhubarb, topped and tailed, and split lengthwise, and then chopped into smaller pieces laterally. Cooked in the juice of two small oranges, and two teaspoonfuls of powdered ginger, and two teaspoonfuls of sugar. Simmered until the rhubarb lost its structure. 

Two handfuls of porridge oats cooked in water, a little milk and some single cream until it had a smooth consistency (around ten to fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally). The rhubarb was added to the serving bowl first, then the porridge was spooned in. Delicious and easy to make!

Creamy Porridge with Rhubarb and Ginger

Beef and Kidney Bean Stew

Stew made with strips of silverside beef, tinned kidney beans in juice, red pepper, shredded tomato, tomato puree, smoked paprika, garlic cloves, oregano and black pepper. 

The beef was browned a little in a pot for four minutes, then I added the tomato and sliced red pepper, along with some boiling water and some beef stock. After five minutes, the kidney beans were added, the puree, the garlic, the pepper and the herbs. Allowed to simmer while the potatoes (Charlotte) were cooking. Served also with white cabbage, boiled for five to ten minutes, according to preference. 

Beef and Kidney Bean Stew

Marinaded Beef Stir Fry

Silverside beef, brocolli, white cabbage, yellow pepper, red pepper, spring onion, mushroom, garlic, finger chillies, fresh ginger root, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine, and cashews.

The silverside was cut into thin strips and marinaded for twenty four hours in dark soy and oyster sauce. The vegetables were also marinaded in rice wine and oyster sauce. 

The beef strips were cooked at a high heat for three minutes. The vegetables were added to the wok after being drained, and cooked at a medium heat for ten minutes or so, stirring often,  until ready to serve. 

Marinaded Beef Stir Fry

Silverside and Vegetable Roast

The beef silverside joint (1.1kg) was roasted in a preheated oven (220 deg C) for thirty minutes, then the heat was turned down to 160 deg C for the remaining 90 minutes. The roast sat on a bed of potatoes, carrots, parsnips and spanish onion. The top side of the joint was dusted with sea salt and black pepper. 

The roast was intended to be consumed the following day, so the joint and the vegetables and juices were allowed to cool, then separately boxed for the fridge. The joint was cut into slices with an electric carving knife when cool. 

Half of the vegetables were added to the steamer, and three of the silverside slices. The juices became the basis of a rich gravy, cooked separately with beef stock, onion, cornflour, and a bay leaf.  The vegetables, gravy and the silverside were ready to serve after 25 minutes under glass. 

The Silverside Roast, fresh from the oven

The vegetables and slices of Silverside in the steamer

Silverside and Vegetable Roast as served

Peppered Salami Salad with Cottage Cheese

Quick and tasty salad for one, made with 4 thin slices of German peppered salami, cut into small squares, shredded salad tomato, one large chopped spring onion, a quarter of a yellow pepper cut into strips. Mixed together in a bowl with three desert spoonfuls of cottage cheese with chives. Allowed to approach room temperature before serving. Delicious and simple!

Peppered Salami Salad with Cottage Cheese

Lamb Casoulet with Spring Onion and Yellow Pepper

Made from a slow-cooked shoulder of lamb. The vegetables were prepared first while the water in the slow cooker was heating. A spanish onion was sliced and slowly browned in a skillet for fifteen to twenty minutes. The onion was added to two pints of water brought to boiling in a large slow cooker, and then pre-prepared batoned carrot and roughly cut parsnip pieces were also added. Some lamb stock was added to the mix also. 

The boneless shoulder of lamb was placed into the simmering water at a high heat for an hour, and then the heat was turned down to low, and the joint left to cook overnight for between six to eight hours.

The gravy and the joint were separated. After cooling the lamb tallowfat was spooned from the top of the gravy bowl, and the joint was cut into slices with an electric kitchen knife. 

Pre-boiled potatoes were added to  the slices of lamb and the gravy, along with the chopped spring onion and the yellow pepper, cut into strips. Thickened with a little cornflour, and some rosemary.  Cooked for around half an hour before serving. 

Lamb Casoulet with Spring Onion and Yellow Pepper

Lamb Shoulder with Potatoes and Steamed Brocolli

This is a very simple dish to make with a slow cooker. 

A spanish onion was sliced and slowly browned in a skillet for fifteen to twenty minutes. The onion was added to two pints of water brought to boiling in a large slow cooker, and then pre-prepared batoned carrot and roughly cut parsnip pieces were also added. Some lamb stock was added to the mix also. 

The boneless shoulder of lamb was placed into the simmering water at a high heat for an hour, and then the heat was turned down to low, and the joint left to cook overnight for between six to eight hours.

The gravy and the joint were separated. After cooling the lamb tallowfat was spooned from the top of the gravy bowl, and the joint was cut into slices with an electric kitchen knife. 

Potatoes were boiled for tweny minutes to twenty five minutes in the base of a steamer, and a quarter head of brocolli was steamed for ten minutes in the upper tier under glass. Cornflour and a little rosemary was added to the reheated lamb and gravy shortly before serving the dish. 

Lamb Shoulder with Potatoes and Steamed Brocolli

Breast of Chicken with Baby Carrots and Hummus

Steamed breast of chicken with carrots, green beans and hummus.

Really easy to do. Baby carrots topped and tailed and placed in the bottom level of the steamer (they were boiled rather than steamed). The breast of chicken was placed in a bowl in the upper tier, along with the green beans. Timed for 40 minutes from the time the water came to the boil, when the chicken and vegetables were added. 

Served with two dessert spoonfuls of hummus. Black pepper to taste. 

Breast of Chicken with Baby Carrots and Hummus

Beef Chilli with Cardamom and Ginger

Ingredients: Ground beef, Chilli, Mushrooms, Parsnip, Spanish Onion, Chicory (all vegetables chopped), Tomato puree, Black Pepper, Garlic, Cardamom seed, Ginger, Cumin and Paprika, plus beef and vegetable stock.

The beef mince had 20% fat, so after it was browned and allowed to simmer in water for an hour, it was decanted into a glass bowl and allowed to cool to room temperature. Then the fat was spooned from the top and disposed of.

The remaining contents of the bowl were decanted into a saute pan and brought to the boil. The chopped vegetables and the herbs were added, and left to simmer for an hour, with the occasional stir. Served with Basmati rice, cooked in water with a little clarified butter, and some lime pickle.

Beef Chilli with Cardamom and Ginger