Garlic and Herb Meatballs, with Chilli and Coriander

I made the spicy salsa first, browning two chopped white onions in some sunflower oil. Once browned I added boiling water, and also added chopped red pepper (one half), and chunks of one large carrot. Simmered under glass for half an hour.

Then I added one teaspoonful of red chilli powder, two teaspoonfuls of Bisto onion gravy powder, beef stock, and two crushed cloves of garlic. Stirred together, and simmered for a further half an hour.

The meatballs, from Sainsbury's via my freezer were, after being thoroughly thawed, cooked in a little sunflower oil for twenty minutes, mostly under glass. I turned the meatballs four times to ensure they were thoroughly browned and cooked. The meatballs were added to the salsa, and cooked for about ten minutes.

Served with a handful of shredded fresh coriander. Excellent dish!

Commercially made meatballs, like burgers, contain a large amount of fat, as you will find after cooking. That's fine as long as you don't consume the fat. This limits the range of cooking options. They should always be cooked in a way which allows you to remove the fat. Cooking them from raw in a sauce is therefore not something I would do. 

Beef in a Garlic and Black Bean Sauce, with Cashews

Beef from a topside joint, cut into strips and marinaded for several hours in the garlic and black bean sauce. The beef strips were put under the grill until hot. Watch the roasting tray carefully! Turn the strips once or twice.

The stirfry vegetables came from the Co-op, but were augmented with the red pepper, garlic, red chilli, and the cashew nuts. Cook rapidly at a high heat in sunflower oil for three minutes, and turn the heat right down if you are using an electic hob with some latency. Splash with a little rice wine.

Add the beef strips to the stirfry and cook at a medium heat for another three minutes or so. And serve.

Beef Chilli with Pan-fried Tortilla, Greek Yoghurt, and Coriander

Some bargain 5% fat ground beef from Sainsbury's prompted me to make a beef chilli. With red
onion, four deseeded green chillies, chopped carrot, diced red pepper, a tin of red kidney beans, shredded fresh coriander, garlic, beef and vegetable stock, tomato puree.

First brown the beef at a medium heat for 20 minutes. Since the fat content is so low, it needs a little oil for this. Lean meat is often a curse, since the fat content is an important component in the cooking process. So beef with most of the fat trimmed away isn't a boon to the cook.

Once the beef is browned (stir frequently), add boiling water. Add the chopped red onion, the red pepper, the kidney beans, and the carrot. Simmer at a low heat under glass for 45 minutes to an hour.

Add the tomato puree (about a third of a standard tube), the chopped green chillies, the garlic, the beef and vegetable stock, and a handful of shredded coriander, which should be stirred through the salsa. Cook for at least another half an hour at a low heat.

The Garlic and herb tortilla should be soaked under the cold water tap on both sides until soft, and then pan-fried in sunflower oil at a medium heat for three minutes on each side, until it begins to brown.

Lay the tortilla on the plate, and smear three dessert spoonfuls of yoghurt on the upper surface. Add the desired amount of the beef chilli on top, slighty to one side. The tortilla will soften again in about a minute, after which it can be folded over.

Serve with extra Greek yoghurt, and some more shredded coriander. Delicious!

Spaghetti with Garlic, Smoked Paprika, and Cheddar

Some excellent Italian made durum wheat pasta from the coop, in airtight bags, and at a bargain price. Very definitely not wheat free however (we shall see how it goes). Cooked in boiling water for five minutes before serving.

About an hour beforehand I began a tomato based sauce, with chopped  tomatoes, chopped onion, and chopped (mild) padron Spanish peppers (eight, half of which I deseeded). Cooked for forty five minutes under glass until the onion begins to dissolve. Added a teaspoonful of smoked paprika, and two pinches of dried basil. Plus a little salt.

Cooked for a further twenty minutes at a low simmer under glass. Add a further half teaspoonful of smoked paprika, and stir.

The spaghetti was cooked in the last seven minutes, drained, and decanted into a pasta bowl. Add the sauce to the spaghetti, and add about 30g of grated cheddar cheese. Serve with freshly ground black pepper. Delicious!

Smoked Paprika and Pork and Potato Casoulet

Made with chunks of roast pork from a cooked joint. Cooked in a sauce containing onion, diced red pepper, chopped fresh coriander and spinach leaves. Plus pork stock and smoked paprika. And potato chunks (in this case Maris Piper).

Prepare the basis of the sauce first with chopped tomatoes, red pepper, and onion. Cook for thirty minutes at a low heat with some added water, stirring occasionally.

Add the coriander and the spinach. cook for ten minutes, then add the pork chunks. Increase the heat until the sauce begins to boil, and then turn down the heat, and cover the pan with a glass lid.

Add the potato chunks, and cook for a further twenty five minutes. Ten minutes before the dish is ready, add two teaspoonfuls of smoked paprika, according to taste.

Serve with black pepper.

Pork Joint with Sage and Onion Stuffing

I found a cheap joint of pork with sage and onion stuffing in the supermarket (Sainsbury's) post Christmas. Cooked in the oven for two hours at around 190 deg C.

The joint was cut into slices with an electric knife. Not an essential tool, but it is so much easier.

The gravy was made with Bisto onion gravy granules, dried sage leaves, pork stock, and vegetable stock. The onion granules thicken the gravy.

The Brussels sprouts were cooked for nine minutes in boiling water under glass. Delicious!

Baked Potato with American Coleslaw

Preheat the oven. Two large Maris Piper potatoes, semi halved, oven cooked with butter inside aluminium foil on a roasting tray. Cook at 200 deg C for around forty to forty five minutes in the middle of the oven. An oven thermometer is recommended.

When the potatoes are ready, add slices of cheddar cheese, and dress the potato with an American coleslaw. This is very similar to UK coleslaw, but with added sliced gherkin. So essentially it is a mixture of diced cabbage, onion, carrot and gherkin, in mayonnaise. Can feature instead sour cream and a little apple vinegar, if there is no gherkin included.

Serve with black pepper.

Cumberland Sausage with Pepper and Onion

Cumberland sausage (pricked) fried in a glass-lidded pan for twenty minutes to twenty five minutes, along with sliced onion, chopped orange pepper, and some finely chopped celery in a little sunflower oil. Cooked for the first fifteen minutes without the lid.

The potatoes were boiled in a separate pan for twenty minutes.

Mix up the gravy browning with half a pint of water, and add to the sausages in the glass-lidded pan. Add a pinch of rosemary. Cook under glass until the gravy reduces and thickens (about thirty to forty minutes). Cumberland sausage contains herbs, and if the sausages are pricked, the flavour bleeds into the gravy. Stir occasionally.

Finally, add a pinch of paprika and stir it in to the gravy.

Serve with freshly ground black pepper.

A favourite dish!

Cod, Haddock, & Salmon Fishcakes, with a Salted Spinach Sauce

Fishcakes from Sainsbury's, with a white sauce centre, served with a salted spinach and onion sauce.

The breaded fishcakes contained a mixture of cod, haddock and Scottish Salmon. Cooked in an oiled roasting tray for 25 minutes at 200 deg C (watch carefully).

The spinach and onion sauce was made with 150g of freshly chopped spinach leaves in boiling salted water (a pinch), two teaspoonfuls of Bisto onion gravy granules, a pinch of paprika, a large pinch of rosemary, and vegetable stock. Cooked on the hob for at least 40 minutes, until it thickens. Stirred occasionally to prevent sticking. The spinach sauce can be blended if preferred. Delicious either way!

Chestnut Meatloaf, with Parsnip Chips and Cranberry Sauce

Made with outdoor bred pork sausage meat from Sainsbury's, one diced apple, one diced onion, three medium handfuls of porage oats, one beaten egg (actually optional, and it was skipped in this case), 100g of diced cooked chestnuts, and 40 g of salted butter, Mix together thoroughly by hand in a large glass bowl.

Herbs used were a pinch of nutmeg and a generous pinch of rosemary.

 Cooked in the oven on the previous day at around 180 deg C, for forty minutes (watched carefully). Sliced when cold, and stored in the fridge.

Because the meatloaf contained pork sausage meat it was important to make sure it was thoroughly heated. Reheated in a flat, lidded pan.

Served with brussels sprouts (6 to 9 minutes in boiling water under glass),  and with roast parsnip chips in a salsa of tomato ketchup, tomato puree, marinade from a jar of red peppers, oregano, black pepper, smoked paprika, etc. Roasted in the oven for about 35 minutes at 180 deg C. Watch carefully, and turn halfway through. Plus a dessert spoonful of cranberry sauce.