Chorizo Sausage with Baked Beans and Hash Browns

A fabulous breakfast. The potato slices were cooked in a pan with sunflower oil. Ready in around 18 minutes, depending on the thickness of the slices. If the potato pieces are cooked with the chorizo, then you require very little sunflower oil.

The beans were prepared in a separate pan, and dressed with some basil and black pepper.

Done in twenty minutes.

Honey Ham Omelette

A simple omelette, garnished with rolled up honey ham, cut into pieces.

The omelette mixture was made with some paprika and salt (plus a little water), and decanted into the omelette pan with diced green beans and pre-fried onion. Cooked under glass until it began to firm up (five to ten minutes).

The rolls of honey ham were added, and the omelette pan was put under the grill for a couple of minutes.

Placed back on the hob for a further two or three minutes, under glass. Dressed with the coriander leaf and the oregano.

Simple, delicious, and quick to prepare. Other vegetables can be substituted for the green beans, such as diced mushrooms, peas, diced brocolli or spring onions, or chopped red or green peppers.

Chestnut Mushroom Stir Fry

Mushrooms cut into eight pieces, and fried in a little butter in a small pan. The stir fry vegetables include two kinds of cabbage, carrot strips, bean sprouts, diced onion, plus three red chillies and a crushed clove of garlic. Cooked in a wok with a little sunflower oil for five minutes at a medium heat, stirring every thirty seconds. 

Served on a bed of dark soy sauce. Ten minutes preparation, hot and delicious!

Beef Bourguignon

One of the most famous French dishes, though it is lacking documentation before the nineteenth century. Essentially it is a beef stew, cooked with diced onions, mushrooms and garlic, and simmered for a couple of hours in beef stock and some red wine. Often cooked with a little chopped bacon, but this addition is an uneccessary detail. I added a little diced carrot to lend some sweetness.

The onions were fried in some olive oil until they began to brown, then the diced beef was added and browned for twenty minutes, stirring frequently. Add the quartered mushrooms and the diced garlic. Cook for another ten minutes. Add the beef stock and half a glass of red wine. Mix some cornmeal with water, and add to the pot, stirring for five minutes. Add the herbs.

Simmer under glass for between one and two hours, according to preference. Served in this case with brocolli spears, boiled in salted water for seven minutes under glass. More usually served with boiled potatoes or rice.

Chicken and Potato Pie

A Boxing Day dish, using up unused slices of chicken breast. The chicken had been cooked on a bed of sliced carrot in a lidded casserole dish, and the juices and carrots were decanted and stored in the fridge.

I chopped three spring onions and placed them in the bottom of a traditional pie dish. Then I added the carrots and chicken juices, plus a little seasoning (pepper). I diced the slices of chicken, and added those on top.

The pie topping was made with mashed potato and butter, plus a little paprika. The surface was textured with a fork.

Roasted on the middle shelf of the oven at 190 deg. C for between 40 and 55 minutes. The dish will be thoroughly cooked after 40 minutes, but the golden appearance of the pie topping is something which needs to be judged by eye.

Served with a dressing of black pepper, along with some American mustard.

White bean Mediterranean Salad

A delicious salad made with cannellini beans, stoned black olives, cherry tomatoes, orange pepper, spring onion, garlic, and dressed in olive oil and vinegar, with a small drizzle of lemon juice.

The dried beans were allowed to soak overnight before being boiled for twenty five minutes, allowed to cool, and then drained.

All the vegetables (minus the olives and the lettuce salad) were diced and mixed together in a bowl with the oil and vinegar, the lemon juice, and then dusted with some coriander leaf and paprika.

Served on the bed of baby leaf salad, with a little black pepper. 

Chicken Broth with Sweetcorn

A delicious broth made with brocolli, celery, chicken, garlic, mushroom, spring onion, sweetcorn, diced cherry tomato, and tomato puree. Plus herbs (oregano and basil), and flavoured with a little cardamom and vegetable and chicken stock.

The vegetables (diced) were cooked at a low heat under glass for forty minutes or so, before the pieces of chicken were added.

The cardamom and the vegetable and chicken stocks were added to the pot, along with the herbs (two pinches, plus some tomato puree. Cook for a further twenty-five minutes at a low heat and under glass.

Serve with freshly ground black pepper.

Roast Pork with Crackling

A medium sized pork joint with crackling fat, cooked for an hour in a casserole dish in the oven (190 deg C, on the middle shelf), and then for a further fifteen minutes without the lid, to brown the crackling. The dish was brushed with sunflower oil, and the crackling was dressed in a dusting of sea salt.

The gravy was made with the juices from the joint, augmented by some ham stock, and some Bisto gravy granules.

The pork was cut into slices with a sharp knife, running with the grain of the meat.

Served with batonned carrots, cooked for twenty minutes along with the Maris Piper potatoes, and halved Brussels sprouts, cooked for eight minutes.

Beef and Apple Tikka

I'd prepared ground beef beforehand, browned it in some sunflower oil, and cooked with spring onions, diced apple and carrots for twenty minutes, stirring frequently. Afterwards I added boiling water to the pan and cooked the dish under glass for an hour and a half at a low heat.

After which I added tomato Puree, Cardamom seed, Tikka spices, diced garlic, and one large deseeded and diced red chilli. Cooked for another half an hour at a low heat, adding some coriander and oregano.

Served with long grain rice, or basmati if you prefer. Dressed in this case with some diced and steamed curly kale (five minutes), or with some diced fresh coriander leaf.

Salmon and Cod Potato Pie

The base of the pie was a thick vegetable stew (from the fridge) of sweet potato, potato, carrot, diced mushrooms, and spring onion, plus kamut grains, a little chopped red chilli, chopped garlic, and cardamom seed, fresh from three crushed pods.

The fish pieces were placed on top of the vegetable stew in a roasting dish, distributed evenly.

On top of that, a layer of potato mashed with a knob of butter was added (and a little salt and pepper), and textured with a fork.

The roasting tray was placed on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to 190 deg C, uncovered. Depending on the depth of the roasting dish, the cooking time will be somewhere between 45 minutes and one hour (it will be properly cooked after 45 minutes, but it may take longer for the desired browning of the potato topping - judge by eye!).

Served with a little American or German mustard.

The fish pieces were sourced from Sainsbury's, who often make up inexpensive packs for making this kind of dish.

Cumberland Sausage Stew, with Sweet Potato and Spring Onion

Chopped Cumberland (pork) sausages, with a vegetable stew of sweet potato, potato, carrot and spring onion, plus kamut grains, red chilli, chopped garlic, and cardamom seed. What is the best and tidiest way to get cardamom seeds out of cardamom pods? I use a metal garlic press.



The sausages had been cooked for an earlier meal, and came with a spring onion and vegetable stock gravy. They were added to the vegetable stew, which had been simmered for about forty five minutes. Chilli, garlic and cardamom seeds had been added, along with more vegetable stock, and two pinches of oregano and one of sage.

Cooked for at least twenty minutes before serving. Serve hot!

Smoked Paprika Stew, with Chorizo Sausage

An utterly delicious chorizo sausage  stew, made with carrot, garlic, mushrooms, spring onion, and yellow pepper.

First cooked was the diced chorizo sausage, which provided the fat for the other ingredients. I added the diced carrot, mushrooms, some crushed garlic, and the spring onion, and cooked them for around thirty minutes, until tender. Also added were strips of yellow pepper. Twenty minutes of cooking all told.

I added some boiling water to the mix, and stirred together thoroughly. I addded smoked paprika and oregano to the dish.

I used Thai black rice as part of the rice combo. This releases a lot of purple dye in the course of cooking, so I precooked that for fifteen minutes, and drained it. After that, I added the black rice to the American long grain rice, cooked for another fifteen minutes.

Delicious!

Smoked Haddock with Vegetables in a Cheese Sauce

A large fillet of haddock, smoked but undyed, poached in water in a flat lidded pan for twenty minutes. Starting at a high heat, and then reduced to the lowest heat when the water began to boil.

In another pan, the diced vegetables (parsnip, potato, carrot, spring onion) were boiled for twenty-five minutes.

While the vegetables were cooking, I prepared the cheese sauce.

I mixed whole milk (around 150 mls) and a dessert spoonful of cornmeal flour in a jug, plus some vegetable stock, and decanted the mixture (with a little butter) into a third pot, and stirred it until it began to thicken on the hob. I added the vegetables, and around 100g of cheddar cheese (thin slices), and stirred until the cheese had entirely melted.

Dress with freshly ground black pepper, and serve!

Turnip and Potato Soup

Essentially a delicious and warming winter soup, made with half a turnip (bought to accompany a haggis), a large handful of chopped curly kale (a form of cabbage), diced potato, and some grains of Kamut (wheat grains).

The ingredients were boiled for about an hour, and then lightly mashed. I added vegetable stock, some black pepper, and the herbs Rosemary and Thyme.

Serve with potato bread.

Peach, Date, and Almond Fruit Salad

One flat peach, diced, with stoned and diced dates (Deglet Nour), and a small handful of whole almonds.

Serve with double cream, and a small sprinkling of nutmeg. A delicious and simple fruit salad!

Brisket Beef in an Onion and Tomato Gravy

A traditional Jewish dish, made with Brisket beef and a gravy of tomato, onion and carrot, served with brocolli spears, and boiled Maris Piper potatoes.

The brisket joint was about 800g, which is enough to feed six people. This meal was for three people, so I used about half of the joint for the meal.

The joint was first browned in the oven  (180 deg C.) in a roasting dish, for 30 minutes each side. Then it was placed in a large saute pan with salted water, and cooked for four hours, with occasional turning.

That left lots of time for creating the gravy. I batonned two medium-sized carrots, and diced a large Spanish onion. These were cooked for twenty minutes. Then I added sixteen diced cherry tomatoes and cooked the ensemble for a further twenty minutes. Crushed and diced garlic was added, along with tomato puree (or passata), beef and vegetable stock. Two dashes of cardamom, plus Herbes de Provence, Coriander, and Basil were also added.

Since this meal was intended for a dinner party the next day, everything went into the fridge as soon as it had cooled.

The next morning the brisket joint was cut into thin slices using an electric carving knife, against the grain of the beef. Tougher to cut, but it is the best way to do it.

The slices of beef were put into a flat pan with the onion and tomato gravy, and cooked for around half an hour to forty-five minutes, by which time the beef is incredibly tender. During which time I prepared the potatoes and the brocolli. The former cooked for twenty minutes plus, and the brocolli for ten minutes under glass at a low heat.

Served in this case with red wine, and utterly delicious!

[Celery can be added to the ingredients of this dish, as well as bay leaf, and rosemary and thyme. There are lots of variations. All delicious.]

Chorizo and Mushroom Tapas

The Spanish like to move around on an evening out, and not park themselves in one place for the evening. Hence the tradition of tapas in Spain: small dishes of tasty food which won't fill you up, leaving room for another dish in another bar or restaurant.

This is a simple dish made with only four ingredients: diced chorizo sausage from a chorizo ring, cherry tomatoes, each cut into three, four quartered white mushrooms, and some diced potato.

The chorizo was added to a flat pan first along with the potato, since the oil for cooking the dish comes from the sausage. From an initial high heat, the hob was turned down to the lowest. After about seven minutes, I added the tomato pieces and the mushroom quarters. The dish cooks under glass in around fifteen further minutes, with the ingredients moved around the pan occasionally.

Serve as is!

Chicken Stew with Green Beans

A simple chicken stew, served with fried flat-cut Maris Piper potato and green beans.

The chicken pieces were roasted on julienned Spanish onion for 45 minutes in an oven preheated to 190 deg C. A little water was added to the base of the roasting dish (about 50 mls).

After cooling, the chicken stew was stored overnight in the fridge.

The stew was reheated on the hob the next day, with added water and chicken stock. I added two pinches of Herbs de Provence. Heat for at least six minutes under glass.

The flat cut potato pieces were fried in some sunflower oil in a lidded pan, for ten minutes each side at a low heat. The green beans were boiled in slightly salted water for seven minutes, and then they were drained before serving.

Pork Sausages in a Tomato and Sage Salsa

Pricked pork sausages, cooked slowly (30 minutes) in their own fat, under glass in a ribbed frying pan. Turned four times.

The tomato salsa was made with onion (fried in another pan for about fifteen minutes), and later with diced cherry tomato, sliced mushrooms and diced red pepper. All cooked in a little sunflower oil for another fifteen minutes.

After that a little water was added to the salsa pan, along with two squirts of tomato puree, and a teaspoonful of dried sage. Stirred thoroughly.

The chipped parsnips were dressed in sunflower oil with a pastry brush, and were cooked under the grill for twenty minutes or so (watch by eye!). Turned once. Alternatively you can melt a little butter, and dress the chips in that.

Served with freshly ground black pepper.

Oven Roasted Ratatouille

The aubergine and the courgette were diced into small chunks, and placed in a large glass bowl. The baby plum tomatoes were each cut into three using a sharp vegetable knife, and the mushrooms were finely sliced. Half a red pepper was cut into strips.

I added two pinches of herbes de Provence, half a teaspoonful of oregano, plus half a handful of fresh basil leaves, diced. Add a dash of vinegar, and a teaspoonful of tomato puree or passata. Drizzle with a dessert spoonful of olive oil, and stir together thoroughly.

I decanted the contents into a lidded metal roasting tray and (with the lid on) put it onto the middle shelf of an oven preheated to 220 deg C. It was allowed to cook for twenty minutes, and then taken from the oven and placed on the hob. I turned the semi-roasted ratatouille with a  wooden spoon, and then placed the dish back into the oven, again with the lid on. Allow to cook for another fifteen minutes.

Serve as is, or with boiled rice or pasta. Fabulous dish!

Ham Omelette

This is recipe idea number 800. Diced wafer thin ham, along with diced spring onion, red pepper, and cherry tomato. The vegetables were cooked in a little butter at a low heat for about seven minutes before the ham was added to the omelette pan.

Stir fry at a low heat for a further three minutes. The slightly salted omelette mixture (beaten thoroughly) was added and allowed to cook slowly under glass for about seven to eight minutes. Turned once. Dress in a dusting of coriander and black pepper.

Served with a four leaf salad and a dessert spoonful of mayonnaise.

Lorne Sausage Breakfast

Normally I prepare scrambled egg on buttered toast (wheat-free) when I want a cooked breakfast. But sometimes you want something more calorific.

Two slices of lorne sausage, cooked slowly under glass for 17 minutes altogether, and turned twice. Plus a bread pudding with raisins, and a slice of black pudding (with no cinammon), cooked for the same length of time, and turned once.

The quartered cherry tomatoes and the mushrooms were cooked in a small knob of butter, in a small lidded pan, for about twelve minutes. The beans came out of a tin, because making them from scratch is an interesting thing to learn, but a pain to do.

Serve with freshly ground black pepper!

Aubergine Parmigiana

Aubergine, spring onion, mushroom and courgette with cheese (Parmagiano Reggiano and cheddar), served with a tomato, red pepper and garlic sauce.

The aubergine, the spring onion and the courgette were finely sliced and laid in an oven proof dish. The layer was overlaid with sliced mushroom, then a layer of thinly cut cheddar.

The Parmagiano was finely grated, and the surface was covered entirely. The oven proof dish was placed in an oven pre-heated to 190 deg C, and allowed to cook for 45 minutes.

The sauce was made with diced cherry tomatoes, some tomato puree (ketchup will do instead),  and half a diced red pepper. Also added were some basil and oregano, and one crushed clove of garlic. Dress with black pepper when served. An excellent dish!

Apricot, Date and Almond Salad

An incredibly simple and satisfying fruit salad, with apricots, dates and almonds.

I used semi-dried apricots rather than fresh, which I soaked in water overnight. This version of the dish is sweeter than what you get if you use fresh apricots.

In the morning I halved the apricots, and diced the dates (be sure to stone the dates if you haven't bought them pre-stoned). I kept the juice from the apricots, and fortified it with a shot-glass full of Scotch whisky (Bourbon will do fine instead!).

I added whole almond kernels, without crushing them, and put the fruit and nuts in the fridge for three hours.

Serve with yoghurt dressed in a little nutmeg or mixed spice.

Cauliflower Cheese Tray Bake

Cauliflower florets in a cheddar cheese sauce made with cornmeal.

The cornmeal, milk and cheese sauce was made first.

The chopped baby plum tomatoes, carrot, garden peas (from the pod), diced mushrooms were added to the cauliflower florets in a non-stick oven proof dish. The bubbling cheese sauce (100g of cheese) was poured over the top of the vegetables.

A further 150g of cheddar was grated over the top of the dish, spread as evenly as possible.

The oven was preheated to 190 deg C (about 25 minutes to wait) and the dish was placed on the middle shelf. Cook for at least 45 minutes, and judge by eye when it is ready.

Serve dressed with freshly ground black pepper. Delicious!

Chipolata Sausage, with Button Mushrooms in a Ham Gravy

A simple dish of fried pork chipolata sausages, in a ham gravy with halved button mushrooms. Served with steamed brocolli spears and flat cut potatoes.

The sausages were cooked slowly for about twenty minutes and regularly turned. The button mushrooms were added during the final ten minutes. I made the gravy with ham stock, and a dessert spoonful of Bisto gravy granules. Simmered under glass for a further fifteen minutes.

The potatoes were boiled for twenty minutes under glass, and the brocolli spears were steamed for eight minutes.

Dress with black pepper before serving.

Beef and Aubergine Shakshuka

One of those great dishes which can be constituted in a number of different ways. Often served with eggs, which I skipped in this case, since I was not cooking for four people.

I browned 250g of ground beef (minced beef) with a julienned onion for twenty-five minutes at a medium heat, stirring at least once a minute. During which time I made batonned carrot, and added the carrot to the pot. I quartered eight cherry tomatoes, and added those also.

I added 150g of tomato passata to the beef, along with some boiling water and beef stock. Plus three red chillies, and a handful of freshly chopped coriander. Allowed to simmer under glass for 45 minutes.

I cut the aubergine into chunks, and added them to an oven-proof roasting/serving dish, drizzled with sunflower oil. I also added diced spring onion. Roasted in the preheated oven for twenty five minutes at 190 deg C (under a lid).

The dish is served with a garnish of garlic infused yoghurt. I made this with three dessert spoonfuls of yoghurt, finely grating three peeled cloves of garlic into it. Often mixed with a little tahini, which I didn't have to hand, but I had some Moroccan humus, and stirred that in instead (two teaspoonfuls).

Decant the beef into the dish containing the roasted aubergine and spring onion, and spoon the garlic infused yoghurt across the surface. Serve.

Fabulous dish!

Grape, Fig and Walnut Salad

Bargain green seedless grapes from the Co-op, plus figs and double cream from the fridge.

The semi-dried figs (about ten) were diced and added to the serving bowl along with two handfuls of the seedless grapes. Plus one handful of walnut pieces. Souse in half a measure of whisky (I used Bell's blended whisky), or some white wine, and stir together.

Add a drizzle of double cream.

Fantastic dish, which can be put together in less than two minutes!

Peppered Beef Stew

Peppered beef from Aldi, in a beef gravy with onion, carrot, diced yellow pepper, and diced baby plum tomatoes.

Cooked for three quarters of an hour in a lidded pan at a low heat.

Served with semi-skinned potatoes, boiled in slightly salted water.

A favourite and delicious recipe which is easy to prepare.

Fusili with Chicken, Leek and Fine Beans

Bargain leek and celery from the Co-op, which prompted this dish.

3 centimetres of the head of the celery, finely diced, and one whole leek, cut laterally in half, and then divided into four, and then diced. Boiled for twenty minutes.

The meat from two legs of chicken was added to the pot, along with chicken stock, plus crushed garlic, and 200 mls of tomato passata (tomato puree will do just as well). Stir together thoroughly, and simmer under glass for an hour.

Add chopped fine beans (these were from Morocco), a quarter teaspoonful of paprika, plus the herbs oregano, basil and sage, according to taste. Add black pepper.

The fusili was wheat-free, and from Sainsbury's. Cooks in the same amount of time as standard pasta, but I let it rest after boiling in lightly salted water for a couple of extra minutes before draining. Serve with a dressing of freshly ground black pepper.

Scrambled Egg with Sopocka Ham

Polish Sopocka ham, fried in sunflower oil in a skillet for seven minutes each side at a low heat, served with fried tomatoes and mushroom, and scrambled eggs prepared with some oregano.

The dish was served with a teaspoonful of French coarse grain mustard and a dusting of freshly ground black pepper.

The maker of this salt cured (and lightly smoked) ham is Morliny, which is the leading charcuterie company in Poland. The brand is now well established in the UK. https://www.morliny.co.uk/products/smoked_meats/sopocka/

Pea and Ham Soup, with Kamut Grains

A traditional soup made with simple ingredients: freshly podded peas from Somerset, boiled in salted water. Cook for thirty minutes until soft, along with diced spring onion.

Add diced ham (almost any kind of ham will do) and vegetable stock. Add a handful of Kamut grains (adds flavour and acts as a thickener for the soup).

Simmer for at least half an hour before serving (an hour is good). The peas can be mashed, but the soup is fine without doing this.

Serve with black pepper. Good with buttered bread of any description.

Singapore Fried Noodles with King Prawns

Cooked Nicaraguan king prawns from Sainsbury's along with curry flavoured Singapore noodles from the same store.

Served with diced chilli and garlic, spring onion and mushrooms. The vegetables were stir-fried alone in sunflower oil for four to five minutes at a high heat. The heat was turned down and the noodles were added to the pan.

The prawns were blanched in water brought to the boil for two minutes before being added to the wok containing the noodles. Stir fry vigorously for another two to three minutes at a medium heat. Serve with a drizzle of dark soy sauce. A favourite dish!

Ham and Mustard Salad

A simple ham salad, suitable for Wiltshire ham, honey roast ham, breaded Ham, Brunswick ham, peppered ham, etc. Four slices of ham with a knife-spread layer of German mustard between each, and then a garnish on top.

Served with halved cherry tomatoes,  a side salad of diced yellow pepper, grated carrot and diced spring onion. Plus a coarse potato mash, topped with a dusting of paprika.

Chicken and Potato Pie

I made a chicken and paprika stew a couple of days earlier, and decided to make this potato pie to use up what was left.

The original stew was made with meat from two chicken thighs (originally roasted in the oven), diced carrot, spring onion, mushrooms, baby plum tomatoes, with herbes de provence and chicken stock. Cooked on the hob for about an hour under glass.

I boiled some rooster potatoes (Albert Bartlett brand) until they were soft, and then mashed them in a bowl with two knobs of butter.

I placed the chicken stew in a ceramic pot, and then covered the stew with the mashed potato. I textured the surface with a fork. Cooks in 40 to 45 minutes on the middle shelf preheated to 190 deg. C.

Served with black pepper and a side salad (in this case a babyleaf lettuce salad).

Cream of Chicken Soup

A delicious and easy to prepare cream of chicken soup.

The chicken came from roasted chicken thighs, deskinned. I removed the meat from the bones with my fingers.

I stir-fried some white onion and chopped mange tout in a little butter. Once soft, the onions were removed from the heat.

I mixed cornmeal (a dessert spoonful), water and milk in a bowl (250 mls), and added the mixture to the pan with the onions and mange tout. Bring to the boil, stirring thoroughly.

Add the chicken meat. Cook for half an hour at a medium heat, stirring every few minutes.

Add the Herbes de Provence and the chicken stock ten minutes before serving. 

Pan-fried Pork Shoulder Steak

A pretty straightforward and delicious dish of pan-fried pork shoulder steak, served with caramelised red onion and halved brocolli spears.

The julienned onion was cooked first, and took about twenty minutes to brown at a medium heat. Caramelised onion is one of those things which has to be judged by eye. Cooked in a little sunflower oil (or butter if you prefer).

The brocolli was boiled in slightly salted water for six to seven minutes, and then drained. Then the brocolli and onion were mixed together in a bowl.

The pork steak was cooked in sunflower oil in a skillet for eight minutes each side - about half of the time under glass to ensure even cooking.

Serve with black pepper. Good also with a garnish of American mustard.

Peppered Chicken and Brocolli Spears

Line a casserole dish with julienned red onion. Add 100g of water, and some chicken stock. Place the chicken thighs on top. Dress in a drizzle of olive oil, some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cook on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to 190 deg C for fifty-five minutes. For the last ten minutes remove the dish cover, which allows the chicken to brown.

The brocolli spears were cut in half and fried in a buttered  omelette pan for ten minutes under glass.

Add a little extra butter to the spears on serving. Excellent dish!

Pork Meatloaf Salad, with Hummus

A meatloaf salad, with grated carrot, diced spring onion and half a yellow pepper, with two dessert spoonfuls of hummus. The carrot salad was dressed with olive oil and two dashes of smoked paprika.

The pork meatloaf was made with finely ground pork sausage meat (500g), a cupful of porage oats, one egg, and a whole diced red onion. Cooked in a metal roasting tray for 40 minutes at 190 deg C on the middle shelf of a preheated oven.

Allowed to cool, and cut into six squares.

Mushroom and Chorizo Casoulet

Sixteen whole white mushrooms, four chopped chestnut mushrooms, around 200g of sliced chorizo sausage, 100g of chopped green beans, eight chopped spring onions, two shredded salad tomatoes, and half of a roughly cut swede. The chorizo and the swede were cooked in a little bacon fat under glass at a moderate heat for around 15 to 20 minutes. I added six whole garlic cloves which were in a chilli suffused sunflower oil. Then boiling water was added to the pot, along with a couple of squeezes of tomato paste, and two ham stock cubes. The casoulet was allowed to simmer for two hours, at the end of which white pepper and two generous pinches of thyme and rosemary were stirred into the stew. Naturally this dish could be made with potatoes instead of a swede. But I had a swede which needed to be used, so I chose to use the swede. The combo is fine. The other half of the swede will find its way into a soup.

Banana, Date and Almond Fruit Salad

A gorgeous and simple fruit salad made with chopped banana, stoned dates, and a handful of whole almonds.

Topped with three or four dessert spoonfuls of plain yoghurt, and dressed with a sprinkling of ground nutmeg. An excellent breakfast dish.

Minestrone, with Yellow Peas and Coriander

A simple minestrone soup made with diced coriander, dried whole yellow peas (hydrated overnight), broken pasta, carrot, diced spring onion and dwarf beans, plus half of  a green pepper, a couple of squirts of tomato puree, and one clove of garlic.

Cooked for forty-five minutes under glass at a low heat. After which the herbs (basil, parsely and oregano) were added, along with the chicken and vegetable stock. I also added half a teaspoonful of fish sauce (Asian nam pla, which resembles the fish sauce used by the ancient Romans), and a few shakes of ground white pepper.

Simmered under glass for a further forty minutes or so, before serving.

Roast Pork in Gravy with Dwarf Beans

Sliced roast pork from a shoulder joint weighing 1.5 kilogrammes, cooked at 200 deg. C for two hours on the middle shelf of the oven. The joint was covered in aluminium foil, which was removed for the final twenty minutes.

The gravy was made with the juices from the joint, along with some vegetable stock, and the herbs basil and sage. The gravy was allowed to cool so the fat could be removed. Reheated before serving.

Served with boiled unskinned Gem potatoes, and topped and tailed dwarf beans, grown in Warwickshire. The beans were steamed for about seven minutes.

Dressed with freshly ground black pepper.

Strawberry and Walnut Salad

Quartered Scottish Strawberries,  soused for four or five hours in granulated sugar, which produces excellent juices.

Decant to a serving bowl and add two handfuls of walnut pieces.

Add three or four dessert spoonfuls of plain yoghurt (or single cream if you prefer). Chill in the fridge for half an hour before serving. A fabulous dish!

Chickpea Stew

A simple chickpea stew, made with diced fresh coriander, green chilli, and cardamom seed.

Dice a medium-sized red onion, and caramelise it in a pan with sunflower or olive oil. Add batonned carrot, three green finger chillies, and some cubed potato. Stir-fry at a medium heat for fifteen minutes, and then add boiling water.

The chickpeas were soaked overnight. Add to the pan along with tomato puree and the seeds from three crushed cardamom pods. Add some vegetable stock. Simmer under glass for at least half an hour.

Dice a large handful of fresh coriander (including the stems) and add to the pot. Stir through. Cook for another twenty to twenty-five minutes, and then add the other herbs - a generous pinch each of oregano, basil and parsley.

Serve with skinned or semi-skinned potato. Healthy and delicious!

Cranberry and Wensleydale Cheese Salad

A bargain wedge of Cranberry and Wensleydale cheese from the local co-op prompted this simple dish, made with halved baby plum tomatoes, green pepper, Iceberg lettuce, and potato, plus the Wensleydale cheese.

The lettuce was chopped and decanted into a glass bowl, along with finely sliced green pepper, and drizzled with olive oil and vinegar. Plus a squeeze of lemon juice. The salad leaves were tossed several times before serving.

The potato salad came from the fridge (commercially bought, and flavoured with chives). Refreshed with a couple of spoonfuls of fresh mayonnaise.

That's essentially it. The dish was dressed with some coriander leaf before serving. .

Peppered Ham Omelette, with Buttered Potato

Breakfast omelette with Scottish peppered ham.

The omelette was totally plain, made with two beaten eggs, a couple of dessert spoonfuls of water, and a dash of salt. Cooked in a knob of butter, melted and then swirled around the omelette pan.

Cooked very slowly over ten minutes, without a lid, and without turning. It was briefly turned after nine minutes.

The omelette was turned again, and placed on the serving plate. The peppered ham was folded into the omelette.

Served with boiled Gem potatoes, unskinned, which were cut into three pieces on the plate, with slivers of butter placed on each.

Ground Beef, Spinach and Onion, with Spaghetti

The wonderful Italian dish, spaghetti bolognese, which isn't Italian at all (look up Ragu alla Bolognese instead).

Made with Irish ground beef, browned for twenty minutes or so in a little olive oil. After that, I added chopped spinach, diced carrot and onions, and a little later some diced mushrooms. Ten minutes later I added boiling water to the pan, and allowed the dish to simmer for an hour or so.

Added the beef stock and the tomato puree, and stirred through. Cooked for another twenty minutes, and then added the herbs oregano and basil, also stirred through..

Ready to serve in five minutes. Served with wheat free spaghetti, cooked in salted water with a little olive oil to prevent sticking. Stirred constantly for the first five minutes (takes ten minutes altogether).

Dress with freshly ground black pepper.

Baked Pasta Cheese with Chorizo Sausage

A variation on macaroni cheese, made with wheat-free pasta, chorizo sausage, spring onion and tomato, with Cheddar cheese.

I diced about 50g of chorizo, and fried it slowly in an omelette pan for about twenty minutes. The diced tomato was added, along with the spring onion. Cook in the fat from the chorizo for another fifteen minutes.

The stir-fry was decanted into a pyrex bowl. Once the pasta was prepared, it too was added, and stirred through.

Next I made the pasta sauce with cornmeal (use cornflour if you prefer a finer texture), milk and about 50g of grated cheddar. Heated in a saucepan (stirring almost constantly) until the cheese had melted, and the sauce had begun to thicken.

After that the saucepan was removed from the heat, and the sauce was decanted into the pyrex bowl, and stirred in thoroughly. Add white pepper.

Grate another 50g of cheddar and sprinkle on top. Preheat the oven to 190 deg C (about twenty minutes or so), and place on the middle shelf. It should be ready in 40 to 45 minutes, by which time the cheese topping should have begun to brown. Delicious!