Cajun Curry with Black-Eyed Beans

A Cajun style curry, made with black-eyed beans, carrot, garlic, green and red chilli, green and red bell peppers, onion, and tomato puree.

I used a commercially available Cajun spice powder, which contained garlic, chill powder, paprika and cumin. But you could easily make this up from your spice cupboard.

The black-eyed beans were rehydrated overnight in unsalted water, then boiled for half an hour until soft. The pot was drained, refilled with salted water, then brought to the boil again.

Then I added the diced vegetables - the deseeded chillies, the red and green peppers, the carrot and onion, and two garlic cloves, the tomato puree, the Cajun spices, and some vegetable stock. Simmered for forty minutes. Add a generous pinch of oregano.

The black rice was cooked for twenty minutes first of all, and then drained. The pot was refilled with boiling water, salted, and a third of a cup of American long grain rice was added. Turn down the hob to a medium to low heat and cook for another fifteen minutes, stirring frequently/Drain the rice thoroughly. Add the rice to the serving plate and spoon in the curry. Delicious!

This is a vegetarian version, but the dish can be served with chicken.

Vegetable and Smoked Bacon Soup

A soup packed with goodness to the point of almost being a broth. Made with onion, carrot, courgette, Brussels sprouts, celery, potato, spelt, oats, and fried smoked bacon.

I started the soup with three small diced carrots, half a courgette, also diced, and a julienned white onion. Cooked for half an hour until soft. I then added celery and 250g of peeled and tailed Brussels sprouts, some preboiled potato, and a handful each of spelt grain and ground oats, and half a teaspoonful of turmeric.

Simmered under glass for another half an hour, and then the contents of the pan were mashed.

I added a little sunflower oil to the soup, some mixed herbs (tarragon, parsley and sage), two small pinches of cumin, and vegetable stock. Add a dash of Worcester sauce if you like. Once it had cooled, the soup was stored in the fridge overnight (soups are always better the next day).

I diced two rashers of smoked bacon, and fried the pieces at a medium heat until crispy. The soup was reheated, and the bacon pieces added and stirred through. Ready to serve!

Apricot and Coconut Cornbread

I used peanut oil in this recipe - if you have an allergy to peanuts, use coconut or sunflower oil instead. I also used milk.

Made with 100g of semi-dried apricots, 150g of coarse cornmeal, 50g of peanut oil (I weighed this in a bowl), 2 heaped teaspoonfuls of baking power, a pinch of salt, one egg, plus 150mls of milk (actually a low fat blend of milk and buttermilk, bought from the co-op).

The Apricots were chopped up with a sharp knife. The cornmeal was added and stirred together. I added the milk, the peanut oil, the salt, and the egg. Then I added the baking powder and the dessicated coconut (two teaspoonfuls). The mix was gently blended with an electric foodmixer for five minutes, at a medium speed.

I decanted the bread mix into a silicon bread tin. Cooked at 180 deg C for forty minutes on the middle shelf, until the bread had risen, and the surface had browned. Check the bread at 25 minutes, even if you are using an accurate oven thermometer.

The loaf can be knocked out of the bread tray without breaking or sticking (just turning it upside down is enough!).

 If you would prefer a sweeter loaf, you can add some granulated sugar before blending. Dissolve the sugar in the milk to make sure there are no crystals in the bread mix.

Excellent eaten with rhubarb and ginger jam!

Beef and Kidney Stew

I bought diced kidney and cubed beef separately with the intention of making a steak and kidney pie. What was left over became a  beef and kidney stew.

The beef was cooked according to the usual procedure, being first browned in some sunflower oil, along with the diced kidney. Then sliced onion was added, plus boiling water. Simmer under glass for an hour, adding the sliced mushroom half way through, and the beef and vegetable stock. Add a desert spoonful of dark soy sauce. Stir occasionally.

Serve with boiled potato, and boiled or steamed sugar snap peas.

Brisket Beef with Vegetables

I cooked a joint of brisket beef in a slow cooker for six hours, along with two bay leaves (creates a great smell in your kitchen in the morning, if you do this overnight). The joint was allowed to cool, and was cut into slices with an electric knife.

The courgette slices and the carrots were cooked separately, as were the Brussels sprouts. The juices from the cooked joint were decanted from the slow cooker into a saucepan, and the courgette and carrots were added, along with some beef stock. I mixed some cornflour with water to thicken the gravy, and added that. Simmered at a low heat for thirty minutes, until the vegetables were tender, stirring regularly.

The sprouts were cooked in boiling water for seven minutes, and the slices of brisket were reheated in a steamer for ten minutes before serving. Dust with black pepper!

Cold Roast Beef, with Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

A straightforward dish, ready in twenty minutes, made with thinly sliced roast beef from Morrisons, plus boiled and halved Brussels sprouts, and boiled potato wedges, semi-skinned.

The beef was sold as chillied roast beef, but, while I'm sure that chilli was involved somewhere in the process of making the beef slices, I couldn't detect any chilli flavour in the finished product. So I rolled the beef slices, and dressed them in American mustard. The combination worked very well.

The sprouts were boiled for seven minutes, and the potatoes for twenty. Served hot. The dish was dusted with a generous amount of black pepper.

Black-eyed Bean Salad

Another simple dish. The dried black-eyed beans were rehydrated overnight, and then cooked for fifteen minutes in salted water. They were drained, and allowed to cool. Then dressed with some olive oil.

All the other ingredients were raw. A four leaf salad from the Co-op, half a red bell pepper, cut into strips, five cherry plum tomatoes, cut into three, and two spring onions, diced into chunks.

Served with three teaspoonfuls of mayonnaise, a drizzling of olive oil for the baby leaf salad, and a dusting of freshly ground black pepper.

Chickpea Chilli with Mushrooms

Rehydrated chickpeas (allowed to stand in a dish of water overnight) cooked in a knob of butter.

The diced onion was cooked first, until gently browned, after which I added the chickpeas and the deseeded and diced medium-sized red chilli (one will do). Cook at a medium heat and stir frequently, for about ten minutes.

After that the quartered white mushrooms (five) were added to the dish, and cooked for about seven minutes.

The chopped basil leaves were added after that, and stirred through thoroughly. Cooked for a further three minutes, before being decanted onto the serving plate. Twenty minutes all told.

The serving plate was dressed with a spiral of soy sauce, and some black pepper. You can drizzle soy sauce on top if you prefer (or both).

Egg and Bacon with Hash Browns and a Seeded Flatbread

Another variation on a British breakfast. What they serve you in hotels often seems to be an attempt to kill you on the spot (sausages, black pudding, deep fried potato bread, etc.). Less is more.

I started with the raw potato slices (semi skinned), which were fried in a large flat non-stick pan, altogether for about twenty minutes at a medium heat, and turned a couple of times.

After the first ten minutes I added two strips of smoked bacon, which were cooked to the point where the fat sizzled, and were also turned a couple of times.

Next the quartered mushrooms were added, along with half a dozen halved cherry plum tomatoes. All cooked at a medium heat, and not under glass.

I toasted a seeded and folded flatbread in a toaster (pre-damped), and placed it on the serving plate. The egg was added to the flat pan three minutes before all the other elements of the meal were decanted to the serving plate.

Served with a drizzle of American mustard, and some freshly ground black pepper! 

Chorizo and Mushroom Tapa

A simple dish of sliced chorizo sausage, with quartered mushrooms, halved cherry plum tomatoes, diced onion, and some chopped basil leaves.

The chorizo slices were put into into a non-stick omelette pan first, at a medium heat, and all the other ingredients were cooked in the fat which emerges from the sausage. Add the vegetables when there is sufficient fat in the pan. The diced onion was added first, followed a little later by the mushroom quarters, and then the cherry plum tomato halves.

The ingredients were regularly kept on the move. The basil leaves were added shortly before the dish was ready to serve. The dish should be ready within ten minutes at a medium heat, when the mushrooms begin to brown.

Served with a dusting of freshly ground black pepper. Great flavour from the paprika in the sausage!

Pork Curry with Jasmine Rice

A curry based on ground pork, browned for twenty minutes or so, and stirred frequently. After adding water to the pot, I added one diced onion, three desert spoonfuls of oats, a diced Bramley apple, a deseeded green chilli, and one red, and five Brussels sprouts, finely diced, Italian style. Simmer for half an hour to forty-five minutes.

I also added some pre-boiled pieces of potato, left over from another meal.

Add three squirts of tomato puree, or otherwise six dessert spoonfuls of a passata, a pinch of paprika, and half a teaspoonful of turmeric. Add a desert spoonful of a hot curry powder (Asda brand), and three diced cloves of garlic. Add the pork and vegetable stocks. Simmer for another twenty minutes, and add a pinch of coriander leaf ten minutes before serving.

Serve with  Basmati rice infused with jasmine essence. Add some lime pickle if desired.

Banana and Polenta Bread

A cornbread by another name. Simple to make, and it can be wheat-free and gluten-free, if the baking powder does not contain gluten (beware - some do). It can also be lactose free, if the milk is substituted with oat or soya milk. I used peanut oil in this recipe - if you have an allergy to peanuts, use coconut or sunflower oil instead.

Made with three small ripe bananas, 150g of coarse cornmeal, 50g of peanut oil (I weighed this in a bowl), 2 heaped teaspoonfuls of baking power, a pinch of salt, one egg, plus 90mls of milk (actually a low fat blend of milk and buttermilk, bought from the co-op).

The bananas were peeled and mashed in a bowl. The cornmeal was added and stirred together. I added the milk, the peanut oil, the salt, and the egg. Then I added the baking powder. The mix was blended to a smooth consistency with an electric blender, for five minutes at a medium speed.

I greased the inside of a glass bowl (suitable for oven cooking) with a small knob of butter, and decanted the bread mix into it. Cooked at 180 deg C for forty minutes on the middle shelf, until the bread has risen, and the surface is browned. Check the bread at 25 minutes, even if you are using an accurate oven thermometer.

The loaf can be knocked out of the bowl or bread tray without breaking or sticking.

The only sugar in this recipe is the natural sugar in the bananas. If you would prefer a sweeter loaf, you can add some granulated sugar before blending. Dissolve the sugar in the milk to make sure there are no crystals in the bread mix.

This recipe is easy to make, and is endlessly adaptable. Other ingredients which might be used instead of banana are cheese, caramelised onion, cooked lentils, or some tomato passata, Herbs might be added also.

Lentil and Red Pepper Soup

A delicious soup made with a third of a cupful of red lentils, half a red pepper (diced), one julienned white onion, three finely diced brussels sprouts, one medium sized carrot, also diced, some turmeric and paprika, and vegetable stock.

Simmered under glass for forty-five minutes, before the vegetables were mashed. The turmeric and paprika  were added (half a teaspoonful and a pinch respectively) and stirred through the mix. After which the vegetable stock was added. Simmered again for twenty minutes,

Serve with white pepper. 

Pork and Sage Chilli

Essentially ground pork, browned for twenty minutes or so, and stirred frequently. After adding water to the pot, I added one diced onion, three desert spoonfuls of oats, a diced Bramley apple, a deseeded green chilli, and five Brussels sprouts, finely diced, Italian style. Simmer for half an hour to forty-five minutes.

Add three squirts of tomato puree, or otherwise six dessert spoonfuls of a passata, a pinch of paprika, and half a teaspoonful of turmeric. Add the pork and vegetable stocks. Simmer for another twenty minutes, and add two generous pinches of sage ten minutes before serving.

Serve with unsalted Basmati rice (add some sunflower oil to the pot to prevent sticking). Garnished here with a sprig of basil leaves. An excellent dish!

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Chilli and Garlic Pesto, with Green Pepper and Roasted Polenta

I started with a standard commercially available green pesto sauce (essentially made with finely ground basil, parmesan cheese, and olive oil).

I diced a whole green bell pepper, a medium sized red chilli pepper (after deseeding), and a clove of garlic, and fried them slowly in a little olive oil for about twenty minutes. The ingredients were stirred frequently to prevent burning.

Once cooked, I added two teaspoonfuls of the pesto sauce, along with some cornflour in water, to thicken the sauce. I added some salt, and stirred it through.

The sauce is spicy, on account of the diced chilli pepper, but not nearly as hot as you might imagine!

To make the polenta cakes, I first julienned a whole white onion, and shredded a medium sized tomato. Both ingredients were cooked together in an omelette pan, with a little olive oil, for twenty minutes, stirring every minute or so.

At the same time I mixed two dessert spoonfuls of finely ground cornmeal with water (200 mls), and a  dessert spoonful of apple sauce (aka stewed apple). Plus a generous pinch of salt. After that, the contents of the omelette pan were decanted into the mixing jug containing the cornmeal and water, and stirred together thoroughly.

I used a muffin tray to cook the polenta cakes (the specified quantity is enough to make six cakes). Put a little olive oil in each cake tray. Cooked in an oven preheated to 190 deg C for thirty minutes on the middle shelf. Check them after twenty minutes if you are not using an accurate oven thermometer. The polenta cakes can be retrieved very easily with a wooden skewer.

Serve with a dusting of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, or alternatively Parmesan.

Roast Chicken in Gravy

Not everything needs to be complicated. A simple dish of roast chicken slices, boiled potato and carrot, served with a delicious chicken gravy.

Three skinned chicken breasts were roasted in a casserole dish in the oven, on a bed of sliced carrot and parsnips. The chicken was drizzled with sunflower oil, and seasoned with sea salt. A little water was added (about 100 mls), and the casserole dish spent 45 minutes in the lidded casserole, and another 15 minutes with the lid removed (allowing the chicken breasts to become golden brown on the surface). Cooked at 190 deg C on the middle shelf.

The chicken was removed from the casserole dish, and then the vegetables were removed with a slatted spoon - the latter to become the basis of a chicken and parsnip soup.

Once cooled, the chicken breasts were sliced with an electric carving  knife before serving.

The gravy was made with the juices from the roast, which were decanted to a small pan  containing 200 mls of boiling water: some chicken and vegetable stock was added, along with a teaspoonful of onion gravy granules, a pinch of paprika, plus some sage and black pepper. Serve with a generous portion of the gravy!

Spaghetti and Bacon, with a Blue Stilton Napoletana

I diced two rashers of smoked bacon, then fried the pieces in a large saute pan in a little olive oil. I then added a julienned onion, and half a diced pepper. The ingredients were stir-fried for twenty minutes at a medium heat, until the onions began to brown, and the bacon became crispy.

I mashed a tin of peeled plum Italian tomatoes in a bowl and added them to the saute pan, along with about 400mls of boiling water. Stirred through the dish thoroughly, and add vegetable stock. Then I added about 40g of pieces of Blue Stilton cheese. Stirred for about seven minutes at a medium heat, until the cheese had entirely dissolved in the salsa.

The hob was turned down to a low heat, and was allowed to simmer for half an hour, with occasional stirring. Add black pepper, oregano, and some basil.

Served in this case with a wheat-free spaghetti from Sainsbury's, which behaves in the pot just like  durum wheat spaghetti. The pasta was cooked at a fairly low heat for twelve minutes, in salted water with a pinch of turmeric. Stir frequently!

Garlic and Black Bean Stir Fry

The stir-fry mix was sourced from the local Co-op at a bargain price. Since I also had some mushrooms in the fridge which needed to be used, I decided on a stir-fry with mushrooms in a garlic and black bean sauce.

I diced eight mushrooms (I discarded the stalks) into four pieces, and stir fried them in a little sunflower oil. I also deseeded a red and a green chilli pepper, and cut them into small pieces. The chillies were fried with the mushrooms, along with two small julienned white onions.

Once the onions began to brown, I added two teaspoonfuls of the black bean sauce, plus about 100 mls of boiling water, stirred everything together, and allowed this keynote of the dish to simmer under glass for ten minutes at a low heat. Check the pan regularly so that the sauce has the desired consistency.

The stir-fry mix was 26 per cent sliced red and orange bell peppers. Much of the rest of it was three colours of cabbage leaves (purple and light and dark green), plus bean sprouts and diced onion. I heated a flat pan and brought some groundnut oil to a high heat before adding the mix. I turned the heat down, and stirred the vegetables every thirty seconds or so, for around eight minutes.

After that, the stir-fry was decanted to the serving plate, and the mushrooms in the garlic and black bean sauce were spooned on top. Easy to prepare, healthy and delicious!

Polenta frita with Salsa Napoletana

The Polenta Frita:


The inspiration for this dish is referenced at the end of this post, along with the original ingredients and recipe. However I made some changes. I had no leek, so I used some onion instead. I chose to allow the juices of the the fried and boiled vegetables to cool in a bowl after the vegetables were removed, and then added the cornmeal slowly, whisking with each dessert spoonful added.


When the mixture was at the right sort of consistency, I added butter to a hot omelette pan (non-stick!), and used a medium sized cookie-cutter to get the circular shape for the polenta. The mixture was spooned into the cookie-cutter, and then the cutter was removed from the pan.


Cooked for six minutes on each side, starting at a high heat, and then reducing to the lowest heat on my electric hob. Three of those minutes on each side were spent under glass, which means that the polenta had the opportunity to cook thoroughly, without becoming dry.


The Salsa Napoletana:


The same variation on salsa Napoletana I made yesterday. I diced two rashers of smoked bacon, and fried the pieces in a large saute pan in a little olive oil. I then added a julienned onion, and half a diced pepper. The ingredients were stir-fried for twenty minutes at a medium heat, until the onions began to brown, and the bacon became crispy.


I mashed a tin of peeled plum Italian tomatoes in a bowl and added them to the saute pan, along with about 400mls of boiling water. Stirred through the dish thoroughly, and add vegetable stock. Then I added about 40g of pieces of Blue Stilton cheese. Stirred for about seven minutes at a medium heat, until the cheese had entirely dissolved in the salsa.


The hob was turned down to a low heat, and was allowed to simmer for half an hour, with occasional stirring. Add black pepper, oregano, and some basil.


***

The original ingredients and recipe:

1 cup Cornmeal
6,5 cups water
salt
piece of leek, carrot, celery (to give an extra flavor to the Polenta)
1 TBPS butter

1. in butter, brown the vegetables, then add water, salt and boil.
2. once boiled, take out the vegetables, add cornmeal little by little, please watch out, the meal does not form little balls, you need a whisk.
3. cook in low heat by mixing slowly for about 5 minutes.
4. transfer to a square plate and let it cool down. This took me about 1 hour.
5. form your Polentas, any form you like.
6. in a pan add butter and fry them, 5 minutes each side.
7. serve with your favorite sauce.
Inspiration from Susana at 'Delicioso y Divertido'.

Pasta and Bacon Napoletana

Always risky to try a variation of an established dish if it is Italian! This one is fairly simple however, and should not annoy. It involves only two extra ingredients - Blue Stilton cheese, and diced green pepper.

I began by dicing two rashers of smoked bacon, and frying the pieces in a large saute pan in a little olive oil. I then added a julienned onion, and half a diced pepper. The ingredients were stir-fried for twenty minutes at a medium heat, until the onions began to brown, and the bacon became crispy.

I mashed a tin of peeled plum Italian tomatoes in a bowl and added them to the saute pan, along with about 400mls of boiling water. Stirred through the dish thoroughly, and add vegetable stock. Then I added about 40g of pieces of Blue Stilton cheese (bargain buy from the local co-op over Christmas!). Stirred for about seven minutes at a medium heat, until the cheese had entirely dissolved in the salsa.

The hob was turned down to a low heat, and was allowed to simmer for half an hour, with occasional stirring. Add black pepper, oregano, and some basil.

Served in this case with a wheat-free pasta from Sainsbury's, which behaves in the pot just like  durum wheat penne. The pasta was cooked at a fairly low heat for twelve minutes, in salted water and a drizzle of olive oil (to prevent sticking), and some chopped garlic. Stir frequently!

Chicken, Carrot and Parsnip Soup

The chicken for this soup came from a roast in a casserole dish. The chicken breasts were on top of a bed of sliced carrots (2) and a parsnip, along with a little water. The chicken was salted with sea-salt, pressed into the flesh. Then the whole ensemble was drizzled with some sunflower oil.

After roasting for an hour (45 minutes under glass, and then with the casserole dish lid removed for a further 15 minutes, until slightly browned) at 190 deg C, the dish was placed on the hob, and allowed to cool.

Once cooled, the chicken was removed from the dish, and the vegetables were placed in a lidded pot in boiling water. The soup was made with some of the surplus chicken, after the chicken breasts were sliced with an electric knife.

The vegetables were boiled for a further twenty minutes, before being mashed. Then the pieces of chicken (diced) were added, along with chicken stock, a little vegetable stock, and two pinches of sage. Simmered for another half an hour, after which the soup was ready to serve.

Ground Beef and Potato Chilli

A beef chilli made entirely without onions. 500 grams of ground scotch beef (5 per cent fat) was browned in a saute pan in a little sunflower oil for twenty minutes at a high heat, quickly reduced to a medium heat. Stirred every minute or so.

Once all the beef had browned, one medium sized cubed courgette was added to the pan, and one medium sized cubed parsnip. Stirred in thoroughly. Add half a red bell pepper, diced. Cook for another fifteen minutes at a medium heat.

After that add the fresh deseeded and diced chillies, red and green. Cook for another five minutes before adding three quarters of a pint of boiling water to the saute pan.

Add a half teaspoonful of turmeric powder, the tomato puree, the beef stock, and the bay leaves (three). Simmer under glass for an hour to two hours, until the beef is tender. The contents of the pan can be mashed before serving, but this is not necessary.

Serve with separately boiled potatoes, and some ground black pepper.

Creamed Beef and Tomato Soup, with Arborio Rice and Garlic

A tasty soup made with some leftover diced roast beef. It contains beef stock, cardamom (two pinches), two diced cloves of garlic, one diced onion, tomato passata (100mls), half a teaspoonful of turmeric, a third of a cup of arborio rice, plus a generous amount of basil.

The diced beef was first stir-fried in a little olive oil, along with the diced onion and the garlic. After ten minutes or so at a medium to high heat, boiling water was added to the pan, along with 250mls of tomato passata (chopped Italian tomatoes will do instead). Stir together thoroughly.

The arborio rice was cooked in a separate pan for about twenty five minutes, and the contents were then decanted (without draining) into the pot of soup. Add the turmeric and the (powdered) cardamom. Stir together, and simmer under glass for another half an hour.

Five or ten minutes before serving, season with basil. Cream with two dessert spoonfuls of double cream (you can skip this if you prefer). Serve with a toasted garlic flatbread.

Olive Trio Salad, with Iceberg Lettuce and Peppers

One third of an iceberg lettuce, chopped, is the basis for this salad. Two colours of diced bell peppers, one small onion, julienned, one spring onion, one clove of garlic, and some diced celery stalk.

The olives were pre-stoned - red and green olives, some of which were stuffed with pimiento. 

The salad was dressed in some extra-virgin olive oil and some clear vinegar, plus freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of oregano.

Deliciously crunchy, and very quick to prepare!

Scrambled Egg, with Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese

Simple and quick to prepare scrambled egg with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and diced spring onion.

The spring onion (one) was chopped up and fried in some hot sunflower oil in an omelette pan, until the onion began to brown.  Then about 100ml of whole milk was added to the pan, along with a pinch of salt.

I cracked two medium eggs into the pan (the eggs were not beaten together first), broke the yolks, and stirred thoroughly for a minute or so. The heat was turned down low, and the mixture was allowed to bubble for a minute and a half before being stirred again.

I cut about 75g of the cheese into thin rectangles, and distributed them evenly across the eggs. Stir together until the cheese has largely melted.

When the scramble has achieved the right consistency, with the milk absorbed and just a little water remaining in the pan, serve with some coarse grain mustard, and dress the dish in a little black pepper.

Brussels Sprouts, with Smoked Bacon, Onion, and Garlic

Brussels sprouts are boring? Try this simple and delicious two-pot dish!

The bottom of each sprout was trimmed, the dark leaves removed, and each sprout was halved. Then the sprouts were added to boiling salted water, and cooked for six minutes, after which they were drained and allowed to cool.

I browned some julienned onion for fifteen minutes, stirring frequently, in a dessert spoonful of olive oil, at a medium heat, in a flat skillet. After that the onion was removed to a dish, and the bacon (two smoked rashers, diced) was added to the pan. Again, cooked for fifteen minutes at a medium heat until crispy. Also removed to another dish.

Add the sprouts to the pan containing the olive oil, and cook for ten to twelve minutes at a medium heat, until they begin to brown. At this point add the onion and the crispy bacon to the pan, and stir together thoroughly. 

Add a crushed and diced clove of garlic, half a dessert spoonful of vinegar, and some freshly ground black pepper. Stir together, and heat for two to three minutes before serving. Dress with some more black pepper.

Fillet of Cod, with a Garlic and Black Bean Rice Risotto

I wasn't sure this fillet of cod would stay together after cooking, so I had two alternative meals in mind. If it broke apart, I would flake the cod, and mix it together with the risotto. If it didn't, I would serve the risotto as an accompaniment. The fillet stayed together, as you can see.

The fish was cooked in a melted knob of butter in a flat and lidded skillet for ten minutes, at a low heat. No need to turn it.

The rice was cooked in a small high-sided pan, with some Brussels sprouts, diced Italian style, for ten to eleven minutes. It was allowed to stand without heat for a further five minutes before being drained.

I added the risotto to a bowl, and added a couple of teaspoonfuls of the garlic and black bean sauce. It was stirred thoroughly through the risotto, before being decanted to the serving plate. Served with freshly ground black pepper. Delicious!

Olive Trio Salad, with Turmeric Rice

A fabulous olive salad, made with spinach, a four leaf lettuce salad, turmeric rice (basmati), diced baby plum tomato, red onion, spring onion, and a chopped yellow pepper.

Three kinds of olive were used - stoned green, green stuffed with pimiento, and red olives.

Mixed with coriander leaf, diced garlic, oregano, and served with black pepper. Serve at room temperature.

Beef and Mushroom Chilli

I browned some diced Scotch roast beef in some sunflower oil, for twenty minutes, stirring frequently. After fifteen minutes I added diced red onion, and batoned carrot.

After the twenty minutes I added three quarters of a pint of boiling water, plus a teaspoonful of chilli powder,  the garlic, and four squirts of tomato puree.

The dish was simmered for an hour under glass at a low heat. Then I mashed the carrots a little and the beef a little, and added diced mushrooms (in this case both white and chestnut varieties).

 Simmered under glass for another hour. After which I added the beef and vegetable stock, plus generous pinches of coriander and oregano. Simmered for another ten minutes or so.

Served with turmeric basmati rice, seasoned with diced coriander leaves,

Lamb Chilli with Seeded Flatbread

Ground lamb, cooked in a little sunflower oil, along with white onion, peppers, and some dried red chillies, and three green chillies.

The lamb was cooked first for 45 minutes, before the onion and diced spring onion was added (three). After that, the diced carrot, and the red pepper (half, diced), and about half a pint of water. Then  the lamb stock. Simmered under glass for an hour.

Before serving, add two pinches of dried coriander (or diced coriander leaves if you have some fresh available in your kitchen).

The seeded and folded flatbread was sourced from Aldi. Soak under the tap and allow to drain for two or three minutes. Then toast.

Pan-fried Basa Fish (River Cobbler)

Smoked Basa Fish from Sainsbury's, pan-fried in some salted butter. With boiled Maris Piper potatoes, and broccoli.

I melted a small knob of butter in a non-stick and lidded skillet. I turned down the heat before adding the fillet. Cooked slowly, altogether for ten minutes under glass, and turned once with a fish slice.

Dressed with a little black pepper. Good with some tartare sauce also. Quick, easy, and delicious!

Feta Cheese Salad

A Feta cheese salad made with turmeric rice, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, red onion, spinach, spring onion, yellow pepper, Feta cheese, and some herbs (Oregano).

The rice was cooked and allowed to cool. Then the rice was added to a glass bowl, along with a diced four leaf lettuce salad, plus diced spinach leaves, diced red onion, diced spring onion, and diced yellow pepper, and chopped baby plum tomatoes.

The dish was augmented with a pinch of coriander, and a pinch of oregano. Drizzled in some olive oil, which was stirred through.

Finally, about 75 grams of Feta cheese was cut into strips, and then cut into squares, and added to the mix. Stir thoroughly before serving.

Served with freshly ground black pepper.