Chorizo Sausage Stew, with Seeded Flatbread

A chorizo sausage stew, made with chorizo, potato wedges, carrot wedges, red onion, green pepper, spring onion, and diced cherry tomatoes.

The red onion and spring onions were cooked first in a little olive oil, until soft, and beginning to brown. After that the quartered cherry tomatoes were added.

Cooked for fifteen to twenty minutes, and then a third of a pint of boiling water was added, followed by the potato and carrot wedges, and the diced green pepper.

Simmer under glass for forty minutes, and then serve with a seeded flatbread. Delicious!

King Prawn with Thai Black Rice

Vietnamese king prawns served in a sweet chilli sauce, with Long grain rice and Thai black rice.

A handful of black rice was cooked for twenty minutes, and then drained, which removes a lot of the pigment in the grains. Added back to the pot, along with a third of a cup of long grain white rice. Cooked for another ten to fifteen minutes.

The grey uncooked prawns were blanched in freshly boiled water for two to three minutes until they became pink.

The rice was drained and added to a wok with a little sunflower oil. Stir-fried for a couple of minutes, after which the king prawns were added. Stir-fry for another couple of minutes, adding the sweet chilli sauce. Serve with a little dark soy. Delicious!

Pork Loin Steak, with Eggs and Spring Onion

Simple and delicious meal, with pork loin steak, spring onions and two fried eggs.

The pork steaks were cooked slowly in a little olive oil under glass, for ten minutes each side. Halfway through the lid was removed to allow the moisture to escape. The first half of the cooking started at a high heat, as did the second half.

The spring onions were lightly cooked with the eggs, which spent four minutes in the pan at a low heat under glass.

Dark Minestrone Soup (with Black Rice)

A great dish for using up odds and ends in the fridge. This one was made with broken spaghetti, diced onion, carrot, potato, spring onion, diced garlic, some red lentils, chopped celery, a quarter of a red bell pepper, a handful of Thai black rice, plus a little spelt grain, three squirts of tomato puree, and chicken stock.

Prepare the vegetables and the spaghetti, and add to a pot of boiling water. Add the rice and the spelt, the tomato puree and the chicken stock. Simmer under glass at a low heat for an hour and a half.

Serve with a toasted garlic and coriander naan bread. Delicious!

Breaded Haddock

Great breaded haddock fillets from Aldi, roasted on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to 190 deg C, for between eighteen and twenty minutes.

An accurate thermometer gives really good results, since the dial markings on most cooker controls are generally ballpark accurate only.

Served with boiled potato and carrot, some ketchup, and a light sprinkling of coriander leaf and black pepper. Dress with a squeeze of fresh lemon.

Corned Beef Hash

Stir-fry onion and spring onion for about seven minutes in olive oil, or until the onion begins to brown. Set aside and allow to cool.

With a fork, break up half a standard tin of corned beef into small chunks, and place the chunks in the bottom of a small casserole dish. Add the onion on top, followed by half a tin of baked beans. Add a little salt to this layer, plus some pepper,  ketchup and worcester sauce.

The top layer is boiled and mashed potato (prepared earlier). Smooth the potato over the top, and texture the layer with a fork.

Cook on the middle shelf of an oven pre-heated to 190 deg. C, for forty to fifty minutes. The surface should begin to brown when the dish is ready.

Corned Beef Chilli

An excellent chilli made with corned beef, red kidney beans, sweetcorn, onion, mushrooms, red and green diced pepper, along with garlic, tomato puree, paprika, beef stock, and some basil.

The kidney beans were soaked overnight along with some finely chopped garlic. The beans were cooked for twenty minutes with diced onion, until soft. Then about half a standard sized tin of corned beef was added,  broken up with a stirrer, and stirred through the mix.

Followed by the addition of beef stock, two squirts of tomato puree, a teaspoonful of chilli powder, diced red and green pepper, diced mushrooms (six), and half a small tin of sweetcorn (drained).

Cooked for about 50 minutes at a low simmer under glass, after which half a teaspoonful of paprika was added, along with half a teaspoonful of dried basil. Simmer for a further ten minutes, while the rice is being prepared.

Served with long grain rice, dressed in a sprinkling of coriander leaf.

Pork and Chorizo Paella, with Potato

Roast pork from a joint, cut into wedges, plus about 75 grams of Chorizo sausage, cut into elliptical slices. Put into a pan of water along with diced onion and simmer for an hour at a low heat, along with a handful of arborio rice, which is the variety which is usually used for making a paella. Stir regularly.

Add the pork and vegetable stocks, diced garlic, and deseeded and chopped chilli. Twenty minutes in, add potato wedges to the pan. Ten minutes before the dish is ready, add the diced green beans and diced mushroom. Serve with black pepper.

Watch the pan carefully, since arborio rice absorbs lots of water, and the dish thickens quickly. Add more boiling water if the dish is becoming too dry.

Black Olive and Chickpea Salad

About 100g of dried chickpeas were soaked overnight in cold unsalted water, along with a diced clove of garlic.

The chickpeas were boiled the following morning for fifteen minutes, and then drained and allowed to cool.

Added to a bowl with diced white onion, plus finely chopped coriander leaf and some oregano. Plus a dash of olive oil, malt vinegar, and white pepper. Stir together thoroughly.

Put the bowl into the fridge for an hour.

Quarter half a dozen cherry tomatoes and place in a bowl. Add a squirt of tomato ketchup, some diced garlic, some basil and coriander leaf.

Take the chickpea and onion mixture from the fridge, and add a chopped babyleaf salad (a handful), plus some stoned black olives. Mix together. Serve as illustrated above!

Cherry Tomato and Hummus Salad

Another simple salad served on a bed of diced iceberg lettuce.

Finely sliced carrot sections, julienned purple onion, and celery were mixed in a bowl with olive oil, a dash of balsamic vinegar, a dash of malt vinegar, fine white pepper, with some oregano and coriander leaf. Allow to stand for forty-five minutes or so in the fridge before serving.

The cherry tomatoes were quartered in another bowl, and dressed in a dusting of coriander leaf.

Serve together with around 150 grams of fresh hummus.

Cottage Cheese Salad, with Vine Tomatoes

A simple salad with cottage cheese, diced vine tomato, green pepper cut into strips, and julienned red or purple onion.

The tomato, green pepper strips and the red onion were placed in a pyrex bowl with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, white pepper and some dried oregano. Stir together until the vegetable salad is thoroughly covered with the dressing.

Allow the vegetables to stand for a couple of hours in the fridge before serving with the cottage cheese.