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.