Omelette with Red Pepper and Chestnut Mushrooms

Slow-cooked two egg omelette, made with strips of red pepper, diced chestnut mushroom, diced spring onion, halved piccolo tomatoes (six), and seasoned with a little salt and the herbs tarragon and basil.

The vegetables were fried in a little olive oil at a medium heat for about seven minutes, stirring occasionally.

Then the beaten egg, with half a teaspoonful of water, was added to the omelette pan. The heat was turned right down, and the pan was lidded. Cook slowly until the surface of the omelette is no longer runny. This should take between ten and twelve minutes, depending on how hot the hob is in your kitchen.

Serve with a lettuce salad drizzled with a little olive oil.

Cubed Beef Chilli, with Wheat Free Pasta

Good quality cubed beef from the local Co-op. Browned in olive oil for twenty minutes. After that, I added diced leek, a quarter of a yellow pepper, two diced green finger chillies, and three cloves of garlic. Cooked for twenty minutes, with frequent stirring.

Boiling water was added (about 100mls), and then a standard tin of plum tomatoes. The tomatoes were diced with a spatula. Simmered under glass for an hour.

After that I added beef stock (actually a beef Oxo cube), and some diced fresh basil leaves. Allowed to simmer for another fifteen minutes.

The pasta was cooked for fifteen minutes under glass (with salt and a drizzle of olive oil), with frequent stirring.

The beef chilli was decanted to a pasta bowl, and the (drained) pasta was laid on top. Dressed with a little dried oregano.  Delicious!

Pork Meatloaf, with Carrot, Spring Onion, and Lettuce

The preparation of the meatloaf is described here.

The rest of the dish is a salad made with strips of raw carrot, diced spring onion, halved piccolo tomatoes (tasty!), two varieties of lettuce leaves (green and purple), plus a couple of spoonfuls of pimiento stuffed olives. I also added a couple of drops of balsamic vinegar.

The salad was drizzled in some olive oil, and stirred together thoroughly. Allowed to cool in the fridge for about ten minutes (if you prefer your salads cold), and then served with the pork meatloaf slices. Dress with a little pepper.

Lentil and Leek Soup

A traditional Scottish soup. Made with boiled carrots, half of a medium sized leek, and 200g of red lentils. Plus herbs and chicken stock.

The vegetables were boiled first, along with the lentils, with a little salt. Cooked for forty minutes, and then mashed together.

After that the contents of the pot were blended with an electric blender. Coriander leaf was added, plus some black pepper,  along with chicken stock. 

Served with two slices of a wheat free bloomer loaf (Warburtons). Easy to make, and delicious!

Roast Pork in a Leek Gravy, with Sweet Potato, Green Beans, and Red Pepper.

Pork crackling joint cooked on the middle shelf of the oven at 190 deg C for two hours and fifteen minutes (1.6kg). The joint sat in a casserole dish on a bed of diced leek, vegetable stock, and some olive oil. Cooked unlidded.

Served with sweet potato (cooked first), green beans and red peppers, boiled or steamed. The sweet potato will be ready in twenty minutes, but the beans and pepper strips take about ten minutes, so they should be added later.

I added sage to the leek gravy, and dressed the plate in some more. Delicious!

Pork Sausage, with Spanish Onion

Pork sausages from Sainsbury's, found in the freezer. The sausages were allowed to thaw thoroughly. Then they were pricked, and fried in a large flat lidded pan, along with half a Spanish onion, diced.

Cooked at a high heat initially, and then cooked slowly under the glass lid in a little olive oil (half an hour). Turned every five minutes.

Served with semi-skinned potatoes, boiled in salted water for twenty-five minutes, along with a dusting of black pepper, and some tomato ketchup.

Pork and Sage Meatloaf, with Salad Leaves and Olives

Made with one grated carrot, half a grated apple (Pink Lady), two diced spring onions, three quarter cups of oats, four hundred grams of pork sausagemeant, four cloves of finely diced garlic, and one egg (for binding purposes).

The sausagemeat came from the freezer, and was allowed to thaw completely before use. The main ingredients were added to a pyrex bowl along with a dessertspoonful of olive oil,  and mixed together by hand (very therapeutic) for between five and ten minutes,

Half a teaspoonful of sage was then added, plus a quarter teaspoonful of coriander leaf. I also added a quarter teaspoonful of salt, and the same measure of paprika. Mix once more for about two minutes.

The meatloaf mix was decanted into a tray, and spread flat to the edges. After that, it was divided into .six sections with a sharp knife.

Cooked on the middle shelf of the preheated oven at 190 deg C for forty-five minutes, until the surface of the meatloaf is nicely browned (check progress by eye).

Served cold with green and purple lettuce, halved piccolo tomatoes, and green olives stuffed with pimiento pepper.

Slow cooked omelette, with honey roast ham.

A simple omelette, made with diced spring onion..Cooked slowly over twenty minutes, with a dash of water. Turned once

Not hard to do. Served with folded honey roast ham, along with black pepper. Plus halved Piccolo tomatoes, and some tomato ketchup. A great breakfast!

Chorizo Sausage with Spanish Onion and Courgette

A slowly cooked chorizo dish, with half a large spanish onion, diced, plus half a red pepper, four quartered chestnut mushrooms, and half of a courgette, diced.

Cooked in a little olive oil in a skillet. The onion was the first ingredient in the pan, and was cooked for fifteen minutes.Then I added a quarter ring of diced chorizo. After that, the red pepper strips were added, along with the quartered mushrooms, and the diced courgette. I also added two chopped green finger chillies, and two cloves of garlic.

Cooked under glass at a low heat for a further twenty-five minutes, and occasionally stirred. Dressed with black pepper,and the herbs oregano and herbes de provence.

Photographed for a change in the brilliant spring sunshine. 

Smoked Haddock poached in Milk

A dyed smoked haddock block poached in milk in a lidded omelette pan at a low heat, for about 8 minutes.

Transfer the fish fillets to a plate dusted with black pepper, and spoon some of the milk from the pan over the fish.

Serve with semipeeled boiled potato pieces, and garden peas. Fabulous dish! Fish from the freezer, bought in Morrison's about six weeks ago.

Chicken, Rice and Bean Soup

Black and white rice cooked originally for a risotto. The black rice was cooked separately for fifteen minutes, and then drained.

Made with red kidney beans, chickpeas, diced leek, carrot, plus vegetable and chicken stock, and tomato puree. With the addition of black pepper, oregano, and coriander leaf.

The chicken came from roasted chicken thighs, and the meat was diced before being added to the soup.

The soup was simmered under glass for an hour and fifteen minutes. Served with home made bread, made with Khorasan wheat (Kamut).

Red Onion and Red Pepper Omelette with Tarragon

A simple dish to wind up the day. Half a diced red onion, and a third of a red pepper, also diced, fried in sunflower oil for around seven minutes at a medium heat.

Two large free-range eggs were beaten with a little water and a pinch of salt, plus some oregano and tarragon. Then added to the omelette pan, and cooked at a low heat, after an initial medium heat. The pan was covered for the cooking at a low heat. Judge progress by eye. Ten minutes should be enough to ensure the omelette is fully cooked.

Chicken Mayo, Red Pepper, and Pimiento-stuffed Green Olives

Chicken mayo made from two roasted, deboned and chopped chicken thighs, stored in the fridge overnight, and dressed in a little paprika.

Served with finely sliced red pepper (one quarter), slices of Pink Lady apple, half a grated carrot, and green olives stuffed with pimiento.

Fifteen minutes preparation time from the fridge.

Pan-fried Pork Loin Steak

Pork steak cooked slowly under glass in a little olive oil. Turned four times during twenty minutes.

Served with diced green beans and a spring onion, plus slices of yellow pepper and gherkin. All steamed for fifteen minutes.

Dressed with a dusting of coriander leaf and black pepper. Delicious!

Thick Minestrone Soup

Made with diced apple, carrot and potato. Plus diced brussels sprouts, one green finger chilli, and broken spaghetti. I also added some grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

I added a pinch of oregano and coriander leaf, plus some pork stock and two squirts of tomato puree.

Allowed to simmer under glass for two hours.

Roman Army Bread (Spelt Grain)

A loaf I've made before with spelt flour, but not with any of the recipes I've used before from the packet. This one is different, using much less olive oil, and so produces a stouter (if not finer) texture.

I also cut the flour with 150g of oats (the remainder 350g of spelt flour). I couldn't find a jar of honey at the front of the likely cupboard, so I used three dessert spoonfuls of demerara sugar instead of one dessert spoonful of honey. The switch worked just fine.

The recipe called for one dessert spoonful of olive oil (earlier recipes for this loaf have called for 3 spoonfuls), and called for only half a teaspoonful of salt. I used one dessert spoonful of quick yeast. It called for no vinegar at all, but the Romans used vinegar in almost everything, including their sweets, so I added a dessert spoonful, just to be on the safe side.

All the dry ingredients were assembled in one bowl, and gradually added to a similar bowl contained warm water and the olive oil.

Mixed with an electric mixer for seven minutes in the bowl, then decanted into a 2lb bread tin (silicon in this case), and allowed to stand for an hour in a warm place.  Then baked in an oven preheated to 190 deg. C for forty-five minutes to fifty minutes on the middle shelf.

Chorizo and Vegetable Risotto

An easy to prepare chorizo risotto, with an assortment of vegetables, served with Basmati rice.

The chorizo (a quarter of a 250g ring) was diced with a sharp knife into small wedge shapes and cooked at a high heat in an omelette pan until the sausage began to leak its fat. The diced vegetables were added to the pan with a little olive oil, and were stirred together. Then the heat was turned down, and the dish continued to cook under a glass lid.

While the chorizo and vegetables were sizzling away (stir occasionally!), the rice was cooked for fifteen minutes in slightly salted boiling water. Drain thoroughly, and allow to stand for around seven minutes. Add to the omelette pan containing the sausage and vegetables, and stir together.

Serve with a dressing of coriander leaf and black pepper.