Buttered Toast with Brussels Pate

A favourite snack dish made with lightly toasted wheat-free bread (Genius brand), salted butter straight from the fridge, so not very runny, plus 75g or so of Brussels pate. Spread thick across the surface of the buttered toast.

Cut the slices into triangles.

Dressed in black pepper. Delicious! Two minutes to make.

Strawberry and Blueberry Fruit Salad

A simple and delicious fruit salad, made with chopped blueberries and Strawberries.

The fruit was prepared and decanted into a bowl, to which was added a couple of dessert spoonfuls of demerara sugar (any form of granulated sugar will do instead). Stirred together, and allowed to stand for an hour or so. The juices of the fruit will emerge by their interaction with the sugar.

Served with a dressing of fresh cream. Add grated nutmeg if you prefer a spiced flavour to the dish.

Chcken Paella, with Chorizo Sausage

Chicken pieces with diced chorizo sausage, tomato puree, chicken stock, chilli, mushrooms, carrots, courgette, potato, red pepper, plus the herbs basil, coriander leaf and tarragon. Plus basmati rice cooked in a little salt and turmeric.

The trick is to do it in clearly defined stages (preparation of the vegetables and chorizo, stir-fried in olive oil or butter; preparation of the salsa; adding the pre-roasted chicken; and finally adding the pre-cooked rice).

The vegetables and chorizo, and the salsa, were allowed to simmer for an hour under glass before I added the chicken.

For presentation purposes in future I might just steam the chicken pieces, and add them on top before serving. But it was a delicious meal nonetheless, and well worth the effort.

Chicken Salad

This dish is the result of buying a whole chicken from the local co-op. A whole chicken will keep you going for a week. I made a chicken and rice soup, and a chicken curry out of this bird.

This salad was made from one of the chicken breasts. The other breast went into the freezer. Easy to take apart using fingers and finger nails. A glorious dish.

Bacon Risotto

Smoked bacon, diced into small chunks, and cooked alone until crispy. Add par-boiled potato, cut into cubes. Basmati rice, pre-prepared. Plus julienned white onion, and diced yellow pepper.

Stir-fried in olive oil at a low heat for fifteen to twenty minutes.A little ham stock was added in the final ten minutes.

Dress in black pepper before serving.

Chicken in a Pepper and Onion Salsa, with Roast Potatoes

Bought a whole chicken from the local co-op. Cooked on a low shelf in the oven for an hour and 45 minutes, at 180 deg. C.  For the last fifty minutes or so I also cooked roast potatoes along with the chicken, drizzled in olive oil (turned once. The potatoes were parboiled first, and then rolled around a casserole dish).

The salsa was made with caramelised white onion (diced), fried in olive oil, along with a crushed clove of garlic, and strips of red and orange peppers. After twenty minutes I added tomato puree, Bisto gravy granules, vegetable stock, basil and tarragon, along with around 150g of water. Cooked for another half an hour.

I separated one chicken leg from the carcass for this meal (the rest of the chicken went into the fridge after it cooled). The dish was seasoned with a dusting of freshly ground black pepper before serving. Absolutely delicious! Tarragon is a great accompaniment to chicken.

Strawberries in Chocolate Ice-cream

An excellent dish, made with simple ingredients. 150g of strawberries were halved, and dressed in 100g of sugar. Left in the fridge overnight, under glass. After which the juices from the strawberries is largely extracted.

Add some black pepper to the strawberries (a Scottish affectation which works really well). Stir.

Served with several spoonfuls of  chocolate ice-cream, cold (in this case Luca ice-cream, which is the best in this part of the world)..

Breaded Ham Salad

Breaded ham from the freezer, along with a baby-leaf lettuce salad from the local co-op. Plus pimiento stuffed green olives, strips of yellow pepper, and a home-made potato and onion salad (with mayonnaise), and American mustard and black pepper. Simple, and delicious!

Ground Beef with Chilli and Peppers

Good to break away from meals accompanied by rice or potatoes - there are so  many alternatives which deliver much less starch.

The ground beef was browned in some sunflower oil for about twenty minutes at a medium heat, stirring frequently, then I added boiling water (150 mls), and allowed the beef to simmer for an hour under glass, at a lower heat.

After that I added julienned white onion, beef stock, diced mushrooms, three green finger chillies, diced carrot, tomato puree (one squirt), and half a standard can of baked beans. Also some Bisto gravy granules, which serve to thicken a dish.

Allowed to simmer at a low heat for another 45 minutes to one hour. After which I added the herbs basil and oregano.

The pepper strips were stir-fried in an omelette pan for fifteen minutes until tender.

Cumberland Sausage in Gravy

A favourite dish. Pricked pork sausage with sage, cooked in a large flat pan for twenty minutes at a medium heat. Drizzled with some sunflower oil. The sausages were turned regularly until they browned, and then were cooked with julienned onion under glass for another fifteen minutes at a low heat.

I made up the gravy (in this case with gravy granules and some pork stock) in a measuring jug, and added hot water (it doesn't need to be boiling).

The gravy was added to the pan and the sausages were stirred around. Cook for another twenty-five minutes under glass, moving the sausages around occasionally.

Served with a dressing of freshly ground black pepper.

Roast Pork Casoulet, with Smoked Paprika

Roast pork from the freezer, cooked in a tomato and red wine sauce for an hour. Plus diced spring onion, and a white onion.

The wine was an Artusi Merlot, which is both delicious and cheap.

 I added a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.  I also added pork stock, plus the herbs sage and tarragon.

I added potatoes and strips of yellow pepper. Plus the herbs oregano and basil, plus a quarter teaspoonful of smoked paprika. Cooked for an hour before serving, and dressed in dried coriander.

Beef Chilli, with Grated Cheese

A beef chilli, with red kidney beans, onions, tomatoes,garlic, and beef stock,  served with grated Galloway cheese. That works really well. Galloway cheese is slightly more mild than the standard Cheddar cheese, but either will do for this dish.

Served with a crunchy side salad of lettuce and other vegetables. Dressed with dried coriander leaf. Plus a lot of freshly ground black pepper.  Delicious!

Pork Tagine, with Apricots, Mushrooms and Moroccan Spices

Normally a dish like this would be based on chicken or lamb, but it works pretty well with roast pork also.

I shredded the pork, and fried it in sunflower oil along with julienned onion, and diced mushrooms. Cooked for about half an hour at a medium heat (stir occasionally). Then I added water, tomato puree (just a dash), and the Ras El Hanout spices (two teaspoonfuls). Plus the diced apricots (I used semidried apricots from Sainsbury's).

Simmered under glass for two and a half hours. After which I added some coriander leaf.

Served on a bed of rice, or couscous. Fabulously tender, and delicious!

Roast Pork Stew, in a Red Wine Sauce

Roast pork from the freezer, cooked in a tomato and red wine sauce for an hour. Plus diced spring onion, and half a white onion.

The wine was an Artusi Merlot, which is both delicious and cheap.

 I added a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.  I also added pork stock, plus the herbs sage and tarragon. A simple and delicious dish.

Serve with potatoes, pasta, or rice if you prefer. Served in this case just as it is.

Beef Burgers, with Coriander and Potato

The beef burgers were made with 250g of minced beef (5% fat), one and a half white onions, diced, one dessert spoonful of spelt flour, one egg, a shake or two of black pepper, some salt, and a diced handful of fresh coriander.

Mixed together by hand, along with a drizzle of olive oil. Take at least ten minutes over this, which improves the result. Shape into burger-shaped patties, and place in a roasting dish coated with a wipe of olive oil. You should get about four burgers from the ingredients.

Cook for one hour on the middle shelf of the oven at 180 deg C (check progress by eye, and by thermometer).

Serve with boiled potatoes, and a dusting of freshly ground black pepper, plus American mustard. Garnish with sprigs of coriander.

Torunska Sausage with Coriander and Potatoes

A simple breakfast dish made with thinly sliced Torun sausage (aka Copernicus sausage), cooked in its own fat (start at a high heat and then turn it right down). Fifteen minutes should be enough. Turn the slices in the pan occasionally. I added some diced cherry tomatoes, and chopped fresh coriander (this time I used a pizza cutter rather than a knife, and it worked really well).

The potatoes and the spring onion were cooked in a pan of water for seventeen minutes at the same time. Then they were fished out with a slatted spoon and added to the skillet pan.

Stir-fried at a medium heat for another five to seven minutes. Serve with coriander leaf and American mustard, plus freshly ground black pepper.

Pear and Apple Crumble

Two cored and diced apples, and five cored and diced pears, stewed in a pan of boiling water for an hour and a half. After that the contents of the pan were gently mashed. The lid was removed, and the contents allowed to thicken (judge by eye).

Two dessert spoonfuls of demerara sugar were added to a bowl, along with three dessert spoonfuls of spelt flour. plus 70g of salted butter. All mixed together by kneading. This can take ten minutes or so.

Cooked in the middle of the oven at 180 deg c for between 40 and 50 minutes (again, judge by eye). Served in this case with a couple of spoonfuls of Greek yoghurt. Eat hot or cold.