Blueberries, Mixed Nuts, and Yoghurt Fruit Salad

A couple of scoops of fresh blueberries from the fridge, plus mixed fruit and nuts sourced from the local co-op. Served with three dessert spoonfuls of Greek yoghurt. Prepared in 90 seconds. A breakfast that will keep you going all day. Delicious!

 

Unsmoked Gammon Joint

A bargain 1.4 kg gammon joint from Sainsbury's over Christmas. Oven roasted in a casserole dish with Spanish onion and diced carrots, and a drizzle of Olive oil.

Cooked for two hours altogether, on the middle shelf of the oven, at 190 deg. C. Take off the lid of the casserole dish for the last thirty minutes. A glorious smell in the kitchen!

Leave the joint to cool for an hour or two before carving with an electric knife.

Served with - in addition to the onion and carrots -  boiled potatoes,  cooked with coriander seeds. Also well served with Brocolli spears.

Peach, Date, and Almond Fruit Salad

One flat peach, diced, with stoned and diced dates (Deglet Nour), and a small handful of whole almonds.

Serve with double cream, and a small sprinkling of nutmeg. A delicious and simple fruit salad!

Apricot, Date and Almond Salad

An incredibly simple and satisfying fruit salad, with apricots, dates and almonds.

I used semi-dried apricots rather than fresh, which I soaked in water overnight. This version of the dish is sweeter than what you get if you use fresh apricots.

In the morning I halved the apricots, and diced the dates (be sure to stone the dates if you haven't bought them pre-stoned). I kept the juice from the apricots, and fortified it with a shot-glass full of Scotch whisky (Bourbon will do fine instead!).

I added whole almond kernels, without crushing them, and put the fruit and nuts in the fridge for three hours.

Serve with yoghurt dressed in a little nutmeg or mixed spice.

Banana, Date and Almond Fruit Salad

A gorgeous and simple fruit salad made with chopped banana, stoned dates, and a handful of whole almonds.

Topped with three or four dessert spoonfuls of plain yoghurt, and dressed with a sprinkling of ground nutmeg. An excellent breakfast dish.

Almond Lamb, with Ginger, Dates, and Cinammon

Lamb mince browned for half an hour in its own fat. Sliced Spanish onion was added and stirred in to the mince for ten minutes. Boiling water was added, and then about 200g of tomato passata. Other ingredients were then added - freshly ground almonds (two handfuls), sliced ginger, garlic, three finger chillies, half a dozen stoned and chopped dates, sliced sugar snap peas, a whole sliced yellow pepper, ground black pepper, lamb and vegetable stock, a pinch of oregano, and a cinammon stick.

The temperature was reduced, and the dish was left to simmer under glass for another ninety minutes. Served with basmati rice. Don't forget to remove the cinammon stick before serving!

 Almond Lamb, with Ginger, Dates, and Cinammon

Lamb with Cashews and Ginger

Some bargain sell-by date lamb mince prompted this excursion into north african style cooking. I browned the mince for about half an hour with a little sunflower oil. after fifteen minutes I began to add rough-cut chunks of carrot, spring onion, tomato, chopped root ginger, three chillies, stoned and chopped dates, and some garlic. The whole dish was then allowed to slow cook in a saute pan for another ninety minutes. Then some chopped tinned tomato was added, along with two handfuls of unsalted cashew nuts, paprika, and lamb stock. The pan was left to simmer for another thirty to forty minutes. 

Ground almonds could be used in place of the cashews, along with a little cinnamon, and chickpeas. 

Lamb with Cashews and Ginger