Smoked Bacon, Beans and Chestnut Mushrooms

 A great weekend breakfast of smoked bacon, fried chestnut mushrooms, and baked beans. The bacon and diced mushrooms were cooked in the same skillet, half the time under glass at a medium heat, for just over twenty minutes. With a little olive oil. The bacon was turned a couple of times. Served with some ground white pepper. 

Ham and Mushroom Omelette

A basic pan-fried omelette, with mushrooms, green pepper, diced green beans, and cured ham (any variety of ham will do in fact). First the ham was cooked slowly in a little olive oil along with the mushrooms and the diced pepper and beans.

The egg (plus a little water) was added, and the omelette was cooked slowly under glass (along with a little tarragon) until it was ready.
 

Spicy Beef and Mushroom Stew,

 Minced beef (ground beef) browned for about twenty five minutes, before water and beef stock was added. Plus diced purple onion, haricot beans (pre-soaked), button mushrooms, Madras curry powder, tomato puree, and red chilli. 

Served with pre-prepared potato.

Ras el Hanout Beef and Bean Curry with diced Garlic

Beef and Bean curry with Ras el Hanout seasoning and diced garlic. Based on an earlier meal with well tenderised beef. 

The beef was cooked with diced leek. Served here with additional spring onions, plus Oregano.

 

Hash Browns, Bacon and Beans

Great bacon breakfast with hash browns, and three strips of smoked bacon. The hash browns were cooked slowly in a skillet, as was the bacon. Dressed in black pepper on serving. The hash browns took about twenty minutes as a low heat, and so did the bacon (in a separate pan). If you prefer your bacon crispy, you need a higher heat. 

 

Tandoori Masala Bean Curry

A bean curry with fried diced potato and half of a red pepper. The simplest way to make this curry is to start with half a tin of baked beans, and add a dessert spoonful of Tandoori Masala powder. Stir thoroughly, and cook at a medium heat. 

The potato pieces and the diced red pepper were fried separately in sunflower oil under glass for twenty minutes, also at a medium heat. 

 

Oregon Trail Style Pork and Beans

Roast pork from a joint cooked on the middle shelf of an oven at 180 deg C for two hours (1.5kg). Allowed to cool, and then drained of liquid pork fat. Stored overnight in the fridge, and cut into pieces the next day. The crackling was removed with a sharp knife, and the solid pork fat was also removed from the pork pieces. 

Some of the pork pieces were cooked in a medium sized pan in a drizzle of olive oil for twenty-five minutes at a low heat, along with strips of orange pepper, which adds some sweetness to the dish. Then I added a couple of desert spoonfuls of water, and a squirt of tomato puree, plus some freshly ground black pepper. Stirred together and heated under glass until most of the liquid had evaporated. Then I added half a 400g can of standard baked beans in tomato sauce. Stir together. 

Serve once the beans are thoroughly heated. Delicious!

 

Corned Beef and Baked Beans

A simple dish made with corned beef, red onion, red peppers and haricot beans. Pretty fabulous in its simplicity.

The potatoes were prepared first, after boiling for twenty minutes.. The onions were also cooked first until they became transparent along with the red peppers. .

Then the corned beef and the baked beans were cooked together for around seven miutes. A delicious and easy to prepare meal.

Black Pudding, Beans, and Chestnut Mushrooms

A simple dish of black pudding, chestnut mushrooms, white onion, and baked beans (from Sainsbury's).

I coated a flat pan with a little butter, and added the black pudding, the onion and the mushrooms. Cooked at a high heat at the beginning, then reduced to low heat, for twenty minutes, mostly under glass. The heat was increased and the lid removed for a final five minutes.

The beans were heated in a small pan at a low heat, so that they were ready at the same time as the black pudding. The beans were dressed with a little black pepper.

Chorizo, Onion and Baked Bean Breakfast

I chopped up a quarter of a chorizo ring, and fried the sausage in an omelette pan, along with a rasher of smoked bacon. No oil was required because of the oil which came from the chorizo.

Once hot, I added a julienned red onion, and turned down the heat after a couple of minutes. Cooked slowly for ten to fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion became semi-transparent.

The beans were fridge leftovers, and were heated in a separate small pan. Once ready, they were decanted onto a slice of wheat-free toast (not buttered in this case). Quick to prepare, and easy.

Lorne Sausage Breakfast

Normally I prepare scrambled egg on buttered toast (wheat-free) when I want a cooked breakfast. But sometimes you want something more calorific.

Two slices of lorne sausage, cooked slowly under glass for 17 minutes altogether, and turned twice. Plus a bread pudding with raisins, and a slice of black pudding (with no cinammon), cooked for the same length of time, and turned once.

The quartered cherry tomatoes and the mushrooms were cooked in a small knob of butter, in a small lidded pan, for about twelve minutes. The beans came out of a tin, because making them from scratch is an interesting thing to learn, but a pain to do.

Serve with freshly ground black pepper!

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.

Pork and Beans, with Hash Browns

Something comforting from the Oregon Trail. The pork came from an oven roast made a couple of days ago, and the strips of meat were steamed for twenty minutes. The heat was turned down, and 200g of baked beans were added to the bowl in the steamer. Stirred together thoroughly.

The hash browns were made with fresh slices of raw and semi-skinned potato, cooked in a little sunflower oil in a skillet - first at a high heat, and then turned down close to low. This way the potatoes brown, but do not burn. Turned once. Cooked altogether for twenty minutes, mostly under glass.

Once the hash browns are properly cooked, decant to a serving plate, along with the pork and beans, and dress with freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of basil.

Pork Sausage wrapped in Bacon, with Spicy French Fries

I picked up a bargain pack of 'pigs in blankets' at Sainsbury's. Often served as a component of Christmas lunch, they are just as delicious as the main part of a meal.

I made the French fries first, dicing one large potato. The chipped potato was doused in a bowl containing about one dessert spoonful of a mixture of sunflower oil, tomato ketchup, vinegar, chilli powder, paprika, salt, black pepper, and coriander. Mixed together thoroughly and allowed to stand for fifteen or twenty minutes, with occasional further stir-throughs.

Coat a roasting tray with sunflower oil, and place the chips evenly across the surface. Place on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to 190 deg C. Cook for between 35 and forty minutes, turning the chips halfway through.

The sausages were cooked for about sixteen or seventeen minutes in an oiled roasting tray on the middle shelf, also at 190 deg C (watch them closely and judge their readiness by eye). You can put the sausages into the oven with the chips about twenty minutes before the chips are ready, so they are both piping hot at the same time. If the shelf isn't big enough for two roasting trays, transfer the tray of chips to the base of the oven.

Served with half a can of Aldi brand baked beans, dressed in a dusting of coriander leaf and black pepper. Delicious!

Pan-fried Coley Fillet

Fresh north Atlantic Coley fillet, which is a relative of Cod, bought from Morrisons.  Cooked slowly in a large flat non-stick pan, with either a little butter, or sunflower oil.

Cooked at a low heat, five minutes each side in a preheated pan. The fillet was quite thick, otherwise a shorter cooking time would be possible. I also cooked it under glass for the last five minutes, to make sure it was cooked all through, which is something you can determine by eye.

The fish flesh is so delicate it is difficult to get it out of the pan without it beginning to flake. A delicious fish, with very few bones, if the fillet is cut correctly (this one was). Served with boiled potatoes, steamed green beans, and freshly ground black pepper.

The flavour is very like Cod. The difference is that the Coley flesh is grey until it is cooked, when it turns white. People preferred in the past to have white fish flesh from the start, and so for a long time Coley was a favourite for feeding cats.

Can also be poached in milk.

Apricot and Chestnut Mushroom Curry

A delicious apricot and mushroom curry, which can also be served as a dressing for chicken pieces.

The ingredients are: three fresh apricots, basmati rice, haricot beans, cashew nuts, red chilli, grated coconut, single cream, cumin, cumin seed,  garam massala, garlic, root ginger, onion, Californian raisins,  turmeric, vegetable stock, and yellow pepper,

A dish such as this would normally be made with dried apricots, but diced fresh apricot works just as well, particulary when paired by raisins, which add sweetness. Destone the apricots, and chop finely. Chop the onion (two small), the chestnut mushrooms (two), and half a yellow pepper. Stir fry in sunflower oil at a high heat until the onion begins to brown.

Add deseeded chilli, root ginger, and three crushed cloves of garlic.Turn the heat down to medium and stir-fry for another three or four minutes. then add boiling water to the pan. Add the haricot beans (half a tin of baked beans will do just fine), a handful of cashew nuts, another handful of the raisins.

Add the spices - a teaspoonful of turmeric, half a teaspoonful each of garam massala and cumin, and a pinch of cumin seed. Simmer for forty-five minutes to an hour at a low heat under glass.

Finally, add a generous cupful of single cream, and a dessert spoonful of ground coconut, and stir together. Simmer for ten minutes, and serve with white basmati rice.