Smoked Haddock with Vegetables in a Cheese Sauce

A large fillet of haddock, smoked but undyed, poached in water in a flat lidded pan for twenty minutes. Starting at a high heat, and then reduced to the lowest heat when the water began to boil.

In another pan, the diced vegetables (parsnip, potato, carrot, spring onion) were boiled for twenty-five minutes.

While the vegetables were cooking, I prepared the cheese sauce.

I mixed whole milk (around 150 mls) and a dessert spoonful of cornmeal flour in a jug, plus some vegetable stock, and decanted the mixture (with a little butter) into a third pot, and stirred it until it began to thicken on the hob. I added the vegetables, and around 100g of cheddar cheese (thin slices), and stirred until the cheese had entirely melted.

Dress with freshly ground black pepper, and serve!

Aubergine Parmigiana

Aubergine, spring onion, mushroom and courgette with cheese (Parmagiano Reggiano and cheddar), served with a tomato, red pepper and garlic sauce.

The aubergine, the spring onion and the courgette were finely sliced and laid in an oven proof dish. The layer was overlaid with sliced mushroom, then a layer of thinly cut cheddar.

The Parmagiano was finely grated, and the surface was covered entirely. The oven proof dish was placed in an oven pre-heated to 190 deg C, and allowed to cook for 45 minutes.

The sauce was made with diced cherry tomatoes, some tomato puree (ketchup will do instead),  and half a diced red pepper. Also added were some basil and oregano, and one crushed clove of garlic. Dress with black pepper when served. An excellent dish!

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!

Baked Pasta Cheese with Chorizo Sausage

A variation on macaroni cheese, made with wheat-free pasta, chorizo sausage, spring onion and tomato, with Cheddar cheese.

I diced about 50g of chorizo, and fried it slowly in an omelette pan for about twenty minutes. The diced tomato was added, along with the spring onion. Cook in the fat from the chorizo for another fifteen minutes.

The stir-fry was decanted into a pyrex bowl. Once the pasta was prepared, it too was added, and stirred through.

Next I made the pasta sauce with cornmeal (use cornflour if you prefer a finer texture), milk and about 50g of grated cheddar. Heated in a saucepan (stirring almost constantly) until the cheese had melted, and the sauce had begun to thicken.

After that the saucepan was removed from the heat, and the sauce was decanted into the pyrex bowl, and stirred in thoroughly. Add white pepper.

Grate another 50g of cheddar and sprinkle on top. Preheat the oven to 190 deg C (about twenty minutes or so), and place on the middle shelf. It should be ready in 40 to 45 minutes, by which time the cheese topping should have begun to brown. Delicious!

Cheese, Pasta and Prosciutto Salad

Diced prosciutto crudo, served with wheat-free fusili, slices of cheddar cheese and spring onion.

The fusili was Sainsbury's own brand, which cooks pretty much like a wheat based fusili (ie, somewhere between nine and fourteen minutes). Cooked in salted water, with a little olive oil to prevent the pasta sticking together.

The dish has a really delicate flavour. No herbs, no chilli, no garlic. Served with a light dusting of black pepper.

Cheese and Apple Salad

A simple cheese and apple salad, served with green and purple lettuce leaves, and a creamy coleslaw.

I used Cheddar cheese, but German or Austrian smoked cheese would do just as well. I cut one Braeburn apple into slices after coring.

Dressed with some black pepper.

Bacon and Cheese Omelette

A simple but satisfying cheese omelette, made with spring onion, peas, green pepper and grilled cheddar cheese.

The diced bacon rashers were cooked first, until browned. The bacon was removed from the pan. Then the onion and green pepper were cooked in a lttle sunflower oil. When the onion began to brown, the peas were added, followed shortly by the bacon strips, and by the slightly salted (and herbed) two beaten eggs (with a little added water). Cooked for about five minutes on the hob at a low heat.

Rectangles of cheddar cheese were added to the top of the omelette, along with several dashes of Worcester sauce. The omelette was then put under the grill and cooked until all of the cheese had melted. It was kept near the front of the oven to avoid damage to the omelette pan handle, but it was turned to the left and right during the time the cheese took to cook (about ten to fifteen minutes, depending on the grill).

Served with a dusting of freshly ground black pepper.

Cottage Pie with Ground Beef Chilli

Chilli Con Carne, prepared in the guise of a cottage pie.

I used dried kidney beans, so they were soaked overnight, and cooked for twenty minutes the next morning, until soft.

I browned 500g of Scottish ground beef (minced beef) in some sunflower oil, for twenty minutes stirring frequently. After fifteen minutes I added diced red onion, and batoned carrot.

After the twenty minutes I added three quarters of a pint of boiling water, plus four green chillies (deseeded and diced), the garlic, the diced whole red pepper, and four squirts of tomato puree.

The dish was simmered for an hour under glass at a low heat. Then I mashed the carrots a little, and added diced mushrooms (in this case both white and chestnut varieties), and some shredded spinach leaves. At this point I added the kidney beans to the dish, and stirred them through. Simmered under glass for another hour. After which I added the beef and vegetable stock, plus generous pinches of basil and oregano. Simmered for another ten minutes or so.

Making the pie.

Allow the chilli to cool, and then add to a roasting dish. On top of the layer of chilli, add a thin layer of yoghurt, along with some grated cheddar cheese. Add an onion and potato mash on top of that, and more grated cheese. Texture the surface with a fork.

Cook the pie on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to around 190 deg C for fifty minutes or so. Check the pie every five minutes or so after half an hour in the oven to check progress.

Chicken Pasta Bake

A simple dish made in two parts. First the pasta was prepared in salted boiling water, but not cooked to the full extent. This is because the pasta will be the base of the bake, and will cook further once the other ingredients are added. Drain and allow to cool, and add evenly to the base of the roasting tray.

Stir fry the mushrooms and the onion for ten minutes at a medium heat, and then add a third of a pint of water. Add tomato puree and the chicken stock, and then the meat from two chicken  drumsticks. Stir together and cook for half an hour until the sauce is considerably reduced. You can add a mixture of water and cornmeal to thicken, it, or some onion gravy granules.

Add the chicken salsa to the roasting tray lined with pasta. Spread evenly. You can add the Cheddar cheese in grated form, or in thin rectangles, according to preference. Bake in the oven at around 190 deg C until the cheese has melted and has begun to brown. This could be anywhere between twenty minutes and forty minutes on the middle shelf in the oven. Watch it carefully, at least once every five minutes! Take it out when it looks right. Serve with freshly ground black pepper.

Tarragon Chicken, with a Garlic and Tomato Salsa

Normally Tarragon chicken has a white sauce, suffused with tarragon. But sometimes, as here, it is served with a garlic and tomato salsa.

Diced white onion stir-fried in a little olive oil, along with six diced cloves of garlic, cooked at a medium heat. Allow to brown a little before adding the plum tomatoes and the juice. Break up the tomatoes with a spatula or fish slice. Add the vegetable stock. Stir together thoroughly. Allow to simmer under glass for between 45 minutes and an hour.

Once cooled the salsa was added to a casserole dish, and a teaspoonful of dried tarragon was shaken across it.

The roast chicken was cooked a couple of days ago. I added two chicken breasts from the fridge (with skin) to the casserole dish, and added a dusting of sea-salt to the skin, rubbing it in a little. Place the dish in the bottom half of the oven, preheated to 190 deg. C, and cook for thirty minutes.

Decant the chicken onto a serving plate, and spoon the garlic and tomato salsa on top. . Serve as is, or with some grated cheddar cheese, parmigiano reggiano cheese, or just black pepper.

Also a great dish served with a further dusting of tarragon, and green beans.

Chicken Pasta Bake

A simple pasta bake with chicken, bacon, tomato and cheese.

First I fried some diced smoked bacon in some olive oil, at a medium heat, until it became a little crispy. I removed the bacon from the pan to a dish, and then added diced onion (two) and tomato (one 400g can) to the pot. I used a spatula to break up the integrity of the plum tomatoes, added a quarter of a pint of boiling water, and then allowed the sauce to simmer under glass, while I prepared the chicken.

I used two previously roasted chicken drumsticks from the fridge, and cut off the meat.. I then added a teaspoonful of sugar to the pan, plus a dessert spoonful of vinegar. I'd saved some of the jelly from the previous chicken roast (the fat drained off beforehand), and added that along with some chicken stock.

 Stir together thoroughly, then add the chicken and the bacon. Again, stir in thoroughly.  Add a fresh and diced red chilli, and some lemon juice. Add 50g of grated cheese, and melt it into the sauce. Allow to simmer under glass at a low heat for 40 minutes or so. Add 100g of dried wheat free pasta, and cook for another fifteen minutes.

Decant into a tray or dish, and cover in 75g of grated or thinly sliced cheddar cheese. Cook in the oven at 180 deg C until browned (somewhere between fifteen and twenty five minutes, but watch it carefully)

Serve piping hot!

Cauliflower Cheese

A gorgeous dish of cauliflower cheese, with red and white onion, tomato, cornmeal, and cheddar cheese.

I cooked the cauliflower and the diced onion first, for about fifteen minutes, in a pan of water brought to the boil, and then turned down to a simmer. A little turmeric was added, turning the cauliflower yellow.

I mixed three dessert spoonfuls of cornmeal into about 200mls of milk and stirred until thoroughly mixed.

The mixture was added to the pan containing the vegetables.and stirred in for two minutes, until the sauce began to thicken. The cheddar, thinly sliced (about 150g), was stirred into the sauce until entirely melted.

I shredded a salad tomato, and stirred it in. Also added some vegetable stock. Left to simmer on the hob at the lowest heat under glass.

After twenty minutes I decanted the contents of the pan into a medium sized casserole dish. About 150g of cheddar was finely grated, and spread over the top, pinch by pinch. Then the casserole dish was placed in an oven preheated to 190 deg C, on the middle shelf. Cooked for an hour uncovered. Check every fifteen minutes to see how it is doing.

Baked Potato with Ground Beef Chilli

Maris Piper baked potato, with a ground beef chilli, made with leek, red kidney beans, chilli, and basil. Plus grated cheddar cheese.

The potato was partially cut in two, and with a v-aped wedge in the middle. Brushed with sunflower oil, and then cooked in the oven at 190 deg C for an hour, wrapped in tin foil.

The ground beef was prepared first - cooked in sunflower oil for twenty minutes to half an hour, until browned. Then the (chopped) leek was added. After ten minutes, add boiling water, tomato puree, kidney beans, chopped basil, vegetable stock, and five topped finger chillies. Cook under glass for another 90 minutes.

Mix grated cheddar with black pepper, and chopped basil. Spoon the ground beef chilli into the groove of the potato. Add the grated cheese on top. Allow to stand for a couple of minutes. Garnish the dish with sprigs of basil, and serve.

Smoked Haddock in a Cheese Sauce, with diced Spring Onion

A simple and delicious dish of smoked haddock and a cheese sauce with diced spring onion (chives would do as an alternative).

Make up a mixture of cornflour and milk, and boil until it begins to thicken. Add grated Cheddar cheese, or two spoonfuls of cream cheese, and the diced spring onion. Allow to cool and set.

Roll the haddock and secure in place with a wooden or metal skewer. Spoon the set cheese and spring onion sauce into the rolled haddock, and place in a small metal roasting tray.

Cook on the middle shelf of a preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes at 190 deg C. Watch the fish carefully in the last five minutes.

Decant to a serving plate, and spoon the liquid sauce over the fish.  Serve with flat-cut boiled potatoes, cooked with a little salt. Utterly delicious!

Macaroni Cheese with Cauliflower, Parsnips and Tomato

My own variation on Macaroni cheese. Made with chopped cauliflower, parsnip and onion, boiled and drained. Two thinly sliced salad tomatoes, a teaspoonful of paprika, white pepper, a dessert spoonful of cornmeal, blue Stilton cheese (100g), and Cheddar cheese (150g). And two handfuls of dried macaroni.

Unlike most recipes for Macaroni cheese, this one does not involve any milk (though you can add some if you like).

Boil and drain the vegetables. Make a sauce with the cornmeal and some water (about 200 mls - beat until there are no lumps in the mixture). Boil until the sauce thickens, then add the crumbled blue Stilton cheese, and some white pepper. Stir frequently until all the cheese has dissolved, and allow to cool. Boil the macaroni for ten minutes, drain, and allow to cool also.

 Mix together in a pyrex bowl (the dish is going into the oven at around 190 deg. C) the vegetables, the macaroni, and the cheese sauce. Slice the tomato, and grate the cheddar cheese. Lay the tomato slices over the top until the surface is covered completely.  Mix in the teaspoonful of paprika with the grated cheddar. Spoon the cheese and paprika mixture over the top of the layer of tomato, until it is completely covered.

Put the bowl (uncovered) into a preheated oven at 190 deg. C, and cook for one hour, until the cheese is melted and beautifully browned. Serve with a large spoon. Fabulous dish!

Cod, Haddock and Salmon Pie, with Sweet Potato

A simple fish pie made with potato, sweet potato, red onion, shelled peas, cornmeal, salmon, haddock, cod, Cheddar cheese, white pepper, salt, and turmeric.

The pack of fish pieces was bought from a supermarket, and was first steamed for fifteen minutes, while I stirfried the sliced red onion, and boiled the potato and sweet potato chunks until soft.

The sauce was made with four dessert spoonfuls of Greek style yoghurt (instead of the more usual milk), plus two heaped teaspoonfuls of cornmeal (instead of the more usual cornflour). Add water. Stir the ingredients together, and bring to the boil. Add a quarter teaspoonful of Dijon mustard, and a quarter teaspoonful of black pepper. Add two pinches of salt. Add a quarter teaspoonful of turmeric powder. Stir together. Finally, add about 80g of medium strength cheddar cheese, sliced into squares. Stir together until the cheese has dissolved into the sauce. Turn down the heat, and allow to simmer for ten minutes, stirring regularly.

The sauce was allowed to cool, and then half of it was added to the small casserole dish chosen for the pie. I added the fish pieces, the onion, and about 100g of shelled peas. I added a layer of grated cheese to the casserole dish.

When the potato and sweet potato had cooled after being drained, the pieces were mashed together in a glass bowl. The mash was added on top of the layer of grated cheese and grooved with a fork.

Cook in a preheated oven for fifty minutes at between 180-90 deg C. Serve with three dessert spoonfuls of the cheese sauce.

Smoked Haddock in a Cheese and Pepper Sauce

Pan fried angel cut smoked haddock (uncoloured), with traditional cut runner beans, and a cheese sauce.

The sauce was prepared first, with four dessert spoonfuls of Greek style yoghurt (instead of the more usual milk), plus two heaped teaspoonfuls of cornmeal (instead of the more usual cornflour). Add water. Stir the ingredients together, and bring to the boil. Add a quarter teaspoonful of Dijon mustard, and a quarter teaspoonful of black pepper. Add two pinches of salt. Add a quarter teaspoonful of turmeric powder. Stir together. Finally, add about 80g of medium strength cheddar cheese, sliced into squares. Stir together until the cheese has dissolved into the sauce. Turn down the heat, and allow to simmer for ten minutes, stirring regularly.

Drizzle a flat non-stick pan with some sunflower oil, and heat it untl the oil is hot. Add the haddock fillet, and cook for seven minutes, turning once (carefully!) after three and a half minutes. Turn down the heat, and allow the cooking to take place mostly under glass.

The runner beans were cooked in a small pot in water. They should be cooked for around seven minutes in boiling water.

Decant the fish to the serving plate first, then drizzle it with a little of the sauce (the instructions above are for a sauce which will accompany several meals). Add the runner beans with a slatted spoon so that they are drained.

Truly delicious! The combination of smoked fish with a cheese sauce is rarely bettered!

Pork Sausage with Shredded Brussels Sprouts and Sage

An Italian style dish. Pork sausage pieces with shredded or shaved Brussel's sprouts, sage and garlic, topped with a little grated cheese.

Cut four pork sausages into between six and eight pieces each. Add to a pan of hot olive oil, and cook until evenly browned (about fifteen minutes or so, partly under glass at a medium heat). Turn the pieces occasionally.

Shred about fourteen Brussel's sprouts and add to a bowl. Add three crushed or chopped garlic cloves to the bowl. Heat a second pot drizzled with a thin layer of olive oil. Add the sprouts and the crushed garlic and stir frequently. Allow the sprouts and garlic to brown slightly, and then add about two tablespoonfuls of boiling water. Add half a teaspoonful of dried sage. Continue to stir. Turn the heat down when most of the water has evaporated (five to seven minutes depending on the heat).

Decant the shredded sprouts to a pasta bowl. Add the sausage pieces and stir together. Add about thirty grammes of finely grated cheddar cheese. Parmigiano Reggiano is another option.

One of the best dishes I've enjoyed! Cooked this way the strong flavour of the sprouts is considerably muted. Sometimes served also with some pasta.

Pasta Bake with Cauliflower and Tomato

Cut off the leaves from a whole head of cauliflower. Cut the florets into smaller chunks, and place in a pyrex (ovenproof) bowl. Shred two salad tomatoes, and add to the bowl.

Cook penne pasta in a separate pan for 8 or 9 minutes, and drain.

Preheat the oven to around 190 or 200 deg. C.

Make a white cheese sauce with cornflour, milk, Greek yoghurt, and a little water. Add 150 grams of medium strength cheddar cheese, thinly sliced. Stir frequently at a medium heat until the sauce thickens. Add half a teaspoonful of white pepper.

Grate about 75 grams of the cheddar. Add the cheese sauce to the cauliflower and tomato, and also add the pasta. Stir together with some vegetable stock. Dress the surface of the dish evenly with the grated cheddar.

Put the bowl on a shelf in the middle of the oven, and cook for at least 45 minutes. Watch the contents carefully, and don't allow the grated cheese to overcook. Turn the heat down if necessary, and extend the cooking time (not necessary in this example).

A very satisfying dish. It takes about thirty minutes to prepare, apart from the cooking time, but it is well worth it for the result!

Spaghetti with Garlic, Smoked Paprika, and Cheddar

Some excellent Italian made durum wheat pasta from the coop, in airtight bags, and at a bargain price. Very definitely not wheat free however (we shall see how it goes). Cooked in boiling water for five minutes before serving.

About an hour beforehand I began a tomato based sauce, with chopped  tomatoes, chopped onion, and chopped (mild) padron Spanish peppers (eight, half of which I deseeded). Cooked for forty five minutes under glass until the onion begins to dissolve. Added a teaspoonful of smoked paprika, and two pinches of dried basil. Plus a little salt.

Cooked for a further twenty minutes at a low simmer under glass. Add a further half teaspoonful of smoked paprika, and stir.

The spaghetti was cooked in the last seven minutes, drained, and decanted into a pasta bowl. Add the sauce to the spaghetti, and add about 30g of grated cheddar cheese. Serve with freshly ground black pepper. Delicious!