Lamb Meatloaf in Chilli Sauce

A meatloaf made with minced lamb with 20% fat, so no oil was added to the bread tin in which I cooked the meatloaf. The vegetables were diced (Polish red pepper, Purple Onion) and added to a pyrex bowl along with half a cup of oats, and a third of a cup of Khorasan wheat. Mixed together by hand (about ten minutes work), and then forked into the bread tin, and levelled. Cooked for about half an hour at a medium to high heat (watch carefully by eye).

Served with chopped spinach and spring onions, and lightly fried button mushrooms. The chilli sauce for the meatloaf was cooked with chilli, garlic and tomato puree.
 

Beef Meatloaf and Parsnip Chips

Most meatloafs are made with pork, but it is possible to use ground beef as the basis of a meatloaf. Made with Khorasan wheat, Olive oil, Beef stock, Onion and herbs of your choice. Mixed in a glass bowl until it has the right texture for a meatloaf. Decanted into a flat roasting tray. 

Cooked in the oven for fifty minutes at 180 deg C on the middle shelf of the oven.

The parsnips were dressed in olive oil and then roasted for about twenty five minutes at the same temperature (check progress by eye!).

Salmon and Pollock Seafood Pie

A strightfowrard oven based meal.  A tray of fish pieces intended for a fish pie: I used the salmon and the pollock for this. Cooked on a base of julienned purple onion, in a wheat and milk sauce, dressed in fines herbes and vegetable stock. 

The fish base was covered in mashed and textured potato, mixed with salted butter, and cooked for at least an hour at 180 deg C on the middle shelf of the oven. Served with garden peas, cooked separately. 

As a Scot, I love fish food. It was a major part of our diet until recently. We've been favoured with ingredients and dishes from all over the world. I can live with all of it :-).

 

Pancakes with Banana and Maple Syrup

Simple pancakes, made with Khorasan wheat and two eggs, plus sunflower oil and (in this case), a little water. Beaten together and then the mixture is decanted into a hot omelette pan. The heat was turned down immediately, and the pancakes were cooked slowly, and turned once. 

Served with sliced bananas, and drizzled with maple syrup. 

Cumberland Sausage Stew, with Sweet Potato and Spring Onion

Chopped Cumberland (pork) sausages, with a vegetable stew of sweet potato, potato, carrot and spring onion, plus kamut grains, red chilli, chopped garlic, and cardamom seed. What is the best and tidiest way to get cardamom seeds out of cardamom pods? I use a metal garlic press.



The sausages had been cooked for an earlier meal, and came with a spring onion and vegetable stock gravy. They were added to the vegetable stew, which had been simmered for about forty five minutes. Chilli, garlic and cardamom seeds had been added, along with more vegetable stock, and two pinches of oregano and one of sage.

Cooked for at least twenty minutes before serving. Serve hot!

Turnip and Potato Soup

Essentially a delicious and warming winter soup, made with half a turnip (bought to accompany a haggis), a large handful of chopped curly kale (a form of cabbage), diced potato, and some grains of Kamut (wheat grains).

The ingredients were boiled for about an hour, and then lightly mashed. I added vegetable stock, some black pepper, and the herbs Rosemary and Thyme.

Serve with potato bread.

Pea and Ham Soup, with Kamut Grains

A traditional soup made with simple ingredients: freshly podded peas from Somerset, boiled in salted water. Cook for thirty minutes until soft, along with diced spring onion.

Add diced ham (almost any kind of ham will do) and vegetable stock. Add a handful of Kamut grains (adds flavour and acts as a thickener for the soup).

Simmer for at least half an hour before serving (an hour is good). The peas can be mashed, but the soup is fine without doing this.

Serve with black pepper. Good with buttered bread of any description.

Minimal Wheat Brown Bread

Made with Dove's Farm wheat-free brown bread flour, with 20 per cent of Khorasan wheat (Kamut), which is an ancient variety that is often ok for people with a wheat intolerance to eat. So this is not a wheat-free loaf, but eighty per cent of it is wheat-free.

Essentially the process is easiest if you use two glass bowls, one for the wet ingredients, and the other for the dry ones.

Weigh out 400g of the wheat-free brown bread flour and add to the dry bowl. Weigh out 100g of the Khorasan flour, and add to the bowl also. Add sugar (one dessert spoonful), and a teaspoonful of quick acting yeast. Blend together thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

Add 400g of whole milk to the wet bowl. Add one beaten egg, six dessert spoonfuls of olive oil, one dessert spoonful of vinegar, and blend together with a whisk.

Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet bowl, and stir together. When it gets stiff, use an electric blender the rest of the way. Beat the mixture for five minutes and allow it to rest for a while. Then beat the mixture for another five minutes.

Allow the dough to rest, and to begin to rise. Then decant the dough into a standard bread tin (silicon ones are the easiest to use), and allow the dough to rise to the desired level in a warm dry place.

Bake in the oven at 190 deg C for around 45 minutes (middle shelf), checking by eye frequently toward the end of the process.

Generally the bread will keep for around a fortnight in the fridge in an airtight container.

Lamb and Green Bean Soup

Lots of  Egyptian green beans in the kitchen. So I made a spicy lamb and green bean soup. No actual lamb in the fridge and freezer, so the lamb flavour came from stock. In addition to chopped green beans, the dish is made with tomato passata (about 200g),  two chopped onions, five carrots, one red chilli, a pinch of oregano, a pinch of basil, a small handful of Khorasan wheat (for flavour and thickening), a quarter cup of green mung beans (green lentils could be substituted), and freshly ground black pepper. 

Two days after making the soup I roasted a lamb leg joint in the oven, and so the last of the soup had some actual lamb in it, in addition to the lamb stock. 

Lamb and Green Bean Soup

Tomato and Celery Broth

Some bargain vegetables were bought in the local co-op on a Sunday afternoon, including salad tomatoes, carrots and leek. With celery from the fridge, I had the ingredients to make a tasty tomato and celery broth. 

Chop up one mid-sized leek, four sticks of celery, shred half a dozen salad tomatoes, and 750 grams of carrots.  Add to 2 litres of boiling water, and cook for half an hour. Add two ham stock cubes, and one vegetable stock cubes. Plus a teaspoonful of black pepper. I also added a handful of Khorasan wheat (Kamut), for flavour and thickening (adding that means this is not a wheat-free recipe). 

After the first period of cooking, mash the contents of the pot. Cook for another 45 minutes under glass at a low simmer. Add some shredded basil leaves, and cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes before serving. 

Tomato and Celery Broth

Spicy Chicken, Chive & Tomato Soup

Made with the remains of an arrabiata sauce and chopped and skinned roast chicken, along with the chicken jelly in the roasting dish (after removing the fat). I added two more chillies, two shredded vine tomatoes, and a handful of finely chopped fresh chives. Also a pinch of paprika, freshly sliced garlic, chicken stock, fresh basil, and a sprinkling of dried oregano. Plus a handful of khorasan wheat grains (skip this if you want a wheat-free soup). Simmer for 45 minutes.

Spicy Chicken, Chive & Tomato Soup

Red Pepper and Leek Soup

Thin slices of red pepper, some sliced green pepper, two small chopped leeks, one carrot, two shredded vine tomatoes, garlic, one third of a cup of khorasan wheat, paprika, a half-cup of tomato passata, black pepper, vegetable stock, chicken stock, dried sage, and dried oregano.  

Stir-fry the vegetables for twenty minutes at a moderate heat, then add water and the khorasan wheat. Simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally, Add the passata, and simmer for at least another half-hour. Add more water if necessary. Serve with a topping of finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and freshly ground black pepper. 

Red Pepper and Leek Soup