Thick Chicken and Leek Soup

 One whole leek was diced and fried at a medium heat, along with a chopped carrot for about twenty five minutes. While that was going on I diced a whole chicken breast. 

The vegetable and chicken components were added to another pan, along with about three quarters of a pint of water and a chicken stock cube, broken into four. Simmered under glass for an hour, after which the soup was blitzed with a moulinex blender for about five minutes. 

I added the chives, a teaspoonful of paprika, a large pinch of ground coriander, a pinch of sage, and some black pepper. Stirred together, and allowed to simmer for another twenty minutes. Delicious!

Chicken Torunska

 Another simple dish, made with diced torunska sausage and chicken, plus carrot and leek. Fried, and then I added water and tomato puree. Cooked for half an hour. The sweet potato wedges were cooked in a lidded casserole dish, after being soused in some vinegar, paprika, rosemary and basil. Plus a little black pepper. For about forty minutes (watch by eye).

Leek and Streaky Bacon Soup

 I made this with some streaky bacon, fried at a medium heat for about ten minutes. Streaky bacon is hard to cut even with a sharp knife (lots of fat) , so you might want to chop it into pieces with kitchen scissors instead. Add a little cooking oil. 

Then I added diced leek, cut into circles, and stir fried under glass for about twenty-five minutes, with a little salt. While that combination was cooking, I grated a medium sized carrot. I added that to the mix, and added boiling water. Cooked under glass at a low heat for about an hour and a half. Stir occasionally. Then I added a half a pork stock cube, and a little paprika. Fabulous soup!

Beef Chilli with Butternut Squash and Leek

A hot beef chilli, simmered for two hours on the hob. Completely delicious! But I have to say that the amount of effort involved in preparing the butternut squash was out of all proportion to its contribution to the flavour of the dish. It may be a nutritious vegetable, but it has no particular taste of its own. I will be giving it a miss in future.
 

Wheat Free Chorizo!

Unbelievable find in the local Co-op. Gluten and Lactose free Chorizo! Tastes just the same. Excellent! So this is a wheat-free and lactose free tapas snack, lurking on a bottom shelf. Served with some diced leek and chopped green beans. Delicious!
 

Smoked Pork and Leek Soup

Some smoked pork trimmings in the fridge needed to be used, so I put together this soup. The soup base is essentially half a courgette (diced), one medium sized leek cut into wheels, and one carrot (grated with a rotary grater). Plus a diced handful of fresh coriander, salt, and some ham (or pork) stock. The vegetables were first fried in some rape seed oil (ten minutes at a medium heat).

I added a generous amount of boiling water (about one pint).

I diced about 200g of the pork trimmings and added them to the pot about half an hour later. Cooked at a medium heat under glass for at least 90 minutes.

Completely delicious!
 

Stuffed Red Pepper, with Minced Beef and Chickpeas

 I diced Polish red peppers and cooked them with the leek and the carrots and the chickpeas for about 25 minutes. Then I added the minced beef, and oven roasted the whole assemblage of red pepper and the minced beef for another forty-five minutes under glass at a low to medium heat (stir frequently!). I added half a dozen bay leaves.

Remove the bay leaves as you find them. Serve with a baby leaf salad or Spinach leaves.  

Minced beef, with Spaghetti

 A jar of Polish preserved red peppers had been sitting at the back of a cupboard for a while, and I decided to open it. I diced the peppers and cooked them with the leek and the carrots and the chickpeas for about 25 minutes. Then I added the minced beef, and cooked the whole assemblage for another forty-five minutes under glass at a low to medium heat (stir frequently!). I added water a couple of times, plus half a dozen bay leaves. 

Served with Italian made wheat free spaghetti (Sainsbury's) and black pepper (remove the bay leaves). 

Creamed Chicken and Leek Soup

 Wonderful soup, made with diced leek cooked in rape seed oil for twenty minutes, and half a breast of chicken, diced into small pieces. Cooked in milk and vegetable stock, and then I added single cream to the dish. Cooked for an hour. Delicious!

Beef Chilli with baby leeks

Basmati rice cooked slowly in a flat pan with a quarter teaspoonful of turmeric.

The Ground beef was cooked for forty five minutes along with the vegetables, and then water, the vegetable stock, and the paprika was added, and cooked for another hour slowly under glass. Fabulously tender.
 

Pork and Leek Stew, with Red Peppers

Stir fried diced leek, cooked until it began to brown a little, then boiling water was added. The pot was covered and simmered gently for an hour and a half.  Add two red chillies. The pork stock and herbs were added ten minutes before serving.

The pork loin steak was diced and stir fried in a separate pan until the pieces began to brown. Then the pork pieces were added to the leek sauce and stirred through. The diced red pepper was added after an hour and also stirred through. 

Served with boiled basmati rice. 
 

Pork Shoulder Steak, with a Leek and Coriander Sauce

 The shoulder steak was slow cooked in a skillet (medium to low heat) for 45 minutes, and turned once. I used olive oil as the cooking medium, but sunflower oil would do just as well. 

The leek was also slow cooked in olive oil before water was added to the sauce, along with vegetable stock, a squirt of tomato puree, grated carrot, diced fresh coriander, plus a shake of dried tarragon. Cooked the previous day.

Delicious and tender!

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.

 

Minced Beef and Leek, with Grilled Parsnip Chips

The beef was browned for about seventy minutes before water and vegetable stock were added. Plus diced leek. Cooked under glass for another two hours until really tender. 

Half a large parsnip was diced, and then divided into chips. Grilled until browned (watch by eye!), for about twenty-five minutes, after being drizzled in sunflower oil and turned with a wooden spoon to ensure an even coverage. A simple dish, but delicious! 

 

Creamed Ham, Leek and Tomato Soup

Soup made with diced cherry tomatoes, tomato puree, diced leek and diced turnip, plus vegetable and ham stock, plus tomato puree. Cooked for seventy minutes at a low heat under glass. After that I added diced garlic and deseeded red chilli. Plus paprika, oregano, and black pepper. The diced ham went in last, with some red wine and single cream. 

 

Pea and Ham Soup

A pea and ham soup made with some surplus breaded Wiltshire ham. The base of the soup was made with diced turnip, potato, diced leek, and whole yellow peas. Plus ham stock. 

The vegetables were cooked first, for about seventy minutes, after which they were mashed. A pinch of paprika was added, along with a little rosemary. The diced ham was then added, and cooked for another twenty five minutes under glass. Added black pepper. 

Serve as is, or with a bread of your choice. 

 

Leek Burgers, with Piccolo Tomatoes and Mayonnaise

I made half a dozen of these leek burgers from scratch, with a slightly different process from before. I added two dessert spoonfuls of spelt flour to a large glass bowl, and then added the 500g of minced beef. I had some diced leek in a pan of boiling water on the stove, with the intention of cooking the leek until soft. 

I mixed the ground beef the drizzle of olive oil, and the spelt flour together thoroughly by hand. Do this for ten minutes, and you will get a good texture, much finer than when you cook mince on the stove. I added the egg and the softened leek (after being allowed to cool) And repeated the kneading process for ten minutes. 

I decanted the mixture into a pastry cutter sitting in a glass roasting tray, and repeated the process, and  ended up with six equal-sized beef patties. No need to shape by hand. 

Cooked at 180 deg C on the middle shelf of the oven for at least twenty-five minutes (check progress by eye always!). When  browned and cooked, remove from the oven, and allow to cool on the hob or on a trivet under cover. 

Served with a couple of dessert spoonfuls of mayonnaise, some halved piccolo tomatoes, all dusted with a large pinch of dried coriander leaf. 

 

Winter Vegetable soup

A simple winter vegetable soup based on a bag of soup ingredients on sale in the local co-op. I added the turnip, the stock, and the herbs. We got through a lot of winters on the basis of this sort of soup. Easy to make, and the kitchen smells great while it is on the hob. Basically cabbage, celery, leek, turnp, carrot, plus herbs and vegetable stock. And some (optional) cumin seeds. 

 

Ham Hock with Peppers, Spinach and Rice

The first dish I made with the ham hock was a soup. Once it had cooled in the pan, I removed most of the fat from the suface, and spooned out some of the meat and vegetables (peas, leek and carrot). I added them to a flat pan with some lightly fried red and orange pepper strips, cooked in olive oil. Then I added two handfuls of undiced spinach leaves. Plus two squirts of tomato puree, and 200 mls of boiling water. 

The dish was allowed to simmer under glass for half an hour, after which the spinach shrivels (as it does). 

Served with basmati rice cooked in slightly salted water, and a little sage mixed through.

 

Ham Hock soup, with Leek and Peas

Ham hock soup, with leeks and garden peas. Utterly delicious. The ham was cooked for an hour and a half in water, and then I added a diced leek. Cooked for another hour, and then I added half a can of garden peas. Cooked for another forty-five minutes. No added salt, no added spices, no added stock. Just delicious as it is!