Bacon and Cucumber, Red Onion and a Potato and Carrot Salad Mash

 A strip of fried streaky bacon, plus spiralised cucumber, potato and carrot mash prepared with an ice-cream scoop, and some sliced purple onion. Dressed in French's American mustard. 

Cheese Omelette

 A simple cheese omelette, which I haven't made for some time. Two beaten eggs and a little water and salt, cooked in the oven in a 100% metal and ceramic skillet until nearly done, then I added the chopped cheddar cheese and watched until the omelette was ready. Slipped out onto the plate. Dressed in American mustard (any other kind will do).

Ham salad with Red Pepper

 Rolled breaded ham dressed in American mustard. Served with a diced pointed red pepper, diced baby plum tomato, and a poached egg. The red pepper was dressed in a little dried coriander. Ten minutes, start to finish. 

Ham, Egg & Chips

Sometimes only comfort food will do for lunch. Three slices of outdoor-reared breaded ham, with grilled chips, and two fried eggs. 

The chipped potatoes were first steamed for ten minutes (equivalent to parboiling), and then grilled (dressed in some sunflower oil) until browned (turned once). Served with some American (or German) mustard. Delicious!

 

Breaded Ham with Potato Salad

A simple ham salad, with breaded ham dressed in American mustard, along with a potato and spring onion salad in mayonnaise. Plus a side serving of cooked but cold green beans. 

                                                                                                        

Bacon, Egg and Hash Browns

Simple and delicious brunch, with pan fried hash browns, fried bacon, and fried eggs, served with black pepper, a pinch of salt, and American mustard. 

The hash browns were cooked in a small pan for twenty five minutes at a low to medium heat, in sunflower oil. Watch carefully, and turn occasionally. 

The bacon came from a pack of cooking bacon. Normally these consist of rashers which didn't quite make the aesthetic grade, but what I was working with was a solid block of bacon. I cut it up with a serrated knife. Fried slowly for half an hour, the last fifteen minutes of which were under glass. 

Eggs cooked for five minutes at a lowish heat in the bacon fat, and dosed with a pinch of salt. 

 

Baby Plum Tomato and Mustard Salad, with Carrot and Olives

Good to have occasional salads during winter (both vegetable and fruit varieties).Halved baby plum tomatoes, diced red pepper and garlic, in a mustard sauce of either American or German yellow mustard. I was looking for a courser Dijon mustard at first, but I settled on American mustard. The tomatoes were drizzled in Olive Oil before the mustard was added, along with a little salt and some basil. Allowed to stand for at least half an hour. 

A single carrot was batonned, and then blitzed for ten seconds in a Kenwood mini-chopper, along with coriander leaf and some tarragon. Served with stoned black olives, preserved in brine.  

Minestrone Soup

Always a favourite, and a great way to use up surplus ingredients from another dish. In this case, some yellow pepper, batonned carrot, chickpeas, white onion, chilli, mustard seed, and basmati rice. I added tomato puree (three squirts), two spring onions, diced, a drizzle of olive oil, plus black pepper, and vegetable and chicken stock. And a handful of broken spaghetti. I added the herbs basil and oregano. Cooked for an hour before serving. 

 

Breaded Ham Salad

Breaded ham from the freezer, along with a baby-leaf lettuce salad from the local co-op. Plus pimiento stuffed green olives, strips of yellow pepper, and a home-made potato and onion salad (with mayonnaise), and American mustard and black pepper. Simple, and delicious!

Torunska Sausage with Coriander and Potatoes

A simple breakfast dish made with thinly sliced Torun sausage (aka Copernicus sausage), cooked in its own fat (start at a high heat and then turn it right down). Fifteen minutes should be enough. Turn the slices in the pan occasionally. I added some diced cherry tomatoes, and chopped fresh coriander (this time I used a pizza cutter rather than a knife, and it worked really well).

The potatoes and the spring onion were cooked in a pan of water for seventeen minutes at the same time. Then they were fished out with a slatted spoon and added to the skillet pan.

Stir-fried at a medium heat for another five to seven minutes. Serve with coriander leaf and American mustard, plus freshly ground black pepper.

Chopped Pork Salad, with Lettuce and Spinach

The chopped pork came from a 1.50kg joint cooked a couple of days before and kept in the fridge. I used about 150g of it for this salad.

I bought a bagged salad of different colours of lettuce from the co-op, and added a handful of diced spinach leaves (from the same co-op). The leaves were dressed in a dessert spoonful of olive oil, and a teaspoonful of mustard (French's American Mustard in this case,  but English or German mustard will do as well). Stirred together thoroughly. I added half a julienned red onion also, plus some dried tarragon, coriander leaf, and black pepper.

Lorne Sausage with Sweet Potato and Hash Browns

Lorne sausage is often served as part of a formulaic breakfast menu, but it is much more versatile than that! Here it is served with hash browns, spiralised sweet potato, and spring onions.

The sausage cooks fairly quickly, so it makes sense to begin cooking the hash browns first. They will be done in around fifteen to twenty minutes, in a little sunflower oil. The sausage will be cooked in around twelve minutes, at a medium heat.

The spiralised sweet potato and spring onion will be cooked in ten minutes or so in a steamer.

Served with a dressing of black pepper, and a serving of American mustard.

Peppered Ham with Fried Onions and Mushrooms

A simple dish of peppered ham (sourced from Aldi), served with slow fried onions, and a little American mustard.

The onions were browned at a medium heat for ten minutes, stirring occasionally, and then for fifteen minutes under glass (also stirring occasionally).

The mushrooms were cooked in a separate pan in a little butter until browned. Around ten minutes or so.

The onions and mushrooms were mixed together for serving, and dressed in freshly ground black pepper. Delicious!

Chicken and Potato Pie

A Boxing Day dish, using up unused slices of chicken breast. The chicken had been cooked on a bed of sliced carrot in a lidded casserole dish, and the juices and carrots were decanted and stored in the fridge.

I chopped three spring onions and placed them in the bottom of a traditional pie dish. Then I added the carrots and chicken juices, plus a little seasoning (pepper). I diced the slices of chicken, and added those on top.

The pie topping was made with mashed potato and butter, plus a little paprika. The surface was textured with a fork.

Roasted on the middle shelf of the oven at 190 deg. C for between 40 and 55 minutes. The dish will be thoroughly cooked after 40 minutes, but the golden appearance of the pie topping is something which needs to be judged by eye.

Served with a dressing of black pepper, along with some American mustard.

Salmon and Cod Potato Pie

The base of the pie was a thick vegetable stew (from the fridge) of sweet potato, potato, carrot, diced mushrooms, and spring onion, plus kamut grains, a little chopped red chilli, chopped garlic, and cardamom seed, fresh from three crushed pods.

The fish pieces were placed on top of the vegetable stew in a roasting dish, distributed evenly.

On top of that, a layer of potato mashed with a knob of butter was added (and a little salt and pepper), and textured with a fork.

The roasting tray was placed on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to 190 deg C, uncovered. Depending on the depth of the roasting dish, the cooking time will be somewhere between 45 minutes and one hour (it will be properly cooked after 45 minutes, but it may take longer for the desired browning of the potato topping - judge by eye!).

Served with a little American or German mustard.

The fish pieces were sourced from Sainsbury's, who often make up inexpensive packs for making this kind of dish.

Scrambled Egg with Sopocka Ham

Polish Sopocka ham, fried in sunflower oil in a skillet for seven minutes each side at a low heat, served with fried tomatoes and mushroom, and scrambled eggs prepared with some oregano.

The dish was served with a teaspoonful of French coarse grain mustard and a dusting of freshly ground black pepper.

The maker of this salt cured (and lightly smoked) ham is Morliny, which is the leading charcuterie company in Poland. The brand is now well established in the UK. https://www.morliny.co.uk/products/smoked_meats/sopocka/

Pan-fried Pork Shoulder Steak

A pretty straightforward and delicious dish of pan-fried pork shoulder steak, served with caramelised red onion and halved brocolli spears.

The julienned onion was cooked first, and took about twenty minutes to brown at a medium heat. Caramelised onion is one of those things which has to be judged by eye. Cooked in a little sunflower oil (or butter if you prefer).

The brocolli was boiled in slightly salted water for six to seven minutes, and then drained. Then the brocolli and onion were mixed together in a bowl.

The pork steak was cooked in sunflower oil in a skillet for eight minutes each side - about half of the time under glass to ensure even cooking.

Serve with black pepper. Good also with a garnish of American mustard.

Cold Roast Beef, with Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

A straightforward dish, ready in twenty minutes, made with thinly sliced roast beef from Morrisons, plus boiled and halved Brussels sprouts, and boiled potato wedges, semi-skinned.

The beef was sold as chillied roast beef, but, while I'm sure that chilli was involved somewhere in the process of making the beef slices, I couldn't detect any chilli flavour in the finished product. So I rolled the beef slices, and dressed them in American mustard. The combination worked very well.

The sprouts were boiled for seven minutes, and the potatoes for twenty. Served hot. The dish was dusted with a generous amount of black pepper.

Scrambled Egg, with Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese

Simple and quick to prepare scrambled egg with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and diced spring onion.

The spring onion (one) was chopped up and fried in some hot sunflower oil in an omelette pan, until the onion began to brown.  Then about 100ml of whole milk was added to the pan, along with a pinch of salt.

I cracked two medium eggs into the pan (the eggs were not beaten together first), broke the yolks, and stirred thoroughly for a minute or so. The heat was turned down low, and the mixture was allowed to bubble for a minute and a half before being stirred again.

I cut about 75g of the cheese into thin rectangles, and distributed them evenly across the eggs. Stir together until the cheese has largely melted.

When the scramble has achieved the right consistency, with the milk absorbed and just a little water remaining in the pan, serve with some coarse grain mustard, and dress the dish in a little black pepper.

Jarlsberg Cheese Salad

A simple and healthy cheese salad, made with red camargue rice, split peas, grated carrot, small baby plum tomatoes, herbs, and authentic Norwegian Jarlsberg cheese, served with some Greek style yogurt infused with a (very) little English mustard.

The split peas were soaked in unsalted water overnight, then cooked for twenty minutes until soft. The red camargue rice was cooked for thirty-five minutes at a low heat, also in unsalted water, with a drizzle of sunflower oil to prevent sticking.

Rinse the rice, and allow both ingredients to cool. Set aside. 

The carrot was grated and mixed with a little coriander leaf.   Then the baby plum tomatoes were cut diagonally in half. 

I chose not to grate the Jarlsberg, but instead cut it into wedges. The cheese is mild in flavour, and resembles Emmental, but with fewer holes. 

Add the cooled split peas and the rice to a bowl, and stir together with some Herbes de Provence. Decant to the serving plate along with the grated carrot and coriander, the tomato, the cheese, and the mixture of English mustard and yoghurt. Dress the dish with black pepper, and a small (optional) squeeze of lemon juice (I chose not to add lemon juice). Delicious!