Fried Prosciutto ham with hash browns

 Prosciutto ham is dry-cured, so there is no need to cook it. But it is delicious with some delicate cooking, till on the edge of being crispy. The hash-browns were cooked in a separate pan at a medium heat until slightly browned. The prosciutto ham was cooked with the red pepper slices  (added much later). 

Pollo Arabbiata

 A simple Italian dish: a steamed breast of chicken with some fried mushrooms and chopped tomatoes. Plus some peeled and steamed potatoes, which is the normal accompaniment for this dish in Italy. Easy, and delicious. 

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. 

Mustard ham, Egg and chips

 Sainsbury's used to do a decent ham, egg and chips, but they seem to be outsourcing their restaurant facilities. This is not a difficult meal to make for yourself, even if you haven't got a deep fat fryer. I chipped some potatoes and soused them in a little vinegar, salt, and some rapeseed oil for half an hour while the oven was heating up. Spread across a roasting tray and cooked for about forty minutes at 180 deg C. (watch progress by eye!). The egg was cooked in a skillet on the hob. 

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!
 

Serrano Ham Salad

 Another easy salad, with thinly sliced Serrano ham, a baby leaf lettuce salad, and fresh coriander. Plus sliced white onion and garlic, boiled potato and sweet potato. Dressed in some freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil on the greens. 

Smoked Ham Offcuts with Egg and Potatoes

Bargain smoked Ham offcuts from Aldi, served cold, with fried egg and boiled semi-skinned potatoes. The egg was cooked in a little rape seed oil. Dressed in freshly ground black pepper. 

 

Chicken and Roasted Vegetables

Sometimes you get fed up doing the same thing with vegetables. This time I diced the vegetables (carrot, onion, potato and garlic) and put them in a casserole dish with a drizzle of rapeseed oil. Cooked in the oven for half an hour, lidded, and then another twenty five minutes without the lid. The slices of chicken were cooked in a lidded pan with arrowroot (as a thickener) and chicken stock, for about twenty five minutes. Served with black pepper. 

Ardenne Pate Salad

 Some great Ardenne pate from Aldi while I was waiting for a bus, plus some useful looking tomatoes. Served with cold boiled potato, a dash of dried basil, and some fresh coriander. The tomatoes were quartered. Delicious! 

Chorizo and Green Beans

 A simple stir-fry based on chorizo sausage and green beans. Cooked slowly for 25 minutes. The Chorizo was added to the skillet first (for ten to fifteen minutes) to release some of the oils and fat to cook the other ingredients. Serve dressed in coriander. 

Canelloni Beans, Chorizo, and Oven-roasted Chips

A simple dish of roasted potatoes, dressed in sunflower oil and lemon juice, to complement a stew made with peppers, chorizo, canelloni beans, carrot, mushrooms, tomato puree, and red chilli.

The stew was cooked under glass the preceding day, for about two hours.

 

Pork Loin Steak with Spicy Chips

Pan-fried outdoor-bred pork steak, cooked in a little olive oil for eight minutes each side at a medium heat. Served with diced mushrooms and spring onion, and spicy chipped potatoes (French fries).

The spiced potatoes (first parboiled for about eight minutes) were soused in a mixture of olive oil a chilli sauce and tomato ketchup, along with the herbs oregano and basil. Then grilled for about seventeen minutes until they began to brown (watch by eye, since all grills are different).
 

Vegetable Pie

A simple vegetarian potato pie, made with carrots, red pepper, and spring onion.

The vegetables were parboiled for fifteen minutes, as were the potatoes. Added to a pie dish, while the potatoes were added to a pyrex bowl and mashed with salted butter.

The potato topping was added to the pie dish, and textured with a fork. Cooked in the oven for around fifty minutes at 180 deg C (judge progress by eye).

Beef Chilli with Roast Potatoes

Ground beef, browned for twenty five minutes in sunflower oil along with diced spring onion, Then simmered in water for two hours under glass at a lowish heat. After which the vegetable stock is added, the chilli, the diced yellow pepper, and the haricot beans and tomato puree.

Arrowroot was mixed with some water and added during the last ten minutes (it functions as a thickener). Stirred thoroughly through the beef.

Roast potatoes were cooked in an oven preheated to 190 deg C. Cooking times will vary. These took fifty minutes, drizzled in sunflower oil. Judge by eye. Turned once to ensure even browning. 

 

Shepherd's Pie

A dish made to use up some leftover ground lamb from the fridge. I added freshly podded peas to the minced lamb and lamb stock, plus the herbs rosemary and coriander and decanted the mixture into a traditional pie dish. Boiled potato was mashed with a little salted butter, and this made the crust of the pie.

Cooked on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to 190 degrees C, until it begins to brown. Which should be around an hour or a little longer. Watch carefully by eye, particularly if you don't have an accurate oven thermometer.  

Spicy Garlic Lamb and Spinach

Ground minced lamb which had been browned and then simmered under glass for two hours. Then I added diced mushrooms, lamb stock, oregano, and two bay leaves. Then simmered again under glass for another 45 minutes, with some onion gravy granules. I added diced spinach leaves and spring onion, plus half of a chopped yellow pepper. 

I added several crushed cloves of garlic, and a couple of red chillies, which I removed (along with the bay leaves) after an hour or so. 

Served with steamed potatoes (thirty minutes or so), and boiled podded peas. 

Baked Potato with Ground Lamb

The baked potato was begun first, with a little butter, in a roasting tray in an oven heated to 190 deg C. It took one hour and fifteen minutes to cook (not wrapped in tin-foil). Check every fifteen minutes, particularly if you don't have an oven thermometer.

From the fridge I took the Fresh ground minced lamb I cooked a couple of days ago, which had been browned and then simmered under glass for two hours. Then I added diced mushrooms, lamb stock, oregano, and two bay leaves. Then simmered again under glass for another 45 minutes, with some onion gravy granules.

I added diced spinach leaves and spring onion, plus half of a chopped yellow pepper. Serve hot.

Pork Shoulder Steak, with Green Beans

Pork Shoulder steak, cooked at a medium heat for twelve minutes on each side. Served with hash browns (ten minutes on each side), and green beans, boiled under glass for seven minutes. Topped with chunks of pineapple.

Potato, Spinach, and Polish Sausage Casoulet

A simple casoulet begun as a stirfry of diced polish sausage, diced potato, spring onion, quartered button mushrooms, chopped green beans. I used a drizzle of olive oil. 

Cooked for about an hour at a medium heat. Then I added boiling water, along with some vegetable stock, plus chopped spinach, and the herbs sage and tarragon. Cooked for a further forty-five minutes. 

 

Breaded Haddock (oven cooked) and grilled chips

 Shop-bought breaded haddock (Sainsbury's), cooked on the middle shelf of the oven for twenty minutes at 150 deg C. Judge progress by eye, as well as by the oven thermometer. 

The chips were first parboiled for about eight minutes, then drizzled in sunflower oil in a glass roasting tray, and grilled for another fifteen minutes or so (again, judge by eye, and turn the chips at least once). The fish was dressed in a sprinkling of dried coriander on serving, along with some tomato ketchup.