Minted Ground Lamb with Potato and Onion Patties

Ground lamb with potato and onion  patties.

The potato and onion patties were prepared under the grill, after having been steamed together for twenty five minutes. Then mashed together. Dressed in coriander leaf. I used a pastry cutter as a mould, which works really well.

The ground lamb was prepared in the usual way - browned in oil for twenty minutes or so. Along with diced leek. And dried mint.

After that the lamb was simmered in a lidded pot for an hour or more, with added tomato puree, some potato pieces, chilli, Tabasco sauce, coriander, oregano, plus vegetable and lamb stock, And green peas. 

Caesar Salad

A Caesar salad is essentially a chicken salad with croutons, lettuce and mayo. This is a variation on the basic recipe.

Made with diced roast chicken pieces (chicken breast in this instance), fresh from the fridge. Plus bread croutons (wheat-free), fried in butter in an omelette pan until browned and crisp.

Once cool, the lettuce salad, the chicken, and the croutons were mixed together in a bowl with some mayonnaise. Along with some diced or crushed garlic, a couple of dashes of Worcester sauce, and also two dashes of Tabasco sauce. Simple and fabulous!

Chicken Salad with Garlic Yoghurt

A great chicken salad, and quick to prepare. The vegetables came already assembled in a bag from the local Co-op. Decanted into a glass bowl and dressed with some olive oil, two dashes of Tabasco sauce, and two dashes of Worcester sauce. Stir.

I roasted a medium-sized chicken the day before, and prepared it for use once it had cooled. After that it was kept overnight in the fridge.

I diced one chicken breast, and added the pieces to the salad.

In a  smaller bowl I prepared the garlic yoghurt. Four or five dessert spoonfuls of fresh yoghurt, infused with two finely grated cloves of garlic. Stir together and allow to stand for fifteen minutes or so.

Served in a pasta bowl, with the garlic yoghurt spooned on top. Excellent dish!

Chicken Tarragon with Roast Potatoes and Sprouts

The chicken breast was cooked from scratch the preceding day as part of a batch of four. Cooked in a standard lidded casserole dish, on a bed of sliced red onion, sunflower oil, sea salt, and a little water, for fifty minutes at 190 deg. C.

The Brussels sprouts were prepared Italian style, being chopped up and cooked in salted water. I added a little Tabasco sauce.

The complicated part was the preparation of the spiced roast potatoes. They were par-boiled in salted water for eighteen minutes, then the pot was drained. I drizzled two teaspoonfuls of goose fat over the potatoes, along with some tomato ketchup, powdered cumin, white pepper, dried tarragon, and vinegar. Then the potatoes were fluffed up for roasting by rattling them around the lidded pan.

The potatoes were placed on a roasting tray on the middle shelf of the oven, and cooked for another thirty minutes at 190 deg. C. Turned over once. Watch carefully!

The chicken was reheated in a lidded pan, along with some of the red onion and the gravy for twenty five minutes. If the chicken breast is chopped up, the cooking time will be around 12 to 13 minutes.

When the chicken breast was served, it was dusted with tarragon. The sprouts were thoroughly drained before being added to the plate. Followed by the roast potatoes.

Smoked Cheese with Apple and Bell Pepper Salad

Great cheese dish. German smoked cheese, served with a four leaf salad, and (mixed together in a separate bowl) diced apple, red green and yellow diced bell pepper, along with two finely chopped spring onions, dressed in mayonnaise, a little splash of Tabasco, and black pepper. Delicious!

This salad would work well with other cheeses, such as feta, blue stilton, and danish blue cheese.

Seafood Risotto, with Mussels, Prawns and Squid

I rarely escape Morrison's fish section without buying something. Yesterday I bought some fillets to go into the freezer, and also a selection of seafood which I thought might be part of a curry. I changed my mind, and decided on a risotto.

First I prepared diced vegetables - carrot, half a courgette, and half a yellow pepper. Plus two crushed cloves of garlic. Boiled for around twenty-five minutes under glass. Drained and set aside.

The rice was prepared next - cooked in boiling water for about 12 minutes, which is a bit longer than how long you would cook basmati if you were serving it with a curry. I wanted a sticky texture to the rice for this risotto. I used a quarter cup of rice for this dish.

The seafood was already cooked, so it was a matter of reheating it. I did this in a bowl in a steamer. Five minutes is enough, if the steamer is already steaming.

While the seafood was being heated, I added the vegetables and the rice together in a pan. I added lots of freshly ground black pepper to the mixture, and a few dashes of Tabasco sauce for heat. I added the seafood when it was ready, and stirred together. Then I decanted it onto a serving plate.

A really satisfying risotto, which disappeared from the plate very quickly!

Fried Zucchini in a Cornmeal Batter

Cheap zucchini (courgettes) from the local Co-op this morning prompted this delicious dish.

I topped and tailed the zucchini, then cut it in half lengthwise. Each half was cut into four pieces lengthwise, and then subdivided into three crosswise.

The batoned zucchini was fried in some sunflower oil in a medium sized omelette pan for seven minutes, with the batons constantly moved around, and also turned over.

The batter was pre-prepared with three teaspoonfuls of cornmeal, mixed with about 100ml fresh milk, and one medium egg. The cornmeal and milk were blended together with a whisk, and then the egg was beaten into the mix. I added some salt, two dashes of Tabasco sauce, and a pinch of turmeric.

The batter was added to the zucchini with a dessert spoon, until most of the batons were almost covered. Cooked slowly under glass until the batter begins to crisp and brown. You may need to turn the contents of the pan.

Serve with a sliced salad tomato, drizzled with American mustard, and a little black pepper.

Pesto Chicken Salad

A really simple one-pot pesto chicken salad, with penne pasta.

I used 200g of fine beans from Kenya, two chicken drumsticks from the fridge (roasted in the oven the day before at 180 deg C for thirty minutes, after being dressed with some sea-salt), and a large handful of penne pasta (wheat-free variety from Sainsbury's). Plus two spring onions.

Wash the beans, and bunch together with the stems all facing the same direction, and slice off the stems. Then dice the beans with a sharp knife, into 1cm pieces. Add to a pot of salted boiling water along with the similarly diced spring onions. Cook for ten minutes under glass, after turning down the heat to a simmer.

Add the penne to the pot, along with a dash of olive oil, and cook for another 10 to 12 minutes at a simmer. Stir frequently.

Strip the meat from the drumsticks and cover. No need to strip the skin before cutting with a knife. Put to one side.

Once the pasta and the beans are fully cooked, drain the water from the pot, using a sieve or the lid of the pot to hold in the contents. Then add cold water to the pot. Drain and repeat. Allow the pot and the contents to cool to room temperature (if you prefer your salads cold, put into the fridge for an hour).

Add three teaspoonfuls of green pesto sauce to the pot (which is essentially a mixture of basil and parmesan or other Italian cheese). Stir in thoroughly. Add the chicken pieces, and again, stir together thoroughly. The dish is now ready to serve.

Serve with black pepper and perhaps some Tabasco sauce. Delicious!

Torunska Sausage Salad

A simple and quick to make salad with cured Torunska sausage. The ingredients are, in addition to the slices of sausage, spring onion, celery, yellow pepper, cherry tomatoes, and four leaf salad (red and green lettuce, chard, and spinach leaves).

Chop the tomatoes in two, and dice the celery, the yellow pepper, and the spring onion. Add the vegetables and the leaf salad to a glass bowl, and add some lemon juice (half a teaspoonful) and olive oil, with a pinch of salt. I also added a little vinegar from a jar which contains marinaded red peppers (optional if available, but half a teaspoonful only).

Stir together until all of the contents of the bowl are coated. Allow to stand for ten minutes then repeat, for half an hour to forty minutes. Put the salad into the fridge for at least half an hour before serving. Serve with a dash of tabasco sauce.

Salmon Fillets cooked in Butter

Boneless salmon fillets roasted in the oven with knobs of butter and black pepper, and wrapped in aluminium foil. Cooked for eighteen minutes at 200 deg C, on the middle shelf.

Served with flat cut potato, fried in a little butter in a flat lidded pan for twenty minutes, first at medium heat for ten minutes, and then at a low heat. Turned once.

Serve dressed with freshly ground black pepper and a couple of splashes of Tabasco sauce.

This is dish no 488, so I am closing in on 500 recipes!

Pork and Mushroom Stew, with Grilled Peppers and Greek Basil

A delicious stew made with sliced roast pork (from a boneless pork leg), chestnut mushrooms, two large tomatoes, chives, peas, onion, smoked paprika, Oregano, grilled peppers (yellow and red), and Greek basil.

The pork joint was sliced with an electric knife. The peppers came in oil in a jar, so I used some of that in the saute pan. Full of the flavour of the peppers. I chopped up the peppers, onion, mushrooms, tomatoes and the chives. The pork and the vegetables were added to the pan when the oil was reasonably hot, and stir-fried for about ten minutes, after which boiling water was added, along with the peas, some smoked paprika (one teaspoonful) and the oregano.

Simmered under glass for an hour or so at a low heat. Before serving, shred some greek basil, and stir through the contents of the pan for one or two minutes. Serve with boiled potatoes, freshly ground black pepper. A dash of Tabasco can be added for a little extra spice. 

I've had 108 visits from France over the past week. They know about food in France, so that number of visitors is gratifying! Thanks for your interest.

Lamb, Cabbage, and Root Vegetable Soup

Made with the remains of a lamb and root vegetable stew, originally made with neck steak, with parsnips, potato, onion, spring onion, celery, plus yellow and green pepper. Plus lamb stock, but no herbs.

The Lamb Stew - Brown the steak. Add the other vegetables plus boiling water, and stir together. Cook at a low simmer for two hours until the lamb is tender. Add the lamb stock in the last fifteen minutes or so to retain the strongest flavour.

The Lamb Soup - Green cabbage was added to the remains of the lamb and vegetable stew, plus some tabasco sauce, some red chilli sauce, and rosemary. Cook at a medium heat for twenty minutes. You can mash or blend the vegetables if you prefer. Serve with ground black pepper.  Delicious!

Omelette with Onion and Rocket

A two egg omelette, made with half an onion, some salt, and some shredded rocket. 

Stir fry the sliced onion in an omelette pan with some sunflower oil, until the onion begins to brown. Turn down the heat. Beat the eggs with a whisk and add a pinch of salt. Shred half a handful of rocket leaves. Add a pinch of the shredded rocket to the eggs and beat again. Pour the mixture over the onions in the pan and cook at a low heat. Sprinkle the rest of the shredded rocket over the top of the omelette. 

Cook for four minutes each side, at the lowest possible heat setting, and cover the pan with a glass lid. Serve on a plate with some white pepper and two dashes of Tabasco sauce. Fast and delicious!

Omelette with Onion and Rocket

Leek and Potato Soup, with Cumin

A simple winter soup, made with two medium leeks, four carrots, and two peeled potatoes, all roughly chopped. Cook in water in a lidded pan at a low simmer, until all the vegetables are soft. Mash. Cook again for at least twenty minutes, and puree with a hand-blender. 

Add some coriander leaf, a couple of pinches of ground cumin, a pinch of nutmeg, chicken stock, a dash of Tabasco sauce, and some Worcestershire sauce. Cook for another ten minutes, and serve. A real winter warmer!

Leek and Potato Soup, with Cumin

Wheat Free Smoked Paprika Brown Bread

I modified a standard wheat-free recipe for brown bread, using Dove's Farm brown flour, by adding a heaped teaspoonful of Spanish smoked paprika. The recipe and preparation details are available on another page.

This loaf has a cracked surface, probably because the preheated oven was too hot when the loaf was put in. Better perhaps to have the start temperature a little too low, and to raise the temperature after that. The first yeast I used was ineffective, so I added another batch of yeast and remixed the dough. That might also have had something to do with it. But the integrity of the loaf was fine, and it was very easy to cut thin slices from it.

The result is delicious! The texture of the bread seems to be softer than without the addition of the smoked paprika. Great to eat with French Brie, or a cottage cheese with pepper and a dash of Tabasco Sauce.

Wheat Free Smoked Paprika Brown Bread

Bacon Goujons, with Brocolli

Lots of cheap vegetables available at the moment, so I blended about 20 cherry tomatoes, rather than opening a tin. I cooked the bacon goujons first, in a saute pan, then added half a yellow pepper, cut into thin strips. Once the bacon goujons had begun to brown, I added some boiling water, and then the blended cherry tomatoes. 

Cooked at a low heat until the salsa had boiled down to a thick sauce. About thirty minutes altogether. I added two teaspoonfuls of green pesto sauce (Sacla brand), some black pepper, and a dash of Tabasco. 

The brocolli was cooked in a lidded pan (water and steam) for ten minutes at a high heat, and, after draining, cut into segments on the plate. A delicious combination of flavours!

Bacon Goujons, with Brocolli

Smoked Ham and Leaf Salad

Smoked ham salad. The ham came from Sainsbury's, and was served with sweetcorn, tomato, and a leaf salad dressed in olive oil and lemon juice. Condiments were ground white pepper, Mayonnaise,  and Tabasco sauce. I'm trading on my mother's food preparation skill here :-). A simple al fresco meal, accompanied by Pimm's and lemonade.

Smoked Ham and Leaf Salad

Pepper and Leek Soup

A simple Green pepper and leek soup, with shredded salad tomato and steamed potatoes (two medium sized leeks, four small potatoes in their skins, half a green pepper, and one tomato). The ingredients were chopped and then stir-fried slowly at a low heat in a saute pan, in a little sunflower oil. 

Once the leeks began to brown, I added water to the pan, along with some vegetable stock and white pepper. The mixture was allowed to simmer for half an hour, before being blended with a mouli  electric mixer. 

Simmered for another fifteen to twenty minutes. A dash of Tabasco sauce was added and more white pepper. The soup itself is wheat free. It was served in this case with two Scottish potato scones (bought from Aldi), which contains wheat, but 73 per cent is potato.

It is possible to vary the contents of this soup a great deal, and the way it is served. It could be served with a topping of Italian cheese, or grated cheddar, or with croutons or toasted garlic bread. Delicious just as it is! 

Pepper, leeks, tomato and potato stir-fry

The soup after blending

Pepper and Leek Soup served with Scottish Potato Scones and Tabasco Sauce

Four Leaf Chicken Salad

Four leaf salad from Tesco, dressed in olive oil and tabasco sauce, chopped vine tomato, spring onion, pitted olives, finely sliced garlic, and pan fried chunks of chicken.

Four Leaf Chicken Salad

Five Vegetable Winter Soup

Began as a leek and potato soup, but I needed to use some onion, carrot and swede. Also added chicken stock and some spelt. Served with tabasco sauce and *lots* of freshly ground black pepper.

Five Vegetable Winter Soup