Chicken, Tomato, Coriander, Chicken Stock

 Easy to make and delicious dish. Chicken breast roasted in a casserole dish for about forty minutes (watch by eye). With stir-fried tomato and a chicken gravy. Dressed in some dried tarragon and served with fresh coriander. 

Ham and Mushroom Omelette

A basic pan-fried omelette, with mushrooms, green pepper, diced green beans, and cured ham (any variety of ham will do in fact). First the ham was cooked slowly in a little olive oil along with the mushrooms and the diced pepper and beans.

The egg (plus a little water) was added, and the omelette was cooked slowly under glass (along with a little tarragon) until it was ready.
 

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. 
 

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. 

 

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!

Tarragon Chicken in a Cream, Onion and Mushroom Sauce

Chicken breasts roasted in an open casserole dish for 40 minutes at 190 deg C, and then another fifteen minutes lidded. With a little sunflower oil. Dressed in some sea salt. Cooked a mixture of julienned white onions (two), plus five destalked and diced chestnut mushrooms, for twenty minutes in sunflower oil.

Decanted the onion and mushroom into a small pan, and mixed with a couple of dessert spoonfuls of single cream, and a shake of dried tarragon. Lots of freshly ground black pepper. 

Served with green beans boiled in salted water for seven minutes.  

 

Chicken and Brussels Sprout Soup, with Herbs

Fabulous soup made with roasted diced chicken breast (one half). Plus water, chicken stock, and three Brussels sprouts, diced Italian style. Plus one julienned white onion. Cooked together for at least forty-five minutes. Thickened with a teaspoonful of arrowroot.  The herbs tarragon and sage were added ten minutes before serving. 

The chicken breast was cooked with two others in a casserole dish for at least 45 minutes at 180 deg C on the middle shelf of a preheated oven. 

 

Venison Burger with Potatoes and Lettuce Salad

I didn't make this burger (hard to get ground deer meat, unless you know someone who deals in this part of the business). Bought from Sainsbury's. Tasted not dissimilar to a burger made with beef, but the packaging said the burgers were 90% venison. I'm familiar with deer meat, so the fact that the burgers don't taste the way you might imagine, is puzzling. 

I also bought venison fillets on the same supermarket trip, and these clearly are deer meat. They should be fine.

The burgers were cooked on the middle shelf of an oven heated to 200 deg C for between 22 to 27 minutes, turning the burgers a couple of times.  Something to watch occasionally during the process. 

Served with salted boiled potato, and a lettuce salad. Dressed with white pepper, and a pinch of Tarragon. 

 

Chicken and Chips

Diced breast of chicken, with carrots, brussels sprouts, and roasted chips dressed in vinegar, sunflower oil, herbs (oregano and tarragon), and smoked paprika. 

The chicken breasts were roasted inside a lidded casserole dish, on a bed of carrots. Cooked for forty minutes under glass, and another twenty minutes with the lid removed. The chicken was dressed in a little sea salt. 

The chipped potatoes were parboiled for ten minutes before being placed in the oven for about twenty five minutes. Turned once. 

The sprouts were cooked in a small lidded pan for about seven minutes. 

Sea Bass Fillets

A simple dish of two boneless fillets of Sea Bass, served with boiled semi-peeled Charlotte potatoes. The fillets were cooked in 15 mls of sunflower oil in a flat pan at a medium heat. 5 minutes on each side, starting with the side with the fish skin. Served with a dusting of dried Tarragon, and some white pepper.  

I've had this dish around Europe, but rarely  in the UK. The fillets were bought from Aldi, but Sainsbury's also sells Sea Bass fillets. 

 

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.  

Vegetarian salad, with Chickpeas and Rice, and Bistro Salad leaves

Chickpeas cooked until tender, then cooled, and dressed in red pesto sauce..Batonned raw carrot, and diced raw white onion dressed in tarragon. Basmati rice cooked with salt and two dried red chillies. Plus a bistro salad of lettuce leaves. Delicious and filling I made this dish just minutes before we heard on the wires that Sean Connery had died ( one of Edinburgh's most famous sons).  RIP. 

 

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew, with Spicy Chips

A chickpea stew with diced carrot, sweet potato and green beans. The chickpeas were soaked overnight in unsalted water until soft. Drained, and decanted into a pot of boiling water, along with the carrot, sweet potato and the green beans. Add some chicken or ham stock, and ground white pepper. Add a teaspoonful of gravy granules and stir through the stew. Cook at a low heat on the hob for an hour.

Served in this case with spicy chipped potatoes, grilled in the middle of the oven for around fifteen minutes. The chips were allowed to stand in a marinade beforehand for a couple of hours The marinade was made with sunflower oil, malt vinegar, tomato ketchup (or puree), salt, garlic, red chilli, dried coriander leaf, tarragon and oregano (the choice of herbs is up to you). When grilled the chips don't need to be turned, and they are less likely to stick to the roasting tray, compared to oven roasting.

Kabanos Sausage Stew

Two chopped Kabanos sausages, stir fried in a little sunflower oil, along with diced carrot, diced brocolli stems, a julienned onion, two diced spring onions, half a yellow pepper cut into strips, and potato chunks. Stir fry until the onion begins to brown.

Add boiling water, two squirts of tomato puree, and the ham (or pork) stock. Simmer at a low heat under glass for an hour.

Add the herbs (basil, coriander and tarragon five or ten minutes before serving the dish). Add a quarter teaspoonful of chilli powder if you would like some heat. A little lemon zest can also be added.

French Onion Soup

A simpler version of this favourite soup than I've made before. Essentially two diced white onions caramelised in some olive oil, along with three diced cloves of garlic.

Allowed to cool, then boiling water was added to the pan. Cooked for twenty minutes to thirty minutes, then the contents of the pan were blended together.

After that, I added the vegetable stock, black pepper, a teaspoonful of dark soy sauce, Bisto gravy granules (essentially a thickener), plus a quarter teaspoonful of paprika.

Cooked for another twenty minutes until the soup has thickened. At that point the herbs Oregano and Tarragon were added (two pinches each).

Served with a slice of buttered wheat-free bread.

Cauliflower, Swede and Carrot Soup

One half of a head of cauliflower chopped into florets, half a peeled swede cut into thin strips, one large carrot cut into chunks, and eight diced cherry tomatoes.

The cauliflower florets, the swede and the carrots were stir-fried in sunflower oil for ten minutes at a medium to high heat, stirring frequently.

The diced tomato was added, along with around a pint of boiling water. The heat was turned down low, and the pot was lidded. Simmered for forty-five minutes.

After that, the contents of the pot were mashed for about thirty seconds (I wanted this soup to be chunky). I added the vegetable stock and two pinches of Tarragon. Simmered again for twenty minutes before serving. Great flavour!

Chcken Paella, with Chorizo Sausage

Chicken pieces with diced chorizo sausage, tomato puree, chicken stock, chilli, mushrooms, carrots, courgette, potato, red pepper, plus the herbs basil, coriander leaf and tarragon. Plus basmati rice cooked in a little salt and turmeric.

The trick is to do it in clearly defined stages (preparation of the vegetables and chorizo, stir-fried in olive oil or butter; preparation of the salsa; adding the pre-roasted chicken; and finally adding the pre-cooked rice).

The vegetables and chorizo, and the salsa, were allowed to simmer for an hour under glass before I added the chicken.

For presentation purposes in future I might just steam the chicken pieces, and add them on top before serving. But it was a delicious meal nonetheless, and well worth the effort.

Chicken in a Pepper and Onion Salsa, with Roast Potatoes

Bought a whole chicken from the local co-op. Cooked on a low shelf in the oven for an hour and 45 minutes, at 180 deg. C.  For the last fifty minutes or so I also cooked roast potatoes along with the chicken, drizzled in olive oil (turned once. The potatoes were parboiled first, and then rolled around a casserole dish).

The salsa was made with caramelised white onion (diced), fried in olive oil, along with a crushed clove of garlic, and strips of red and orange peppers. After twenty minutes I added tomato puree, Bisto gravy granules, vegetable stock, basil and tarragon, along with around 150g of water. Cooked for another half an hour.

I separated one chicken leg from the carcass for this meal (the rest of the chicken went into the fridge after it cooled). The dish was seasoned with a dusting of freshly ground black pepper before serving. Absolutely delicious! Tarragon is a great accompaniment to chicken.

Roast Pork Casoulet, with Smoked Paprika

Roast pork from the freezer, cooked in a tomato and red wine sauce for an hour. Plus diced spring onion, and a white onion.

The wine was an Artusi Merlot, which is both delicious and cheap.

 I added a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.  I also added pork stock, plus the herbs sage and tarragon.

I added potatoes and strips of yellow pepper. Plus the herbs oregano and basil, plus a quarter teaspoonful of smoked paprika. Cooked for an hour before serving, and dressed in dried coriander.

Roast Pork Stew, in a Red Wine Sauce

Roast pork from the freezer, cooked in a tomato and red wine sauce for an hour. Plus diced spring onion, and half a white onion.

The wine was an Artusi Merlot, which is both delicious and cheap.

 I added a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.  I also added pork stock, plus the herbs sage and tarragon. A simple and delicious dish.

Serve with potatoes, pasta, or rice if you prefer. Served in this case just as it is.