Tomato soup, with rice and cardamon

 The cherry tomatoes were blitzed in a blender. The rice was a left over from an earlier dish. I once lived with someone who loved tomato and rice soup. A trip down memory lane. 

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. 

Feta Cheese salad, with Pasta

A simple salad with feta cheese and two varieties of olives, dressed in olive oil. Diced tomatoes, dressed in some chives and black pepper, diced spring onions, grated carrot, plus cooked wheat-free pasta (ten minutes cooking time, with some turmeric). Drain, and allow to cool.  Then dusted with some smoked paprika. Quick to make. 

Lorne Sausage, with Spiced Beans and Peppered Chips

 Great Sunday breakfast, based around two slices of Lorne Sausage. One sliced tomato and five mushrooms were cooked in the same skillet. 

The peppered potato chips were roasted in the oven, after being dressed in some olive oil. Cooked from scratch in about 40 minutes. The beans were cooked on the hob for about ten minutes, after the addition of the herbs and spices. The entire dish was added to some diced spinach leaves. 

Delicious! That's about as good as it gets with Lorne Sausage. Much better than just serving it with fried eggs.

Diced Pepperoni Omelette

 A not terribly complicated omelette made with beaten egg (of course), tomato, mushroom, diced yellow pepper, spring onion, and diced pepperoni sausage. Fabulous dish. The beaten egg mixture was added after seven minutes. Cooked in a skillet at a medium heat for ten minutes, and then under glass for another seven minutes or so (judge by eye). 

Mixed Olives and Feta Cheese

 The local co-op supplies lots of varieties of cheese, but not Feta. But they do supply olive and feta salads, which is the basis of this delicious meal. Added to a baby leaf salad mix of four different colours of lettuce, button mushrooms, and halved baby plum tomatoes. Dressed in freshly ground black pepper.

Pan-fried Free range pork loin steaks

 Pan-fried pork loin steak (ten minutes on each side), served with fresh coriander leaf, diced tomato, and spinach leaves. Dressed in American mustard.

Chicken and Chickpea Stew

 The chickpeas were cooked in a slow cooker until soft, along with the chopped tomatoes and a diced clove of garlic. The green beans were cooked later in a separate pan. Served together with some sea salt and black pepper. 

Horseradish Chicken, with Spinach and Tomato

 Half a breast of chicken, diced, mixed with chopped spring onion, and horseradish sauce (two teaspoonsful). Served with chopped spinach leaves, and one tomato. Delicious!

Mushroom Stew with Brocolli Spears

 A pretty basic mushroom stew, made with paprika and diced cherry tomatoes. Served with brocolli spears. 

Chicken Salad with Olives

 The chicken was roasted in a casserole dish with a dressing of paprika for about forty-five minutes at about 200 deg C. Turned once. Allowed to cool before being diced and mixed with mayonnaise. 

The baby leaf salad was dressed with olive oil and with a dash of lemon juice. 

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. 

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! 

Coriander Chicken

The chicken breast was cooked in a casserole dish in the oven for thirty minutes at 180 deg C. Dressed in some sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil. The cover was removed and the chicken was cooked for a further twenty minutes, with the addition of a little white wine.

The vegetables were cherry tomatoes, green beans from Egypt, and diced carrot. All in some tomato puree, with a little salt. Cooked for about twenty-five minutes. Diced coriander was added during the final ten minutes.

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).

Thick Cut Bacon with Peppers in a Tomato Salsa

Half a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes, in which diced carrot, red pepper, and orange pepper strips were cooked at a medium heat for a couple of hours under glass.

The bacon pieces were cooked in a little olive oil for about twenty-five minutes, drained, and added to the vegetable salsa.

Add some white wine, a dash of bloody mary spice, the herbs and a pinch of paprika. No added salt or stock. 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. 

 

Smoked Bacon, Baby Plum Tomato, and Spring Onion Breakfast

Great breakfast, which is simple to prepare. Baby plum tomatoes, diced into three pieces, halved button mushrooms,and spring onion, cooked slowly in a skillet for 25 minutes in some sunflower oil. Stirred frequently. 

The cured and smoked bacon was also cooked slowly, but in another smaller pan, until it was on the edge of being crispy. 

The chipped potatoes were parboiled for ten minutes, and then grilled in the oven with a little sunflower oil until browned (turn once). Watch progress by eye. Served with tomato ketchup. 

 

Lorne Sausage Breakfast

 Two slices of Lorne Sausage, cooked slowly in sunflower oil under glass, and turned once. Cooked alongside julienned white onion, and quartered Moroccan tomatoes. Cooked for twenty minutes all told. Dressed in freshly ground black pepper. 

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.