Lamb and Cinnamon Stew, with flat Noodles

 Ground lamb, with chickpeas, red pepper, spring onion, courgette and carrot (both spiralised before being added to the stew). With some added ground cinnamon. Plus lamb stock and vegetable stock. 

The lamb was cooked the day before for about two hours at a medium heat under glass until tender. Cooked again for another forty-five minutes with the spiralised vegetables. 

Served with flat chinese noodles (Blue Dragon brand in this case). The noodles were salted and infused with some sesame oil. 

Creamed Chicken and Leek Soup

 Wonderful soup, made with diced leek cooked in rape seed oil for twenty minutes, and half a breast of chicken, diced into small pieces. Cooked in milk and vegetable stock, and then I added single cream to the dish. Cooked for an hour. Delicious!

Cubed Beef and Pasta

 Cubed Scotch beef, cooked for an hour and a half in a lidded pan at a medium heat, with olive oil. The green beans and spinach were cooked for ten minutes along with some dried rosemary in a separate pan. The wheat free pasta was cooked in a third pan for ten minutes or so at a medium heat. Fabulous meal!

Beef Chilli with baby leeks

Basmati rice cooked slowly in a flat pan with a quarter teaspoonful of turmeric.

The Ground beef was cooked for forty five minutes along with the vegetables, and then water, the vegetable stock, and the paprika was added, and cooked for another hour slowly under glass. Fabulously tender.
 

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. 

 

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!

Minced Beef and Leek, with Grilled Parsnip Chips

The beef was browned for about seventy minutes before water and vegetable stock were added. Plus diced leek. Cooked under glass for another two hours until really tender. 

Half a large parsnip was diced, and then divided into chips. Grilled until browned (watch by eye!), for about twenty-five minutes, after being drizzled in sunflower oil and turned with a wooden spoon to ensure an even coverage. A simple dish, but 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. 

 

Cauliflower soup, with Red Pepper and Potato

Cheap cauliflower and cabbage from the Coop resulted in this wonderful soup. The cauliflower was cooked first, after it was stripped of its leaves. Thirty minutes all told. Then it was diced with a sharp knife in the pot. Then I added the diced red pepper and potato, plus the chopped green cabbage.

Simmered for twenty minutes. Mash if you prefer. I added vegetable stock and  black pepper. Simple and fabulous!

 

Tomato Soup with Coriander and Garlic Naan

A simple tomato soup, made with chopped tomatoes, three dessert spoonfuls of Greek style yoghurt, diced white onion, vegetable stock, and the herbs Oregano, Coriander and Basil. Cooked for at least forty minutes, and served with a shop bought toasted garlic and coriander naan bread. 

[This is recipe idea number 1000! Posted on February 13, 2021]
 

Winter Vegetable soup

A simple winter vegetable soup based on a bag of soup ingredients on sale in the local co-op. I added the turnip, the stock, and the herbs. We got through a lot of winters on the basis of this sort of soup. Easy to make, and the kitchen smells great while it is on the hob. Basically cabbage, celery, leek, turnp, carrot, plus herbs and vegetable stock. And some (optional) cumin seeds. 

 

Salmon and Pollock Seafood Pie

A strightfowrard oven based meal.  A tray of fish pieces intended for a fish pie: I used the salmon and the pollock for this. Cooked on a base of julienned purple onion, in a wheat and milk sauce, dressed in fines herbes and vegetable stock. 

The fish base was covered in mashed and textured potato, mixed with salted butter, and cooked for at least an hour at 180 deg C on the middle shelf of the oven. Served with garden peas, cooked separately. 

As a Scot, I love fish food. It was a major part of our diet until recently. We've been favoured with ingredients and dishes from all over the world. I can live with all of it :-).

 

Unsmoked Gammon Soup, with Carrot, Parsnip, Onion and Turnip

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This soup began as a vegetable dish, made with a small white onion, one peeled parsnip, two medium carrots, and half a turnip (peeled). It was complete with some vegetable stock, and half a teaspoonful of white (or black) pepper. Simmered under glass for an hour, and then mashed before serving. 

I then added diced unsmoked gammon from a joint I'd roasted the day before. I also added the juices from the roast (done in a casserole dish). Again, simmered for an hour under glass before serving. I added black pepper as a final garnish. One of the most delicious soups I have made. 

 

Lamb Chilli with Sultanas and Red Pepper

200g of lamb mince (ground lamb), browned in a little olive oil. Plus julienned white onion, diced red pepper, and three diced Aleyna red and green chillies. And a handful of Turkish sultanas (an unexpected detour into a Marks and Spencer store produced that find). I added lamb and vegetable stock, and some coconut, tomato puree, and water. Simmered under glass for an hour. Served with Basmati rice. 

 

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. 

 

Beef Chilli with Carrots, Red Pepper, and Coriander

A healthy ground beef chilli with lots of vegetables - red kidney beans, carrot, onion, mushroom, chillies, red pepper, garlic, tomato puree (or tinned tomatoes), plus the herbs coriander and basil. 

The beef had been prepared the day before (with the Bisto browning), and was added to the pot, along with the diced vegetables, the red kidney beans, the garlic and the chillies, and tomato puree. Simmered under glass for an hour and a half. Added coriander and basil during the final ten minutes. 

Served with basmati rice, and dressed with a dusting of dried coriander.  

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!

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. 

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.