Pork stew with Grilled Courgettes (Zucchini).

A fairly uncomplicated meal, consisting of a roast pork stew (pork from the freezer), along with diced fresh spinach, and sliced courgettes grilled in a little sunflower oil for at least 45 minutes, turning occasionally.

The roast pork stew consisted of tomatoes, leek (instead of onion), and some diced white mushrooms. Plus vegetable and pork stock. Cooked for at least an hour.

Not bad. I bought the courgettes mainly because carrots were unaccountably unavailable, after a number of days. But these are the days we live in, and we do the best we can. I got three red peppers on the same supermarket day, which was a plus. I prefer peppers to carrots.

Chunky Minestrone

A simple but satisfying soup made with fridge leftovers, plus some broken spaghetti, herbs, and paprika.

First I diced a courgette, cut a carrot into small chunks, diced a whole red pepper, and sliced a white onion. There was some leftover Cavolo Nero cabbage in the fridge. I cut the leaves off the stems, diced them, and added them to the pot. Then I added a handful of broken spaghetti, and brought the pot to the boil. Also added about 200 mls of tomato passata, and some vegetable stock. Simmered under glass for about one hour.

After that I added a pinch of basil and oregano, a pinch of paprika, four red dried chillies, and two finely diced cloves of garlic. Simmer for another thirty minutes before serving.

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.

Haddock Fishcakes

Breaded haddock fishcakes from Aldi, cooked in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes at 200 deg. C.

Served with green beans, topped and tailed, and boiled for 8 to ten minutes in salted water, and batoned courgette (zucchini) fried in a little butter until it begins to brown.