Leek, Carrot, Kale and Lentil Soup

A simple and delicious soup made with diced leek, several diced carrots, some finely chopped curly kale (a form of cabbage which looks more like seaweed), and a third of a cup of red lentils.

The vegetables were prepared first, and added to a pot of boiling water. I added the vegetable stock, and simmered the soup under glass for half an hour.

The contents of the pan were then mashed, and the herbs and the pepper were added. Simmered under glass for another half an hour or so, after which the soup can be served.

Accompanied by two lightly toasted potato scones.

Chorizo Stew with Kidney Beans

The Kidney Beans were soaked overnight. The rest of the vegetable items were stir-fried for fifteen minutes at a medium heat in sunflower oil (onion, carrot, potato, red pepper, and mushroom, along with the diced chorizo sausage (about 150 g).

Add boiling water (about a cupful), the vegetable stock, the tomato puree (three squirts), the beans, and the herbs (oregano, herbes de provence). Cook for one hour until the sauce has the desired consistency, and serve with some lightly turmericed long grain rice.

Blueberry, Strawberry, and Orange Fruit Salad

This morning's breakfast: a fruit salad with three fruits, served on a bed of Greek yoghurt, after being soused in some white wine and sugar overnight.

The (Stirlingshire) strawberries were quartered, and the blueberries served whole. The (Spanish) orange was cut into slices and the peel was cut off with a sharp knife. After that the orange segments were diced.

About ten minutes of preparation time, but the resulting dish is well worth it.

Madras Chicken Curry with Rice

The peas, leek and carrot essentially forms the underlying dahl (blended) for this dish.

After making that (if you don't already have some in your fridge), add the chicken stock, the diced chicken pieces, to a pan with a little hot sunflower oil, and stir-fry for ten to fifteen minutes at a medium heat.

Add a cup of boiling water to the dahl, and decant the chicken pieces to the pot containing the dahl, and add the Madras curry powder and turmeric, the garlic, and the finely diced root ginger. Cook at a low heat for about an hour.

Served with some dessicated coconut, sprinkled on top, finely diced strips of (deseeded) raw red chilli, and long-grain rice with a little wild black rice. Delicious!

Spanish Rice, Beans and Olives

A casserole oven-cooked dish, which is essentially a paella, but not cooked in a paella pan.

The onion was diced, the chillies were deseeded and diced, and placed in a little olive oil in the casserole dish, along with a third of a cup of American long grain rice. I added the olives and some minced garlic. Plus some turmeric and tomato passata.

The beans had been soaking since the preceding evening, so they were ready to be added also. The oven was preheated to 190 deg C. A cupful of hot water was added.

Like paella, the dish is ready when most of the moisture has been absorbed by the rice, but it should not be dry. I cooked this with the lid on for half an hour, and then I checked its progress. The dish went back into the oven, but this time without the lid. In another twenty minutes it was ready to serve.

I added no herbs or vegetable stock.A delicious and simple dish to prepare.

Red Beans and Rice with Chilli Sauce

Red kidney beans with black wild rice and American long grain rice, in a hot sauce.

Other ingredients are quartered mushrooms, two small julienned onions, red and green (deseeded) chillies, seven small crushed and diced cloves of garlic.

The dried kidney beans were soaked overnight, then boiled for ten to fifteen minutes (they are poisonous to a small degree if you don't do that, but if you do, they are fine). They were drained and set aside for a few minutes while I got on with the other ingredients.

The onion, the diced chillies and the garlic were stir-fried in sunflower oil for three to four minutes at a medium heat. Then I added the quartered onion, some white pepper, and a knob of butter. Stir fried for a couple of minutes, then I added the kidney beans and the hot sauce (in this case a favourite sweet chilli sauce), plus a little water so that it did not become too thick while heating. Stirred occasionally and removed from the heat when hot, and at the preferred consistency.

The rice had been prepared the preceding day for another dish, so essentially it was briefly reheated when taken from the fridge (two minutes simmering in water, or reheated in the microwave). The black rice takes longer to cook, so when the rice was originally prepared the black rice spent fifteen minutes in the pan before the long grain rice was added. Stirred frequently and ready after a further ten minutes of boiling.

Serve the beans on top of the rice. A delicious dish, worth the preparation and cooking time (about thirty minutes).

Chicken and Sage Stew with Chorizo

A chicken and chorizo sausage stew, cooked in a casserole dish in an oven heated to 180 deg C., with leek, potato and carrots.

Two chicken thighs were on top of the vegetables and the diced chorizo, and 100 mls of water was added to the covered dish.

The vegetables were finely diced, and around 100 mls of tomato passata was added, plus some sage. Cooked for an hour.

The chicken thighs were removed and allowed to cool, after which they were placed in the fridge. The sauce and vegetables were removed from the dish and placed in a lidded pot.

Later, the meat was removed from the chicken thighs, and added to the vegetables.

The dish was served with deseeded raw green chilli (not nearly so hot!), and french fries/chips made with herbs (oregano and rosemary), worcester sauce, ketchup, white pepper, turmeric, and dressed in sunflower oil. The chips were cooked for twenty minutes in a casserole dish placed in the oven,  lidded and at around 180 deg C, and then for another fifteen minutes without the lid. Perfection! But watch progress carefully.

Balti Style Chicken Curry

Dish prompted by some cheap vegetables from the local Co-op. Washed and diced leek and carrot, cooked with yellow split peas, which formed the basis of the curry sauce.

Mashed and blended, I added the curry powder (Madras), plus some turmeric, and tomato passata. Then I added a handful of raisins, a red and green chilli (deseeded), diced root ginger, chicken and vegetable stock, some fish sauce (Nam Pla). And finally the chicken slices from two chicken thighs.

Allowed to simmer for an hour. Served with long grain rice (or basmati, if you prefer), cooked for two minutes in boiling water before being shocked by cold water, and then another eight minutes of cooking. Served with lime pickle. Drizzle some lime juice on the rice before serving. Excellent!

Mushroom, Cashews and Prawns, with a Garlic and Sweet Chilli Sauce

A simple and delicious noodle dish, prepared with prawns, mushrooms, onion, and cashew nuts, plus a garlic and sweet chilli sauce.

The noodles were prepared first, cooked in salted boiling water until tender. Then diced onion, quarterered mushrooms and cashews were stir-fried in some groundnut oil for five minutes at a medium heat.

While this was happening, I blanched the prawns in boiled water. After two minutes, the prawns were added to the vegetables and stir-fried at a medium to high heat. The heat was turned down and the garlic and sweet chilli sauce was added. Stirred together until hot.

The noodles were drained, and decanted to a serving bowl. The prawns and vegetables in the garlic and chilli sauce were placed on top. Drizzle with some dark soy sauce.

Breaded Ham with Sweet Potato Wedges

A sweet potato was peeled carefully, and then cut into wedge shaped pieces. Cooked in salted boiling water for twenty minutes.

Served with two slices of breaded ham, rolled together, along with some rings of green pepper rings. Dressed with some freshly ground black pepper.

Garlic Naan Bread with Egg, Bacon and Mushroom

Something like a standard English Sunday breakfast, but instead of buttered toast, I used a toasted garlic naan bread. This works really well!

The bacon was cooked in a skillet. Often it does not require any oil, since it produces its own as it cooks. But sunflower oil will do, if it does.

The garlic naan bread was toasted in a toaster, after being cut in half. The egg was cooked in the skillet after the bacon and the naan bread were ready.

The quartered mushrooms were cooked in a separate small pan in a knob of butter (mushrooms and butter - mmm!). Served together with a couple of squirts of tomato ketchup, and some black pepper.