Bacon, Halloumi and Baby Roast Potato Salad

Ah, at long last. My food mojo is back. The mojo where I dream up random combinations and they make it into reality. I kind of dreamt this one up very vaguely based on the idea of a delicious Halloumi and steak salad we had back at our South African themed Christmas meal (my other half is from SA) and several times since too. I've taken the basics from it and changed it up a little - and made a heavenly salad in the process! This got a big thumbs up from my man (even though it was salad haha! and its low in FODMAP's and gluten free without any compromise on flavour!

The potatoes make this an easily gluten free meal - though you could swap out for another carby item or leave out altogether. Lemon and maple syrup may seem a bit of an odd combo in a salad but the lemon cuts through the sweetness and the slight smoke of the bacon complements the sweetness of the maple so well together - I've used this in a few other salads and it works a treat. And I am fully signed up to the capers club now - only took 34 years!! Plus I am definitely liking Halloumi now, its a bit like aubergine - cook it well its heaven - cook it bad, ah well yeah that will be hell then!!

Serves 2

120g Halloumi, 1cm dice

3 tsp garlic infused oil

3 unsmoked bacon rashers, diced

1 large tomato, diced

1 tbsp. capers, rinsed and drained

1 tbsp. cornflour

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. maple syrup

50g baby spinach

8 new potatoes
Black pepper
4-5 Basil leaves to garnish

Start by pre-heating the oven to about 200o. Coat the potatoes in a little of the oil, place in a shallow baking dish and roast for 45 minutes, or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, coat the halloumi cubes in cornflour.

Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan, cook the bacon until crispy and lift out onto paper. In the same pan, add the capers and tomatoes, fry for 3-4 minutes, stirring often over a moderate heat until the tomatoes are starting to soften.

Push the tomatoes and capers to the side of the pan and add the prepared halloumi, fry without turning for 3 minutes or until golden and turn over and fry until golden all over. Stir in the lemon juice and maple syrup, coat everything well. Season with black pepper.

Place the spinach in a large serving bowl or plate. Halve the potatoes and place on top of the spinach, spoon over the bacon & halloumi. Scatter over the basil.

This is definitely a summer keeper! I love the salty little fried cubes of tasty cheese and they are weirdly addictive! Your salad may lack some depending how ahead you are with timing!!

Curried Corned Beef Hash - Low #FODMAP

As part of my dabbling with the #FODMAP diet, adapting my current repertoire of recipes is proving to be a thorough mixture of highs and lows, or as the famous Foreigner song goes 'In my life there's been heartache and pain, I don't know if I can face it again, Can't stop now, I've travelled so far, to change this lonely life'. Okay, so maybe lonely life is a little extreme - but faced with hunger, 3pm on a Saturday afternoon and near to tears trying to find something to eat you really do start to think that maybe the IBS wasn't really that bad.....shall I just get a nice warm and tasty pasty?!

Fortunately its not been all bad there has been highs in the form of actual whole days without stomach pain, which after 18 odd years is a revelation - and actually its super useful in identifying triggers. That comes with sadness though too. A cheeky fruit cider on Saturday afternoon left me questioning how much I really did enjoy its beautiful chilled fruitfulness!! I am almost at the end of the elimination phase despite the cider slippages- and I look forward to reintroduction with a mixture of joy at the thought of hot buttered avocado toast and also with some trepidation..!

So as promised a few weeks back - I promised to share some tasty recipes - admittedly there has not been as many show stoppers as I would have liked, however this is the first dish I had seconds of, which is a good sign! Adapting this from my main corned beef hash took a bit of thinking. Baked beans, Worcestershire sauce, onions and the garlic in its raw form were all off the menu; so how would I make it still taste good and be low in FODMAP's?! Admittedly its not lactose free - I added quite a bit of cheese but as my booklet assures me - most cheese, especially the hard ones are low, and therefore suitable... and discovering garlic oil was allowed has been a game changer!

Ingredients

Serves 3-4

1x 340g Corned Beef

1/2 stick celery, finely chopped

1 tsp garlic oil

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

4 large white potatoes, diced (skin on or off as you prefer)

1/2 tsp turmeric

3tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander

2 salad tomatoes

1 heaped tsp tomato puree

50g red Leicester cheese, grated

1 tsp butter

s&p to taste

Start by boiling the potatoes with the turmeric, drain well, mash well and add the butter, 1/3 of the cheese and 1 tbsp of the coriander. Season to taste and add put to one side. Pre-heat oven to 190o.

Heat the a non-stick frying pan until medium-hot, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds and toast until they start to pop or smoke very lightly, add the oil and celery and fry for 2 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes and fry for a further 5 minutes or until starting to go mushy, turning down the heat a notch. Add the corned beef and break down with a spatula and fry until browned lightly. Make a well in the middle and stir in the tomato puree and a splash of water to loosen and fry for a further 2-3 minutes or until well mixed, stir in the remaining coriander and season with black pepper.

Transfer into an oven proof dish, top with the prepared mash and sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until browned nicely.

Serve with veg of your choice - we had roasted carrots with dwarf beans.

Pulled Pork with FODMAP Ginger Barbecue Sauce

Since my last posting, about starting a FODMAP diet in order to try and figure out some of my ongoing digestive 'issues', it sent me into a bit of well, frankly a meltdown! I think trying to start anything that has such a big impact on everything, combined with a super busy time at work, plus being rather hormonal at the time, it was just heading for a disaster!! I did mention I was on the edge of a meltdown previously and I have never cried in a super market but it came very, very close the following day!! One thing I've learned, is do not go shopping when hungry and whilst doing FODMAP!! Nothing will be suitable and you will only be sad and disappointed!! Not to mention quite close to pretty much offending anyone you love! (Sorry B!)

So, towards the end of last week, in an attempt to get back on plan, afterall on the days I did follow it I REALLY noticed a difference digestively, planning was key in it all and with Father's Day fast approaching and the thought of navigating a restaurant menu bought me out in a cold sweat, I knuckled down and after poring over the FODMAP books, again I decided to do pulled pork.Meat after all is easy, the sauce is where it gets interesting... pretty much any ready made sauce, condiment or flavouring is very much on the no list, and so I decided to make a FODMAP friendly barbecue sauce...

Starting was the hardest part - how to do it without any garlic-honey or onions! Previously I have relied on my trusty 'Winter Barbecue sauce' but couldn't make it due to the aforementioned 'banned' items, along with also not being able to have dates or apple, that sauce was doomed. Also another no go was the sauce I make for my pasta! What to do?!! It was time to start a clean slate, wave goodbye to my beloved garlic and embrace a new food challenge... and its time to say hello...to... Mr Celery! He will be your new friend!! It substitutes very well for when you would normally be browning your onions etc! The spice Hing was also recommended by my dietitian as a sort of replacement to the flavour that onion gives - I am not entirely sure on quantities but thought would start with half a teaspoon and go from there!!

Fortunately all the hard work paid off and its actually a pretty low maintenance dish whilst still being delicious! The sauce was really tasty, with a sweet smoky depth and also fresh tasting and no one missed the onion or garlic, including my brother commenting it wasn't bloating compared to a regular version. This sauce is now definitely my base sauce!! I adore ginger and would eat it in copious quantities, though the overall finish of the dish is not very gingery at all, if it was just for me I would of added some extra ground ginger!

For the pork - it takes a long time to cook, so plan appropriately. I woke at 6am Sunday morning to put mine in the oven, I recommend a later time but it depends on your guests schedule...

Serves lots - maybe 8? Depends on greed of guests!

Ingredients

Approx 2 kg joint Pork shoulder

1 x 440ml can ginger beer (check label, mine was from Tesco)

1 tin good quality plum tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 stick celery, finely chopped

25g dark soft brown sugar

2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

2 bay leaves

1 heaped tsp English mustard powder

1/2 tsp hing (also known as Asafoetida)

1 heaped tsp smoked paprika

4 heaped tsp tomato puree concentrate (roughly 1/2 a small tin)

1/2 bunch fresh coriander, shredded

You will need a roasting bag OR lots of foil

Oven 150o (mine is still broken but medium!)

Place the pork joint in the roasting bag and tip in just under half the can of ginger beer (save the rest), seal and place in a baking tin. Or do equivalent making a tight foil bag around the pork. Place in the oven and roast for 6-7 hours or until cooked through and falling apart almost just by simply staring at it.

For the sauce -roughly 3 hours before the pork is going to be ready:

Heat the oil in a medium sized saucepan to medium/ hot heat, fry the celery for 4-5 minutes or until starting to brown, add the red wine vinegar and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Stir in the bay, smoked paprika, hing, mustard,sugar and tomato puree and saute for about 3 minutes until well incorporated and its a lovely reddish brown colour, stir in the chopped tomatoes and most of the remaining ginger beer (I couldn't resist a sneaky sip!), cover and reduce the heat down low. Simmer for a good 2 1/2 hours, giving the odd stir.

When the sauce is done, stir through 2/3 of the chopped coriander, leaving the prettier leaves for garnish. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove the pork from the oven, cut open the bag/ open the foil up and fold back the sides. Lift the pork onto a suitable chopping board (I have one with a drainage area purely for these dishes!) Drain off most of the liquid into a jug and use a little to enhance the barbecue sauce - maybe 1/2 a cup or so at the most.

Remove the rind from the pork - if you want crackling, scrape off most of the loose fat, and return to the oven on a thin baking tray until done to a desired crunch. (I am not a fan but my dad and brother are far more fond of crackling)

Using forks (and maybe a large knife to hack into chunks first), shred the pork into a deep sided baking dish.

Pour over the prepared sauce and return to the oven for about 25 minutes to warm through.

Garnish with remaining coriander leaves and feast! We had ours with a mountain of fodmap suitable roasted veggies and roasted new potatoes

NB:
Do not attempt FODMAP diet without consulting a registered dietitian.
OR when in crazy busy month.
I am also very new to this whole diet thing so tailor to your own individual needs and follow advice given by your dietitian!
*Celery is not to be eaten in large quantities on FODMAP but I used a small amount, spread across a large amount of sauce

Cheesy Gammon and Potato Bake

I've got history. With graters that is...

This picture happened recently. Its like a crime scene, you can still see traces of the cheese I was attempting to grate. Oh the horror! Me and my Jamie grater had 6 magical years together. I already owned two rather shiny microplanes (and still do but their handles annoy me) but my beloved coarse grater survived 4 house moves and grated a hell of a lot of cheese. And carrots.Probably more. Then one fateful night OH THE HORROR IT SNAPPED!! I almost cried. What shall I do? Do I replace? I was scared in case the horror happened again....

So I went shopping... I tried to look for the JO one *just in case I changed my mind* but couldn't find on the high street...it was late..I was tired...weary...still saddened ...and in a moment of madness I purchased the below lime flecked one for a whole pound. I like a bargain but its not the one for me. The bottom cover thingy seems entirely useless other than to fall off and its unsurprisingly not sharp enough. It doesn't have a good prognosis.

But then a rainbow appeared on the horizon of my tears... and it was a welcome hello to my OXO Good Grips 'Complete Grate and Slice set' and we have fully bonded. Those who follow me on Instagram will testify to that! The set consists of four removable grating and slicing slides - and I used it almost daily ever since receiving it! It has pride of place at the front of the cupboard rather than being abandoned towards the back in the mandolin graveyard.....

As I've had 'issues' with my PC and the odd health one to throw a spanner in the works, I have not been very good writing down any recipes but this one is fairly close. My oven temperature is still wrong and I still share a kitchen so blogging is tricky! I have posted pictures of a similar dish a few years back here  with inspiration from Hampshire Cook but this is the updated one with an actual recipe! 

Sorry if the pictures fuzzy - my PC is still trying to break all my images!

The fine slicing blade in the Good Grips set is awesome - as well as graters, this is my 3rd mandolin set too and its perfectly thin and sharp, oh and easy to use! Which is the main thing! I have slightly wonky joints and ease of use is high up on my agenda!! I used both the fine mandolin and coarse grater for this recipe and it took moments to prepare for a big bowl of comfort food! The gripper tool is strong and hold the veggies well when slicing, to protect your fingers!

Serves 4 (ish) Easy

Ingredients:

480g thinly sliced white potato

150g cooked gammon, shredded

80g lancashire cheese, grated

500g milk

25g butter

25g plain floir

1 tsp English mustard powder

1 tsp vegetable stock powder

S&P to taste

Pre-heat oven to approx 190o

Cover the potatoes in cold water, add the stock powder and bring to the boil for 5 minutes, then drain well

In the saucepan melt the butter, add the flour and mustard powder, stir in the milk gently until thickened and simmer for 5 minutes

Add half the cheese to the sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste

Layer up the potatoes with the gammon and a sprinkle of cheese in between. Cover with the sauce and sprinkle over the last of the cheese

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until golden and all lovingly brown on top.

Many thanks to both OXO Good Grips and to Holly at the Lenny Agency for her patience!

Disclaimer: I received the Complete Grate and Slice set for review only and all opinions and pictures remain the property of Anne's Kitchen

Corned Beef Hash with Extra Veg, and a Happy New Year!

I had originally nearly finished writing this post, then I stupidly tried to change photo format and lost the whole blog post!! Now I didn't make any resolutions but instead to make more of an affirmation that 2016 I will be more thankful, though I may have just broken that slightly with a slightly sweary outburst! *Close my eyes, count to 10 and be thankful I have a computer to type on!* Though I will be computer less again soon, I've had nothing but trouble with it since buying it last January so its back to pc hell again once I get around to attempting to do a back up!

So did you make any resolutions? Broken them already like me? ! The last 5 years have been an emotional roller coaster, often feeling like its straight out of hell ...... but .... I have worked very hard mentally trying to have a more positive outlook, change what I can and accept what I can't change. Sometimes its a little easier said than done and there has been tears, often out of frustration but I am starting 2016 with a clean slate. I did a fair amount of mental de-cluttering last year, including removing people in my life who didn't belong in it - its been hard, and emotionally painful but it was definitely for the best. I am very lucky, and grateful that I do have amazing friends and family to help me through both the good and the bad times too. My top tip for 2016 is to reach out to loved ones if you need help, don't struggle on your own just because someone else made you feel so worthless. There are some proper goodun's out there!!

During 2015 I have not cooked as much, sharing a kitchen is not ideal for when you want to experiment or cook up a feast but can't get in the kitchen .... but its what we have until we either win the lottery or live on porridge for a year but I am positive it will happen soon! Also the IBS/ reflux has been a general nightmare, so much meal planning has gone to waste as I couldn't manage it but I am now seeing a fab new doctor so hopefully once we get to the bottom of it, some of my love for cooking - and eating will reappear! Maybe I might even start to blog again more regularly as I feel I have very much neglected the blog of late!!

Anyway, enough of my post hangover gushiness and in with what you came here for - the food! Corned beef hash is one of those comfort food dishes that's a relatively new staple in our diets! Weirdly I never ate this at home growing up and only ever once eaten it out as a child, so the idea to make it came out of nowhere a few months back and I've been slowly tweaking it to my liking. I've kept loyal to the potato and corned beef bit but shaken up the rest and this current edition is rather delicious if I do say so myself!

Its never going to win a beauty pageant but it tastes pretty darn good and that's all that matters! Its economical to make, packed with sneaky veggies and re-heat's really well too. This one used regular baked beans but we have also experimented with the mixed beans in tomato sauce which worked equally well.

Serves 4

Easy

Ingredients

320g peeled, diced swede

770g white potatoes, diced (peeling optional)

1 tin corned beef, roughly chopped

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1 tin baked beans, low salt if possible

1 tbsp smoked paprika

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 small red pepper, finely chopped

1 tbsp butter

50g grated cheddar

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp tomato puree

S&P

Boil the swede and potato together for 20 minutes or until soft and fluffy, drain well. Add the butter and mash well.season to taste with salt and pepper

Preheat oven to roughly 180o (our temperature gauge is still broken, basically a medium hot oven)

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saute pan, fry the onion until golden, add the red pepper for 3 minutes, then add the garlic and corned beef and saute for about 6 minutes or until the corned beef has become a little mushy and the veggies are soft and cooked through. Add the worcs sauce and tomato puree, along with 6 tbsp water to loosen, cook for a further 3 minutes and remove from the heat.

Fill a oven proof dish (mine is roughly a4 sized) with the meaty mixture. Mix together the smoked paprika and baked beans and pour over to make a thin layer. Top with a further layer of the prepared mash and sprinkle over the cheese. Make a pretty pattern with forks if desired.

Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until its golden on top and bubbling. Serve with greenery of choice, buttered spring greens work very well here.

Cauliflower Cheese and Gammon Soup

Now if I recall correctly, I once saw a recipe at some point for Cauliflower cheese soup and it slipped to the dark recesses of my mind as one of those hmm one day recipes... but when faced recently with the usual dilemma of er what to make for dinner but even more so as I was far away from home and in my aunties kitchen, and a fridge full of leftovers the filed away thought magically resurfaced with a ooh could I try it out? Would it work? Would it be weird.... 

On the Sunday prior I had made a fairly majestic mustard spiked cauliflower cheese but despite our best efforts, there was a tub leftover... that was until Wednesday, arriving home post a long drive and day to the lovely River Cottage clutching my lovingly hand made Apple, blackberry and Goats cheese soda bread and wondering what I could serve with it, the Cauliflower cheese soup idea came back to fruition and a star was born! I think in future I will have to make extra Cauliflower cheese purely to make soup with its leftovers! It tasted so good and was a perfect accompaniment to my bread! Oh and my home made butter!

Lovely leftovers!

Now I think it was gammon, it was either that or a bacon joint, either way it was another leftover that got added!

Making the finishing touches:

Serves 2

Easy

Ingredients:

400g leftover cauliflower cheese

1 clove minced garlic

400ml vegetable stock

1/2 tsp spicy Polish spicy mustard (if not a little more wholegrain-this is presuming your cauli cheese was already containing mustard too)

50g shredded cooked gammon or bacon

S&P

1 tsp oil

mint leaves to garnish

Heat the oil in a saucepan, saute the garlic until softened, add the cauliflower cheese and stock, cover and bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the mustard, then blitz with a stick blender adding the gammon at the very end for a few seconds, season to taste

Serve, garnish with mint leaves if you have some or a similar herb.

As my recipe used up lots of lovely leftovers I am entering it into one of my favourite blog challenges - Fab Food 4 All's Credit Crunch Munch which was born from Fuss Free Flavours!

Ham Hock, Mustard & Macaroni Cheese Stuffed Peppers

Making Macaroni cheese is a regular meal in our house, its easy, delicious and is that all round comfort food I remember fondly growing up - don't tell mum but it was her best dish by far too! What's honestly better than an oozing bowl of golden flecked cheese loaded pasta?! With this particular version I kept it very simple - its cooked all in one pan - always a winner when there is less washing up - and made a few little extra additions in the form of stuffing some gorgeous giant red peppers I had picked up with it, along with adding a packet of ready to use shredded Ham Hock I bought from Aldi! Its the first time I'd picked it up and it was such a handy cheat ingredient!

You might notice the peppers in the photo above are in a loaf tin - its the best way I find of baking stuffed peppers, it keeps them upright and the filling on the inside!

Now I did make a bit of a boo-boo with my grocery shopping - after getting everything ready I went to get some greenery from the fridge and I had completely forgotten to buy any green or similar veggies! My friend C who lives next door also had nothing of use, we tend to go shopping together so had both failed by weird coincidence! After rummaging again through the fridge we quickly discounted the vac-pack beetroot as being a bit odd as a side, same with the sweet potatoes as not really going either and in the end I cooked some part-bake rolls and in fact, they were great as I ended up using them to make a stuffed sandwich with the cut open stuffed pepper. Yes its a bit carb on carb but it was oh so good too!!

This batch of mac n cheese makes quite a lot - I only had two peppers to be stuffed, the rest of the pasta got baked as normal in an oven tray - I reckon it would easily fill at least 6-7 peppers if wished!

Ingredients

1 pint milk

1 pint vegetable stock (I always use Marigold Bouillon)

260g macaroni

110g ready Ham Hock

2+ large red peppers 

1/2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
60g grated extra mature cheddar
35g chopped butter
35g plain flour
20g flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Spray oil

Pre-heat oven to 180o (Our thermometer is long time not accurate - it should be fairly hot!)

In a large saucepan, bring the milk and vegetable stock to the boil, add the macaroni, cover and simmer for 12 minutes or until packet states.

Turn the heat up slightly, stir in the butter and flour until thickened, then stir in the mustard and ham hock, season to taste, then add 3/4 of the cheese and the parsley.

Meanwhile, carefully remove the lid off the pepper, remove the seeds, return the lid, spray with oil and place inside a loaf tin. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

When the macaroni is ready, carefully stuff the peppers and sprinkle a little extra cheese on top and put the 'lid' back on.

Return to the oven for 25 minutes or until the peppers are cooked through and softened.

Serve with er, greenery. Or go carb on carb with a bread roll!

The best way I found to attack the peppers was halving them then eating in chunks!

Disclaimer: 

Many thanks to Aldi who provided vouchers to cover the cost of my ingredients - the Ham hock is great!

A relatively new linky to me is also #CookBlogShare, this week held on Hijacked By Twins (such a cute blog name I think!)

If you fancy also stuffing some peppers, do check out these delicious links!

Red peppers stuffed with veggie haggis & Mushrooms from Planet Veggie

Or if you have no peppers, how about some chillies why not try these intriguing sounding Chocotos - Chocolate stuffed chillies from Tin and Thyme?

Keeping on the chilli theme you could also try these Creamy stuffed Jalepenos from The Veg Space

Pan Fried Basa with a creamy Courgette and Chorizo Sauce

Over the years after many trials and tribulations I have become far more confident with cooking fish successfully, and this time I won the jackpot! I loved everything about this dish, it was dreamt up and fortunately it was a very good dream! The creamy sauce, with smoky chorizo and fresh chunks of sweet courgette works so well with the Basa, a relatively plain, affordable white fish that's ideal for this dish. It was a dish I would be happy to order and eat in a good restaurant!

I tried to keep the dish relatively simple, we had no cream in and as we car share during the week, and B was not home from work yet, so a little improvisation was on the cards! I wondered to myself if I could substitute with a little milk and it worked a treat! By the time it had cooked, and a little flour to thicken it was a really good consistency, smooth and cream like without being heavy or claggy (not often manage to use that word!! I used both dill and thyme in the dish in different stages, partly down to indecision! I wanted the earthy thyme with the rich chorizo but had some lovely fresh dill leftover from a fish pie I made on saturday - in the end I cooked the thmye at the start with the chorizo and then the dill went in to finish the dish. If you can't get any fresh dill I would suggest just use extra thyme leaves instead.

Another bonus is that its also cooked all in one pan so less to wash up! Alongside the fish I made sweet potato mash - always a winner!! Even more so when it involves my beloved Masha toy! If you hate mashing (or have evil elbow joints!) then its a god-send and takes no effort and is surprisingly therapeutic! I've had mine a few years now and wouldn't be without it! 

Serves 2

Easy

Under 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Basa fillets (approx. 260g), halved across the middle

70g chorizo, finely sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 large beef tomato, chopped

1 courgette, halved and sliced

2 tbsp plain flour

Sea salt and black pepper

50g butter

1 heaped tbsp. fresh thyme leaves, chopped

1 heaped tbsp. fresh dill leaves, chopped

200ml milk

Sweet Potato Mash:

2 medium sweet potatoes

1 white potato

Salt and pepper

1) Place the flour on a shallow plate and season with salt and pepper, pat the fish dry on kitchen towel and then coat well in the flour mix (don’t discard the flour mix!)

2) Meanwhile boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes, then drain well. 

3) Heat a tsp of the butter in a large saute pan, fry the chorizo and courgettes gently for 3 minutes until starting to colour nicely, add the tomato and fry for a further 2 minutes, add the thyme leaves and stir through, remove everything using a slotted spoon and keep warm.

4) Add the butter to the pan, melt down over a moderate heat, add the fish pieces in a single layer and fry for 3 minutes, turn over and fry for a further 2 minutes until crispening, spooning over the buttery juices, push to one side of the pan and add the prepared chorizo veggie mix, pour in the milk and simmer for a minute, make a well and sparingly scatter 1 tbsp of the flour mix and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring the sauce constantly until thickened. Add the dill and stir through.

5) Drain the potatoes, and mash, season to taste.

6) Serve up the mash on one side of your plate, with the veggie bits on the other side and gently place the fish on top. Scatter over a little sprinkle of dill leaves to garnish.

My dish was quite frugal and so I am sending my dish into this months Credit Crunch Munch - my Basa was bought half price reduced and my thyme leaves can from my 13p reduced plant! The tomatoes and dill were also bought over by dad so were free to me! This month it was run by Food Glorious Food. It was set up by Fab Food 4 All and Fuss Free Flavours to promote frugal recipes and cooking.

Also I snuck in a lonely, slightly soft tomato and cooked the courgettes all together in the sauce to boost veggie content with minimal washing up! I have entered it in Jen's Food Extra Veg Challenge, created by Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy Food for Families:

Last but not least my first entry to Cook Blog Share! This week its held by Sneaky Veg ( I love the name!)

Chorizo, Pork and Kale Lasagne

Lasagne was not one of my favourite meals growing up, I avoided it fairly successfully till probably my early twenties and had dated someone who loved, it so eventually I learned to make a fairly decent one and liked it enough to eat on special occasions... though the lure of red wine going into it possibly helped too at the time, and over the last few years it didn't really cross my mind to cook it until I decided to go experimental and I cooked an awesome one last year with fennel salami in it last year...(though it was actually 18 months ago on checking! I swear it was last year!) 

So last Saturday, whilst deciding what to make for supper and rummaging through the cupboards muttering under my breath the words de-cluttering after decanting half the stuff on to my toes, I stumbled across a couple of boxes of lasagne sheets and decided it was to be lasagne. Except I had pretty much everything bar a pack of beef mince. So experimental lasagne it became again!

We are a fully signed up club chorizo lovers and I decided to base it around that flavour wise, then pretty much make it up as I went along for the rest! Overall I have declared it as the best lasagne I have ever had, it tasted just so, so good! Meaty, a little spicy, rich and packed with flavour, what more can you want? Oh and for the lasagne purists out there this is not Italian or meant to be in anyway. Its just darn delicious!

As always with my meals I love a bit of yellow sticker hunting and managed to sneak a few bargains into the lasagne! We love kale and after getting a bag for a mere 7p it seemed idea to add, the iron-ey rich greens really do add an extra layer of flavour and my cheese was a steal too at 25p! I bought about 6 packets a few weeks back and froze them, they are no use for the cheeseboard but perfect for any baked dishes! I also used a basic mozzarella to keep it more cost effective too, and the mince was on special! Oh and my thyme plant was only 13p too!

   

Time: About 2 hours including cooking

Ingredients:

Serves 6-8

165g Spanish chorizo
1 yellow pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
250g ripe vine tomatoes, chopped
400g pork mince
1/2 red onion sliced
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 ball mozzarella
75g grated cheddar, mature
100g kale, woody stalks removed
400ml milk
1 tsp cornflour

2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
12 sheets dried lasagne
Sea salt and pepper

You will need a large roasting pan- mine is 26x30cm (AKA trusty traybake tine).

1) Heat a glug of olive oil in a large saute pan, gently fry the onion for about 4 minutes stir in the peppers, chorizo and garlic, fry until the chorizo starts to leak its lovely orange oil, add the pork mince and break up with a wooden spatula or similar item until browned.

2) Add the fresh tomatoes and tinned tomatoes, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stir through the thyme leaves.

3) Meanwhile boil the kale in a saucepan for two minutes, drain keeping back 400ml of the cooking liquid. Soak the lasagne sheets in water for 15 minutes.

4) Add 200ml of the milk and 200ml of the kale water to the chorizo pan and season with salt and pepper and simmer over a moderate heat for a further 10 minutes. You need a relatively sloppy mixture.

5) Pre-heat oven to 190o.

6) Place  two scoops of the mince mixture in the bottom of the roasting dish, cover with prepared lasagne sheets, followed by half the remaining mince mixture and a little of the mozzarella. Scatter over the kale to form a layer. Top with 4 lasagne sheets, then remaining mince mix, and final layer of lasagne sheets.

7) In the now empty pan, add the remaining milk and kale water, bring to the boil scraping down any of the remaining pan juices, slacken the cornflour with a little water then whisk in until thickened, simmer for a minute then remove from the heat. Spread over the lasagne, sprinkle over the last of the mozzarella and cheese and a couple of thyme leaves.

8) Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until golden, lovely and bubbling.

I could pretend I served a nice green salad, which would be lovely but we had garlic bread instead!

Cheesy Sausage and Spaghetti Hoop Bake

Many apologies for the tumbleweed gathering on my blog of late! Its been a funny few months, with family being poorly I have been prioritising my time, also I've been spending time focusing also on me, following my pain management program I've found myself questioning a lot of what I do, how and why.... Plus I decided I'd had enough of the side effects for one of the meds for my Fibromyalgia and I have been weaning down slowly, which apart the current insomnia phase its been overall worthwhile!

Also managing to slice through my left index finger 3 weeks ago really has not helped with blogging in general! Typing's a nightmare, yet alone cooking and pretty much all my meal planning went out of the window and whilst there has been some pretty decent meals...they have been few and far between! On the plus side we have been busy perfecting making calamari!

Pasta bakes are one of my go to dishes - it feeds us for days and I had made this dish at the beginning of March we had family over, and it also gave us lovely leftovers too! Pasta hoops or as they are better known - spaghetti hoops - are one of my favourite pasta shapes and writing this now reminds me I must pick some up some more next time I am in town! This is by all means not my first dish with hoops - you can see here my other Spicy Toasted Cauliflower Spaghetti Hoops.

Its a bit of a naughty ingredient but I used Garlic Sausage in this, which I get in the Polish aisle - its garlicky but without being over powering and it keeps for ages before being opened, so I often keep a pack or two stashed away in the fridge for impromptu dinners! I also used some ready diced onion, its super lazy but when tight for time its a handy cheat! You might also spot there is no thickening agent - however 'loose' it might look let the oven do its magic- the al dente pasta will soon devour any excess!

Sizing wise - I used my large rectangular traybake tin for this- which worked perfectly and roughly feeds 6 to 8 people, depending on your appetites of course!

Ingredients:

300g pasta hoops, boiled as per packet instructions, until al dente
2 sticks of finely chopped celery
200g garlic sausage, chopped into 1/2 cm chunks
1 red pepper, diced
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
400ml light vegetable stock
200ml milk
1 heaped tbsp rosemary, leaves finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
100g grated extra mature cheddae
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tbsp olive oil


Method:

1) Heat the oil in a large saute pan, fry the onion gently then add the celery and pepper, fry for about 5 minutes or until softened, then add the sausage until lightly browned, stirring regularly.

2) Add the tomato puree and rosemary to the pan, fry for a minute then add a couple of spoonfuls of the pasta water to loosen, then pour in the milk and stock, bring to the boil.

Pre-heat oven to 200o.

3) Drain the pasta and add to the pan, season to taste, then transfer into a dish large enough to hold it all!

4) Top with the grated cheese and scatter over the cherry tomatoes. Put in the oven, near the top and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden, bubbling and crispy.

When cooked and all lovely looking, serve with buttered green vegetables:

Enjoy! Its a real crowd pleasing family meal and proper comfort food!

As my pasta bake had three vegetables in it, along with on the side I am sending my dish over to this months Extra Veg Challenge - being hosted by Jo's Kitchen, which was originally set up by Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy Food for Families

Cheesy Chorizo Gnocchi Bake

Have you ever dreamed about what it would be like to immerse yourself within a gooey spicy vat of melty cheese? No, nor me either but after making this bake it honestly doesn't seem like a bad option in the middle of winter and all its snowy grey and drizzle ridden dreariness! I know I will melt come summer and its humid fly filled evenings but I hate being cold, my body hates being cold so it really cannot come around soon enough! Cold is bad unless it involves ice cream and lots of it!

 

As much as my stretchy work trousers are suddenly feeling much more snug than I would like, winter is simply not made for salad and when the evenings are lighter, evening walks will re-commence and hopefully those trousers will become slightly less snug! Sometimes you just need a comforting, warming dish that gives you a well needed hug, and my Cheesy Chorizo Gnocchi Bake gives you a lovely sleep inducing cuddling up on the sofa with your loved one kinda hug.

 

When planning our meals they are a mixture of tried and trusted, random things I snag online or in my overflowing collection of torn out recipes and the rest I imagine ingredients I would like to eat but this dish came to me in a dream. I have only ever baked gnocchi once in a rather nice prawn dish but some reason its not an ingredient I really think of and when I was recently carrying out the reverse dad taxi role, and taking my dad shopping following some surgery I spotted a packet of Gnocchi. Then the image in my dream formed and this dish was born a few nights later! I did once attempt to make my own but its better to just buy them unless you are gnocchi master perhaps.

 

Serves 3-4 with a side

 

Ingredients:

 

125g mozzarella, torn into chunks

500g prepared gnocchi, boiled and drained.

120g spicy chorizo, sliced into thin half moons

400g tin cherry tomatoes

2 heaped tbsp grated cheddar

1 onion, finely chopped

75ml milk

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

 

 

Method:

 

In a large sauté pan, heat the oil and gently fry the onion for 3 minutes, or until starting to become translucent, add the garlic and chorizo and fry for a further 3 minutes, or until the chorizo has released its fragrant oils and has lightly browned. Stir through the tomatoes, rosemary and add the milk, gently simmer, covered for ten minutes.

 

Pre-heat oven to 200o

 

Stir the prepared gnocchi into the sauce, being careful not to break the tomatoes, and transfer into a small baking dish - I used my pie dish which is multi versatile! 

 

 

Sprinkle over the grated cheddar, transfer to the oven and bake for 40 minutes or until all lovely, golden and bubbling.

 

 

Serve hot with buttered greens:

 

As delicious as the bake was I would suggest its eaten all in one sitting - we kept some back for lunches...but the gnocchi kinda soak up the sauce and its edible but not quite as good the next day...

Bratwurst, Roots and Kale Casserole

This particular recipe was born out of hurriedly putting together last week’s meal plan, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and a good idea it was! There is something so wonderfully warming about a hearty sausage casserole and its great if you are feeding family arriving at uncertain times! My recipe for sausage casserole seem to vary slightly every time as to what is in the fridge but every time fortunately they are always so comforting and delicious! I hadn't really planned to blog this recipe but I had a lovely comment on the meal plan post, and so I remembered to note down the ingredients!
 
For the sausage part of this casserole I used a packet of Nuremberg Bratwurst, that my dad had gifted for us to try – they are sort of chipolata in size and consist of Pork, seasoned with earthy spices, including marjoram and a hint of citrus to lift the flavour. They are delicious simply grilled or fried but work very well too in casserole form. We normally buy the standard sized Bratwurst so it made a nice change to discover a new version of them!

 

 

Stock wise a light chicken or vegetable stock will suit best – I used Bisto stock melts on this occasion, purely as they were on offer when I went hopping and they worked out a good choice. My dad often finds dishes too salty if I use another well known brand of stock pots but if anything he added salt for the first time to this, I was so shocked!
 
To speed up cooking time you can pre-soak the barley in boiling water first, though I forgot to prepare this in the morning so they only had a quick bathe but was enough to get the barley started. Its a handy dish to put on the hob and then ignore whilst you get on with important things like opening up wine bottles for example.

 

Serves 4-6

Easy

 
Ingredients:
300g Nuremberg Bratwurst
3 medium carrots, diced into 1/2cm chunks
3 medium parsnips, diced into 1/2cm chunks
1 white onion, diced
80g kale, hard bits removed and leaves shredded
1 leek, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
100g pearl barley
3 bay leaves
1 heaped tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 chicken stock pot – I used Bisto stock melts
1200 ml boiling water 

Method:
 
Heat half the oil in a large lidded saute pan and fry the sausages for about 10 minutes or until nicely browned all over, remove from the pan and when cool enough to touch cut into 4 or 5 chunks.

Put the pan back on the heat with the remaining oil and fry the onion until golden, then stir in the parsnips, carrots and leeks and fry gently for a good ten minutes to add a little colour. Add the barley, tomato puree, mustard and bay leaves. Combine the stock pot with the boiling water and pour over the mixture, bring to the boil then add the cut up sausages and then reduce to a gentle bubbling simmer for about an hour and a half or until the barley is tender.

 

 

Stir through the kale, cover and simmer for a further 5 minutes then serve immediately into nice big bowls.

Bacon and Cheese Tart

My boyfriend was away on holiday recently visiting his family in South Africa and I found myself alone with a packet of shortcrust pastry on its use by date... Obviously dangerous times cooking for one to be alone with so much pastry, however thanks to calling over to one of besties at work as to whether she would like some planned bacon and cheese tart for her lunch, to which was a yes (and an eventual can I have the recipe please as her hubby liked it too) another friend-colleague also overhead and agreed it sounded rather nice and so two pieces were instantly ‘sold’ and I only had to eat two portions myself…such hardship…!

Its quite a frugal tart meat wise, I used half a packet of ready chopped bacon trimmings so its relatively faff free too! Whilst I cook from scratch this damn cold weather plays havoc with my joints so a little less chopping is welcome! Also the cheese was the end part of a piece bought yellow stickered and the sour cream was leftover too from our beloved soured cream bundt cake, so it was great not to have the guilt of two cakes in one week, plus a good fridge raid too!

The pictures are not great as I didn't expect to like it so much but you get the idea of it!

*You will need a ready rolled shortcrust pastry sheet if you are lazy like me, or measure home made accordingly*

Ingredients:

1x ready rolled shortcrust pastry sheet

300g cooked chopped up bacon trim, fat removed

4 large eggs

1 tsp dried oregano

75g soured cream

30g double Gloucester cheese.

2 tbsp tomato puree

Bring the pastry to room temperature if you are organised (If not spend a few minutes massaging the cracks with cold water!), gently roll out the sheet, and measure to 26cm, trimming off the excess centimetres. (Makes excellent mini jam tarts for pudding)

Gently lower the pastry sheet into a square baking dish – roughly 8 inch pan, using your fingers to mould the pastry corners.

Brush the tomato puree over the pastry base and sprinkle over the bacon pieces

Beat the eggs, ½ the cheese, oregano and soured cream, season with Salt and pepper. Pour over the prepared base, sprinkle over the remaining cheese and bake for 35-45 minutes or until cooked through and golden. 

The tart was really tasty served hot, with sweet potato mash and some fried romano peppers (5 for a £1 in one of the grocers near my dad!) but also worked well cold too the next day for lunch and would be ideal for a buffet style dinner too!

As my tart is very frugal, using ready chopped bacon trim (88p a packet!) plus cheese scraps - you could use any old cheese really - it would be ideal for a quick Christmas time supper or part of your boxing day buffet, without breaking the piggy bank - I have sent my tart over to this months Credit Crunch munch, from Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All: