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Sausage and Bean winter casserole

I got a pack of “three chilli sausages” in an offer at the supermarket and it was a good opportunity to make something warming and wintery.

Lamb roasted over potatoes

I don’t remember where I read this idea first, but roasting the lamb in a closed roasting tin keeps all the juices in means the potatoes cook in them getting sticky and delicious.

Crispy fish with a sour pour over sauce

I’ve seen whole fish being fried and served in Chinese restaurants, with some sort of spicy clear “sauce” poured over at the table. Tonight I took a stab at something similar, based on what was lurking in the kitchen.

Hot, fast and rare lamb

In my opinion lamb should be cooked very hot and fast, or very slowly, and my preference is for hot, fast and hard, bloody in the middle and black on the outside.

Corn beef fried rice

I’ve never been nervous about posting a recipe before, but since a friend linked me to this famous take down of Jamie Olivers fried rice I did consider it twice.

Pepper Pot stew

The Caribbean combo of thyme, allspice, habanero, nutmeg and cloves always remind me of sunshine and good times, and when I first saw Levi Roots making Pepper Pot stew on TV years ago, I really wanted to try it.

Teriyaki Salmon Salad

A super quick tea that I felt was worth a write up. This went from the bag to my face in less than 15 minutes, thanks to microwave rice and fish under the grill.

White fish with a parsley sauce

I saw somebody on twitter posting about making white fish in a parsley sauce and their memories to bland boil in the bag from the 1990s.

No-code solution for indexing 100s of recipe books

I’ve not written a post here for ages, life has been crazy busy, but I’ve a little side project to share and here makes as much sense as anywhere else.

Gentle turkey

I’m writing this on my iPad because my laptop has died, and so far the experience is painful. however, last night’s tea was a good way too use up a pepper and leek that were well past their best.

Orzo and Meatballs

Orzo is one of those things I love, then forget exists, then read about and rember I love it. Thus it was this week, when I read Nigella’s Chicken In A Pot with Lemon and Orzo

Posh fish and chips

For a couple of Fridays in a row we had the same super tasty, super quick tea. The fish cooks in a tinfoil packet on the same tray as the oven chips so there’s less washing up.

Beans on toast (from scratch)

When I saw La Cloake had published the perfect Bostin baked beans I couldn’t resist. Then when I was in Block&Bottle and the chap next to me only wanted half a piece of guanciale (cured pork cheek) I couldn’t resist having a go.

Easy cheesy potato bake

Tonight’s tea needed to be quick, easy, hands off comfort food and to use up some of the huge chunk of raclette cheese we bought this weekend.

Gnocchi with leeks and sour cream

Another use up tea, super quick, idea to plate in less than ten minutes. You will need A pack of gnocchi A large leek, finely sliced A good grating of Parmesan A couple of tablespoons of sour cream A couple of teaspoons of vegetable oil Do Cook the leeks in a teaspoon of oil on a pretty high heat until mostly translucent and a few crispy bits then set aside Boil the gnocchi in boiling salted water for 2 minutes then drain and set aside Put a a couple of teaspoons of vegetable oil into a non-stick pan on a high heat Add the gnocchi, cook for a few minutes, tossing occupationally.

Chicken with fennel, leek and lemon

A simple tray baked dinner that’s excellent with rice and can be dressed up for posh dinner parties by adding a glass of white wine and another of cream for the last 20 minutes of cooking

Facehugger Ramen

Every since Our Lady of Survival, Ellen Ripley first brought facehuggers to the worlds attention we’ve had a complex relationship. Yes, they’re harbingers of death, emerging from their cocoons, skitthing about and determined to paralyse you and implant a Chestbuster, but did you know they are delicious?

Chicken dumpling soup

I love chicken soups, and I thought I’d written about various different styles here over the years but it turns out ( only the once ) but on a cold and miserable Sunday evening, having driven for 12 hours out of the previous 36, I was craving comfort food and the idea of adding dumpling (the stodgy kind, not the Asian kind) appealed.

Instapot and Airfrier cabbage saas aloo

Tonight we had strong cravings for a dish rich in green vegetables and I remembered we had some potatoes and cabbage that needed using up.

Cheese savoury sandwich

I thought the cheese savoury sandwich was pretty universal, but after tweeting a photo of mine aroused some curiosity, I guess not. I once lived with a chap who’s family claimed to have invented them, and for this I can only thank them.

Gout friendly InstantPot baked beans

Boston baked beans, cooked with treacle and pork, are a world away from tinned baked beans, good as they are. Sadly, they’re also not very gout friendly due to the amount of pork, so I had a stab at making something as close as I could get.

Making a Marmite Syringe

These days I love Marmite. Once upon a time I could not stand it. Previous me was a jerk at times. We tend to buy Marmite in the 1kg tubs, because it’s so much cheaper, but the nature of the sticky black goo makes it difficult to keep the tubs clean, which is frustrating.

InstantPot Kedgeree

I love kedgeree, and it turns out you can make it in an InstantPot. You will need 1 cup of rice (yes, yes, American measures, but rice is best cooked by volume) Just short of two cups of water 2 pieces of smoked fish (I used two pieces of smoked coley) 3 eggs 3 fat spring onions, finely sliced A cardamom pod A heaped teaspoon of hot curry powder Half a teaspoon of garam masala A small handful of parsley, finely chopped 2x knobs of butter Do Saute the onions in the butter until soft Add the rice, cardamom, curry powder and stir Add the water and then prop the InstantPot Trivet in Balance the fish and eggs on the trivet Cook on rice mode, which is 12 minutes Let the steam out Fluff the rice, peel then chop the eggs and fish and mix Stir though the parsley, garam masala and second bit of butter Results Savoury, lightly spiced, very satisfying.

InstantPot Beef Rendang-a-like

I can’t bring myself to call this beef rendang, because that would be a travesty. It is however super tasty and features some of the same flavours and it quick.

Green scones

I love a freshly made scone. I think savoury scones benefit from being made “short”, eg. not using all butter, but baking block of margarine.

Nachos, but make them roast potato

Our household loves roast potatoes done in the airfrier. War lass loves nachos. I am less keen on them. Luckily it turns out that you can marry the two things and everybody loves them!

Gout friendly turkey chorizo

This year my gout has been really painful, to the point where I started a new side project www.gout-is-shit.com. I’ve also had to cut out from my diet all pork, offal, game, fish, shellfish, beer and whiskey.

Fried fish (forkbeard!)

I very rarely fry fish, but our FishBox contained a couple of big fillets of Forkbeard so I thought I’d give it a go. I used a very thin tempura like batter.

Potatoes and chorizo

Super simple, but it tasty, super savoury. Multiple options. Doing the potatoes under the grill makes it easier to get a good even crispy finish compared to in the pan and without using tonnes of oil.

Salt beef sandwiches

I’ve made pastrami before, but not it’s precursor, salt beef. I couldn’t find my pink curing salt, it came out a little grey in colour, but delicious.