All 2014th Posts

Overloaded Pork Chop

I love a good pork chop but unless you’re careful they can get dry. Ignore those dreadful things with the fat taken off in the supermarket and get yourself with the skin still on and a good layer of fat on them from your butcher (or meatbox).

Baked pearl barley chicken

I’ve never considered doing anything with pearl barley other than sticking it in broth but since getting The Thug Kitchen Cookbook for Christmas (it’s mother fucking excellent) I’ve been playing around with it.

Christmas left over burritos

Turkey curry is the scourge of this country. I love turkey, I love leftovers and it breaks my heart hearing people whine on about “never ending turkey”.

Christmas cheese nibbles suitable for eating with wine and beers in polite company, possibly where you need to not get too drunk and tell inappropriate stories

The batch of these I made and took to the party weren’t as good as those I made for the rollings out, so I’ll describe that process instead.

Leek and potato soup

Winter is here and a lazy Saturday afternoon demanded soup. Ready in 30 minutes, creamy and luxurious, the potato reduces the slimyness that you sometimes get with leeks and the butter ups the creamy feel.

Cheating Chicken Noodle Soup

I love soups and broths. I love chicken noodle soups, both of the rich and pleasing Jewish deli variety or the salted, spiced Asian sort.

Amazing Cheating Chinese Orange Chicken

One (of my many) guilty pleasures is cheap Chinese takeaway. I love real amazing Chinese food, but sometimes nothing else will do but crispy friend chunks of chicken in a slightly sweet sauce with enough chilli to make it interesting.

Spain Vs Lancashire

Whilst doing the weekly meal plan (yes, I know) I came across a recipe for a chorizo casserole in a Nigella Lawson book How To Eat I think).

Homemade ricotta and spinach pizza

After an amazing pizza at Cal’s Own I decided it was time to have a go at making ricotta. You will need 2 pints of full fat milk A good splash of white wine vinegar or lemon juice 200g of strong bread flour a pinch of fast yeast pinch of salr a hand full of spinach (fresh or defrosed frozen squeezed dry) half a jar of premade pesto Do Put the milk in a pan and bring almost to the boil Add the lemon or vinegar, turn off the heat and stir a little Leave for twenty minutes to stand.

Winter loaf

As it gets colder and darker I start to fancy hotcross buns, which is a chronological shame. Instead, I made this fruit bread on a whim.

Smoked salmon pasta

I’ve not bee very well this week and not able to swallow easily so this super simple pasta dish was perfect. Editors Note It has been pointed out that in fact my most wonderful girlfriend cooked this for me on Wednesday and that this recipe is not exactly what she did.

Spinach and Lentil Roulade

A rare vegetarian meal, but one I love hot or cold. You will need 500g of fresh spinach (I actually used a mi of fresh which needed using up and frozen to make it up) an egg 300ml milk 200g of red lentils a small onion two slices of bread a inch of strong cheese a heaped tablespoon of premade horseradish a heaped tablespoon of tomato ketchup Butter for greasing Do Fine dice the onion Boil lentils and onion in boiling water until lentils are tender.

Left over lamb becomes spicy pie

image: “/images/blog/lamb-pie-3.jpg” After a rather excellent roast of lamb shoulder (from Cranstons) we had a load of cold lamb left over. Rather than a quick curry we made spiced lamb pies instead.

Chicken Pizza Chips

A little while ago I ran across a Reddit post talking about “Pizza Fries” which looked amazing. I had the left overs of a roast chicken which had been been roasted over tomato, onions and peppers and couldn’t resist having a go.

Quick pickle to use up an over ripe mango

I hate letting things go to waste, and so discovering a bruised and over ripe mango plus a few past their best chillis in the veg rack was a little upsetting, however it was an excuse to make some mango pickle.

BBQd Rib of Beef

No real recipe here, just another (rather serious) chunk of beef from G&S Organics becoming dinner for a few friends. You will need The beef A rib of beef.

Day two of slow cooker lamb

You will need For the lamb A couple of ladles of yesterdays lamb Crunchy salad Use whatever you have around. I was trying to get a balance of crunchy, sharp and sweet.

Slow cooked North African(ish) lamb

Getting a regular meatbox from the awesome G&S Organics means that we’ve had a glut of roasting joints in the freezer of late, and much as I love a roast with all the trimmings, they’re not the most convenient of foods.