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.
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
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Mince and dumplings are great (I’ve written about how much I enjoy savoury mince and dumplings). Beef bolognese is great. At some point, somebody combined the two.
I wrote this before HelloFresh had some sort of meltdown leading to missing boxes, poor communications and ultimately us canceling our subscription. It was helpful for a while though.
You will need A pair of salmon fillets Enough potatoes for two, cut into cubes A slice of a block of unsalted butter roughly 1am wide The juice and zest of half a lemon A teaspoon of capers A bag of samphire A sprig of thyme A big sprig of parsley A quarter of a clove of garlic Olive oil Do Shake the potatoes with a teaspoon of oil and stick in the airfrier on 180 for 20 minutes Drop the samphire into boiling water for 2 minutes and drain, set to one side When you’re about ten minutes off the potatoes being ready, make the salmon Put a good slug of olive oil into a pan and once it’s hot add the salmon in skin down (it should sizzle) Cook skin side down for a few minutes, then turn them over Turn the heat down and add the butter, thyme and garlic Add the lemon zest and capers, keep it cooking for a few minutes, pop the salmon on it’s side if you need to to help it cook though Add the Parsley, samphire and lemon juice, stir round, cook for another minute or two Pile the potatoes into the middle of the plate, point the rest over the top.
I was very skeptical of Fish Finger Bhorta when I first saw it, not because of the fish fingers, but the English mustard. When it was being discussed on TV Nigella mentioned that is was suitable for anything crunchy, so tonight I switched in in a family favorite.
I love the Rivers of London books and all thought it Peter Grant raves about the groundnut chicken dish his mum makes. After a bit of googling I found that groundnuts are another name for peanuts (and fascinatingly in Nigeria “peanuts” are groundnuts dipped in dough and fried).
I love Chinese meals of rice, greens and meat. This months meatbox had a lovely slab of pork belly in it so I got to scratch my itch and try using the Unknown Tingly Green Sauce I last had it in Tingly Chinese Chicken
I love Indian pickles, especially lime pickle. I’ve not had much luck in the past making them, but this worked out well and used up a glut of fresh chillis from a grocery box delivery.
Growing up I hated mince and plain boiled potatoes, which is a shame because other than me it was something of a family favorite. Having grown up, I still don’t enjoy boiled potatoes, but I discovered dumplings, and that changed everything.
My friend knows I’m always interested in unusual food, so when you messaged me to see if I wanted a jar of “this tingy chilli oil that my wife loves and you can’t get in the UK” I jumped.
We had this as a main course (a huge pile of it) but it would make a good side dish. It’s super savoury, with all the boxes being ticked (sour, sweet, salty, spicy, stuck on bits, burnt bits, squidgy bits, everything).
This was an excellent tea made by my girlfriend, well worth a write up. Pre-rolled pastry is a great shortcut to delicious dinners.
You will need A pack of pre-rolled puff pastry Half a large onion (finely sliced) A pack of smoked salmon (great use of the cheap packs of offcuts) Half a small tub of soft cheese A big squeeze of lemon juice A good scattering of capers Egg if you’re bothered about glazing the edge a slug of olive oil Do Softened the onions in a pan with the olive oil until translucent Let them cool a bit Add the soft cheese and lemon juice Bake the pastry on a sheet at 180 for a few minutes Pile it all into the middle of the pasty and spread towards the edges, leave as much crust as you’d like Scatter with salmon and capers Egg wash the crust if you’re into that sort of thing Return to the oven and bake until the edges are golden and the topping has a hint of char Result I’m sure this was meant to feed six but we didn’t let that get in the way.
