Sausagemeat and Spinach Lasagne

Part boil 6-7 sheets of lasagne. Cool.
Slice half an onion and slowly fry in a little olive oil.
Add 500g sausagemeat and break up in pan with 2 wooden spoons.
When brown add 2 cloves of garlic.
Add a fair amount of spinach, creme fraiche and season.

In jug, mix tin tomatoes, 1 tbsp sundried tomato paste, 1 tsp demerera sugar and 1 tbsp thyme.

In dish, create layer of alternate blobs of sausagemeat mix and tomato sauce. Then layer of lasagne, etc.
Final layer should be sausagemeat and tomato.
Top with cheddar cheese and bake for around 20 mins until golden.

BBQ Pork-Belly Burger

• 500g minced park
• 275g minced pork belly
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
• 50g salted peanuts
• 2.5cm grated ginger
• 1 stick chopped lemon grass
• 1 shallot chopped

For baste:

• 60ml light soy sauce
• 60ml sherry
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes

Salad

• sugar snap peas
• mangetout
• radishes, thinly sliced
• roughly chopped mint
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• salt and pepper

Mix the minces in a bowl and add all other burger ingredients. Add 2 tbsp of the baste to the mix.
Chill for 1 hour.
Create burgers and fry 'em, brushing regularly with the baste.
To prepare the salad, blanch peas in boiling water for 1 min before refreshing in iced water. Place in bowl with radishes and mint. Heat soy, sugar, vinegar in pan for 1 min. Leave to cool. add sesame oil and pour over the salad.
Serve.

Aromatic Chicken With Apricots

• 2 chicken breasts
• 175g dried apricots - halved
• 1 large onion
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 400ml chicken stock
• 20g sliced almonds
• fresh coriander to serve

Slice the onion and fry in sunflower oil in a saucepan.
Add the spices and chicken.
Once coloured add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and cook for 15 mins covered.
Add the apricots and cook for another 15 mins.
Finally cook uncovered for 10 mins allowing the sauce to thicken.
An added suggestion here is to gently toast the almonds before sprinkling them over.
Serve with the coriander and rice.

Duck with red wine sauce

• Duck breast or roast duck
• 125ml beef stock
• 125ml red wine
• 1 tsp tomato puree
• 15g butter
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp chopped rosemary

Marinade:

• a few garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp chopped rosemary

If duck breast then marinade in garlic, rosemary and vinegar. If roast duck, roast it and rub some garlic, rosemary and vinegar over it.

For the sauce, add stock and wine into frying pan and bring to the boil.
Cook over high heat until reduced to dark glaze, then add tomato puree and lemon juice.
Remove from heat and whisk in butter, letting it thicken the sauce. Check seasoning.
Spoon over duck and sprinkle rosemary over it.

Normandy Chicken

• 2 chicken breasts with skin
• 2 cooking apples - 1 cored and sliced and 1 sliced all the way across (later)
  
• about 3 celery stalks
• 1 onion
• 1 tbsp flour
• 250-300ml chicken/game stock
• 150ml dry white wine (can also use sherry)
• 150ml double cream
• chopped parsley

Melt some butter in casserole dish.
Fry chicken breasts until start to brown.
Remove chicken. Lower heat and add celery, sliced apples, onion. Fry for 5-6 mins until soft.
Add flour and cook 1 min. Pour in stock and wine, salt and pepper.
Bring to boil and allow to thicken a bit.
Add the chicken, and bring back to the boil. Cover and cook at 180/350/gas 4 for 1 hour-ish (maybe a fraction under).
At end of cooking remove the chicken and strain the sauce into a saucepan. Whisk in the cream, season if required and reheat.

Fry the other apple in a frying pan with butter and sprinkle with a little caster sugar. Cook over a high heat turning once for around 3 mins.

Serve with chicken and sprinkle with the parsley.

Greek Lamb

• Some lamb. Obviously. I used 4 lamb steaks to feed 2.
• 1 lemon
• Olive oil (some)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
  
• 2 tomatoes
• 1/2 Cucumber - chopped into cubes
  
• 1 tsp Dried oregano
• Greek yoghurt
• Mint
• Salad leaves
• Rice

Mix the olive oil, juice of half the lemon, the chopped garlic, oregano and some salt and pepper in a wide-ish bowl.
Drop the steaks in the bowl, cover with the mixture well and leave for a few mins.
Grill the lamb for a few minutes each side.

Make the rice and then stir in the cubed tomato and cucumber.

Chop the mint and mix into the yoghurt.

Serve the lamb on top of the rice with the minted yoghurt and the salad leaves.

Fish with Parsley Sauce

I've purposely not specified which fish - I used cod but any fish could be used.
Serve with mashed potato/beans etc.

For the parsley sauce, melt some butter in a saucepan. Add flour and cook for a minute.
Add some milk and whisk until smooth.
Add approx 150ml chicken stock.
Add juice of half a lemon.
Whisk til smooth.
Add some double cream, and a handful of chopped parsley.
Keep adding cream until the right consistency.
Season. Serve.

Lamb Kebabs

• Lamb steaks
• Green pepper
• Red onion
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil
• Mint

Mix some olive oil, lemon juice and mint together.
Skewer the lamb, pieces of green pepper and onion. Brush with the liquid.
Grill for about 10 mins altogether.

Suggest serving with salad and pitta. Could also have new potatoes or rice. Yoghurt good for making it a bit wetter.

Very easy and quick, though not a culinary experience.

Chicken Katsu Curry

I liked this. I really did.
Julia thought it would be better if the portion was smaller and part of something else.
So I reckon I'll try it again at some point with some kind of twist to "interest it up" a bit and see if I can change her mind.

Use about 75g bread to make fine breadcrumbs.
Using 2 chicken breasts, cut both in half.
Dust each piece with plain flour and then transfer into beaten egg. From the egg to the breadcrumbs.
Lay the coated chiken out.

Make the sauce:
1 onion, roughly chopped.
Cook in about 30-40g butter so that it cooks slowly.
Add in approx 3 tbsp mild/medium curry powder and around 125ml chicken stock.
Stir well and then add in 2 tbsp soy sauce and 2-3 tbsp mirin.
Let this cook together. It can be thickened with cornflour but I haven't needed to.

Fry the chicken in veg oil for 7 mins on one side and 4 mins on the other.
When done the breadcrumbs should be golden but not burnt.
Cut each piece of chicken into bitesize pieces.

Serve with rice.

Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding

• 150g dark chocolate
• 200g baguette
• 50g butter
• 400ml full fat milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• pinch cinnamon
• 3 eggs

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a simmering pan of water.
Slice the baguette thinly and butter the pieces. Add the remaining butter to the melted chocolate.
Arrange bread over the base of a greased oven dish.
Spoon some chocolate over the bread.
Add another layer of bread and another layer of chocolate, etc.

Whisk the eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla essence together and pour over the bread.
Cover loosely with buttered foil and leave to stand for 15 mins.
Then bake for 30 mins gas 4 / 180 with the foil on, folllowed by 5 mins without the foil to brown the top.

Delicious Pork Fillet

Pork Fillet
This was based on BBC Food website.
Basically, boil some new potatoes. When cooked, slice them. Fry them with some bacon bits, and then add spring onions when you're well on the way. Season.
Take off heat and add some grated emmenthal cheese.

Slice port fillet into thick slices. Fry.
Finely chop a gherkin, and mix with finely chopped dill (or parsley which I used) with about a tbsp of olive oil.

Arrange potato mixture on plate with slices of pork on top.
Gherkin mixture on top of that with a sprinkle of paprika to finish it off.

Very good indeed.

Pork Dijonnaise

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 15g butter
• pork fillet
• 1/2 - 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 300ml cider
• 2 tsp wholegrain mustard
• 3 tbsp double cream
• chopped chives
• potatoes or rice

Heat oil and butter in frying pan.
Add sliced pork, onion and garlic and fry over high heat for 4-5 mins until browned on both sides.
Add cider and mustard and boil until reduced slightly.
Lower heat and stir in cream.
Sprinkle with chives and serve.

Pork with Cream Cheese and Pasta

Makes a tasty lunch.

Boil some pasta.
Fry a few slices of pork fillet and some chopped bacon.
Add a chopped shallot and a 1-2 cloves chopped garlic.
Add some cider/white wine and boil rapidly until reduced.
Add a few tsps of cream cheese.
Add chopped chives just before serving.

The dish doesn't need extra salt as the cheese and bacon give it enough.
It's the kind of dish you could add any veg you wanted, leave out the pork etc. Basically use whatever you've got.

Lamb With Leeks

Use 2 lamb loin chops (or some sort of lamb pieces) per person.
Dot the lamb with redcurrant jelly and season.
Grill for a few mins each side.
Thinly chop 2-3 leeks.
Fry in some olive oil and butter along with 1 tsp of capers and 2 tsp of red peppercorns.
Add a small handful of mixture of (or 1 of) mint and rosemary.

A bit of mash or new potatoes is good too if you want bigger portions.

Homemade beef burgers

Makes 8 (just about - they tend to shrivel somewhat):

• 500g mince
• thyme
• parsley
• 1 egg
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• salt & pepper

Blend onion, garlic, thyme and parsley.
Mix together in large bowl with rest of ingredients.
Grill.

Chinese Chilli Chicken

For the sauce (which is the interesting bit):

• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2.5cm/1in piece fresh root ginger, peeled, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, de-seeded, finely chopped
• ½ red pepper, de-seeded, sliced into strips
• 2 tomatoes sliced
• 5 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 tsp light brown sugar
  

Blend sauce ingredients until smooth.
Cook some chicken and peppers/courgettes and spring onions.
Add the sauce and 2 tbsp soy sauce.
Serve with rice. Unless you don't like rice.

Chicken Carbonara

Not exactly gourmet food, but quick and easy.

Cook pasta.
Cook a couple of rashers of bacon, some chicken and 2-3 spring onions.
Stir in the cooked pasta and then add some single cream.
Season.
Add chopped parsley and serve a few seconds later.
Grate some parmesan over the top.

Chicken With Cashew Nuts

• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced
• groundnut oil
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 yellow pepper, sliced
• 1/2 red pepper, sliced
• 3 tbsp chicken stock
• 2-3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 spring onions
• 4 tbsp cashews
• steamed rice to serve

Place egg and cornflour in bowl. Season lightly and mix thoroughly.
Add chicken and coat well.

Fry in hot oil for 4-5 mins until golden. Remove.
Fry onion until just starting to soften.
Add peppers and fry for 1 min.
Add chicken again and fry another 2 mins.
Add stock and soy sauce.
Simmer until chicken is cooked.
Add spring onion slices and cashews, season, and serve with rice.

Very tasty, and quick.

Spanish Omelette With Chorizo

Peel and thinly slice about 4 potatoes.
Place in boiling water for about 2-3 minutes with a little salt.
Remove and dry.

Fry with olive oil in frying pan until starting to brown.
Add half a chopped onion.
When the potato is almost done and the onion is softened, add in 6-7 slices of chorizo.

Beat 5 eggs, and season. Add to the pan.
Once it is nearly set, place under a grill until it is set but not coloured.
Grate cheese over the omelette and grill until coloured.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Serve with salad.

Julia's Fish Gratin

Feeds 2 hungry pigs:

• 75g gruyere cheese.
  
• 75g emmenthal cheese
• 3 tsp dijon mustard
• 4-5 tbsp single cream
• salt and pepper
• 18 cherry tomatoes
• 1.5 tbsp chopped basil
• 750g flat fish such as lemon sole or plaice, filleted and skinned
  

Preheat oven to 180C/4.
Grate all cheese, and place all cheese, mustard and cream into bowl and mix.
Season.
Half tomatoes, add basil and a little salt. Mix.
Spread half cheese mixture into gratin dish.
Lay half of the fish on top.
Place all of tomato mixture on top of fish.
Place second half of fish on that, and the rest of the cheese on top of that.

Transfer to oven for 20-30 mins.
Serve with potatoes and green salad.

Quick tuna with pasta

• 1 tin tuna
• Tin tomatoes
• Red onion
• Garlic
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• Drop of red wine
• Red pepper.
• Black pitted olives
• Capers (just a few)
  
• Herbs (perhaps basil, oregano, parsley)
• Salt and pepper
• Pasta
• Sugar to taste
  

Place sliced onions in bowl with honey and red wine vinegar.
Fry onions. When getting soft, add pepper slices. As softens add chopped garlic.
Fry briefly and add red wine.
Leave to reduce.
Add tomato puree, tuna and tomatoes.
When mixed add olives and capers.
Cook for 2 mins and add herbs, salt and pepper.
Cook for another 1 min and taste. Add small amount of sugar if need be.

Serve with pasta.

Moussaka

• 1 large aubergine
• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 400g/500g minced lamb
• 2 tsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 45ml dry white wine
• 150ml chicken stock
• 1 tsp oregano
• 25g butter
• 25g plain flour
• 450ml milk
• 80g cheese grated

Slice aubergine. Sprinkle with salt and leave to stand. After 20 mins or so, drain, rinse and dry the aubergine slices.

Heat oil and fry onion and garlic until soft.
Add lamb. Fry.
Add tomato puree, cornflour, wine and stock. Cook until thickened. Sprinkle with oregano.
Turn mixture out into overn dish (suggest shallow but large one).
Layer aubergines on top of the mixture.

Melt butter, stir in flour and cook for 1 min. Whisk in milk, bring to boil and simmer until thickened, stirring continuously.
Remove from heat and stir in half the cheese.

Pour sauce over aubergines.
Sprinkle with remaining cheese and then bake 6/200 (or just on if you're using my oven) for 30 mins until golden brown.

Chicken and Leek Pie

Make up the puff pastry.
For 1 pie, use:

• 130g plain flour
• pinch salt
• 100g cold butter
• 70ml water

Mix flour and salt. Can also add in a small amount of gluten substitute mix in place of a bit of flour.
Cut butter into small cubes and mix butter into flour without breaking up lumps (this is important as otherwise you get a strange puff/shortcrust mix).
Mix to stiff dough with water.
Roll dough into rectangle. For top third and bottom third together. Turn pastry sideways continue to roll and folder 4 times, leaving pastry to rest for 15 mins between each one.
Wrap in clingfilm to rest in fridge for 30 mins before using.

Make up sauce. Use chicken stock and cream (approx 2:1 ratio). Also add about 100ml white wine.
This sauce was a bit thin so possibly add some cornflour to thicken slightly.

In oven dish place leeks, chicken, thyme, parsley, garlic.
Pour over the sauce. Add salt and pepper.
Cover with pastry.
Cook for about 45 mins.
You may need to think about softening the leeks, but depends on how long you cook for.

I did find the sauce lacked a bit of depth, so need to think about how this could be improved. Julia didn't agree though!

Lamb Fillet With Anchovy and Mint

• 8 sprigs mint
• 50g anchovy fillets, drained but not washed.
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic

Whizz this together in blender.

Marinade lamb in this mixture covered in clingfilm for 1-2 hours.

Roast lamb for 15-18 mins gas 7.

Serve with new potatoes. I also served with baby leaf spinach.

Glutne Free Stuffing

I'll use this first post to record a couple of bits cooked in the last week:

Gluten Free Stuffing
Served with roast pork and included:

• Breadcrumbs
• Parsley
• Thyme

This was blended together. Then:

• 4 rasher smoked streaky bacon.
• About 4 prunes.

Blended and then everything blended together. Add salt, pepper and smoked paprika, and served as stuffing balls. Took about 30 mins to cook (try not to cook too high a temp).

Forgot to add any onion, which may have worked well.