Budget month

As a challenge we're doing a budget month of less than £2 per person for the main meal each day.  As a personal challenge I hope to do at least five meals at less than £1 per person and one substantial meal priced at 50p per person.  The only exception is the Queen's Jubilee family meal on Sunday which is already planned and has been part bought...we all need spoiling sometimes and I am a bit of a royalist on the QT!!

Watch this space for recipes and a blow by blow account of how we do!

Chickenopolis

The girls having a bit of a free range with a couple of fat balls and a handful of linguine leftovers.

Thoughts on the day

What an absolutely gorgeous day again today!  We've been threatened with storms since yesterday but nothing has materialised so far.  Hopefully it will rain this evening to give the newly planted veg a bit of a drench otherwise I might actually start to have faith in the hosepipe ban.

Productive day for me and The Woo.  Took her mum and dad out for an airing to Asda this morning and bought a replacement gas canister for the Sodastream; amongst other things that is.  Then home for a bite to eat (for me that is as resident greedy b*****d!).  Early afternoon we mowed the grass at the front and weeded the drive.  Looks a lot better now and noticed that we have ten young gooseberries on one of the bushes.  Nothing showing on the gojo berry yet but the bush itself is thriving!

Then disappeared out back for a bit of patio weeding, chickenopolis cleaning, re-potting and tinkering with the raised bed we're looking to build behind the apple trees at the bottom of the garden.  It's the site of an old pond that was filled in as a safeguard when Jack was born (children and ponds DO NOT mix!) and is full of some really good soil and compost.  Will update you all as it goes...very much a work in progress at the moment and all I really did today was cut out some of the old lining.  Had great fun feeding slugs to the girls, though.  It was hilarious watching them squabble over what is obviously a very tasty morsel indeed.

In for a second bath of the day due to an outbreak of grubinness and then a bit of a chill before I cracked on with some food.  Nice and light again this evening.  A bacon and courgette pasta simply made with a bit of garlicky and spicy tomato sauce and some lovely al dente linguine.  Bellissimo!

Ciao, seguiti!

Chorizo tortilla

The next instalment of the frittata v tortilla debate.

Another warm day.  I worked all morning in the kitchen of a local lunch club and by the time I got home around 1.30pm I was well frazzled.  Half an hour in the garden after that and I was done for the day so we decided on another light supper.  We had some salad to use up from yesterday and a glut of eggs from the girls so decided on yet another frittata/tortilla.

A quick trip into town, a visit to Wendywoo's mum and dad and home with a few new potatoes which we'd run out of...and the scene was set!

I followed the basic onion, garlic and potato base from the last time but on this occasion I stirred a couple of sliced cooking chorizo sausages into the softening onions before adding the sliced cooked new potatoes.

  

Once this was all ready to go I lightly beat half a dozen of the girls' best endeavours, seasoned and added evenly all over the mixture in the pan,  This was left on a medium heat for five minutes and then placed in a 180* oven until nicely set.  Because I had brushed the cooking oil all over the pan right at the start it didn't stick at all and slid nicely off the pan onto a plate for cutting.

Served with garlic mushrooms to which had been added half a teaspoonful of smoked paprika to tie it in to the tortilla (yes on this occasion it has to be a tortilla due to the chorizo!) and as an afterthought I bunged in the remainder of the boiled new potatoes to make a substantial side.  Green salad completed the non-salad dodger meal.

Spicy chicken

Another gorgeously warm day today.  Long dog walk with Wendywoo this morning and then a bit of shopping.  Picked up some chicken thighs to have a nice, light spring evening meal.  Spent a couple of hours putting more veg in the ground to supplement what the chickens had helped themselves to.  All that's left are some of the potatoes and a few broad beans.  Oh and one solitary garlic plant.  The rest are all gone.  They like the mint too...so that's gone into the chicken-proof bed as well!

So now we have spinach, kale, runner beans, fennel, squash and carrots in the ground.  Will be preparing another bed soon so should get a few more bits in before it's too late.

And so to the chicken.  I marinated the thighs in a good lug of olive oil, three roughly chopped cloves of garlic, a couple of chopped up scotch bonnet peppers that were sitting in the fridge waiting to be used, a couple of teaspoons of sundried tomato paste, a half teaspoon of paprika and some seasoning.  After about an hour this went into a 180* oven for 30 minutes with a couple of bastings to keep the thighs moist and help the skin to crisp up.

I also shoved a couple of bunches of oregano and thyme from the garden onto the roasting tray for a bit of background flavour.

We had ours with some new potatoes that had been dressed in butter and wholegrain mustard and a salad.

A little cuckoo

Heard my first cuckoo this morning whilst walking up throught the woods behind the house.  Now that's a real sound of spring!  It was already warm when Wendywoo and I set off just after nine and by the time we got back home it was borderline blistering.  The dogs have been washed off after varying degrees of muddy swims and are sunning themselves in the garden and we're having a well-deserved cuppa before attacking the rest of the day.  Garden for me as I have some odd jobs to do.

Oh and whilst walking along Horns Lodge Lane between Cataract Cottage and Coldharbour Lane we saw the biggest dandelion leaf I've ever seen.  It must have been a good 2 feet long and about 4 inches wide!  No camera today but will make sure I get a photo tomorrow...unless a giant tortoise gets to it first!

Lamb shanks

We had a couple of lamb shanks in the freezer so I defrosted them in the fridge overnight for supper. We needed an excuse to have roasties made with the duck fat from Friday evening after all!  Served up with some warmed through red cabbage (from Friday) and said roasties.  The sauce was the heavily reduced cooking liquor.

No scraps for the dogs today!

For the lamb shanks.

Wendywoo roughly chopped a couple of onions and carrots and these were softened in a little vegetable oil in a large oven-proof pan.  To this was added three chopped cloves of garlic, a good squeeze of tomato puree, a couple of teaspoons of wholegrain mustard, two bay leaves and some rosemary and oregano.  In went a pint of stock and the whole lot was mixed together whilst bringing it to the boil.

At the same time I browned the pre-seasoned shanks in a separate pan.  These were added to the cooking pot and the pan was deglazed with about a glass and a half of dry white wine.  Once all came to a bubble I placed a circle of greaseproof paper onto the liquid to make a good seal to keep the moisture in, bunged the lid on and popped the whole lot into a 150* oven for four hours.

Once meltingly falling apart I took the shanks out and, while keeping them warm, whacked the heat up to reduce the cooking sauce.  We like the chunky bits left in the sauce but if you wanted a bit more refinement then the whole lot can be pushed through a sieve to make a proper jus.

An easy peasy meal that takes about 15 minutes to prepare prior to the long, slow cook.

Sunny Saturday

Alex went back to Brighton first thing and Sam followed close behind after he had finished his last degree essay.  He's working with the Hurly Burly this weekend at the Brighton Fringe.  Dogs walked, shopping done and then a lovely afternoon in a sunsoaked garden with Wendywoo, Cath, Annie, Ben and Jack.  Paddling pool out and lots of naked running about and weeing in the garden...Jack that is...not me!  Oh and I chicken proofed the veggie patch so will put some more stuff in tomorrow.  Hopefully the little buggers won't get at this lot!

Grandad George's special Spag Bol (as a treat for Annie) in the garden and then a chill out in front of the TV with the Rock Chick and a glass of brandy.  We did watch the Eng sing on Eurovision as a matter of pride but really couldn't take any more...all the Eastern Europeans will vote for each other anyway so I'm sure the trophy will remain over that way somewhere!

Night night, blogsters!

Out for a duck

Belated birthday meal for Alex was roast duck legs.  Tried to get the usual breasts but they were all sold out.  Rathger glad, actually, as they turned out a treat!

I pricked the skin all over with a sharp knife to help release the fat whilst cooking.  I then sprinkled the legs with a pinch each of ground cumin and ground coriander, sea salt and ground black pepper.  Into a 150* oven for 90 minutes.  After about an hour I basted the legs with some of the fat that had gathered in the pan and poured the rest off into a bowl.  This will be used over the weekend for the best roasties ever!  Fifteen minutes before the end of cooking I squeezed a good lug of runny honey over each leg and then basted once more about five minutes later.  Out to rest for 15 minutes while the heat was whacked up to finish off the roasties.

Served with the roast potatoes and some braised red cabbage.

Finishing off an evening out watching Ronnie and the Blue J's (with Joe on bass) at K College with a large G & T and 'winner stays on' backgammon with Alex and Wendywoo.

Drinking game

Never play drinking games with a serviceman!

Alex came up with a drinking game last evening involving brandy shots and Google.  All sat round the Mac on a kitchen table groaning under the weight of copious amounts of alcohol; with a bottle of brandy and a shot glass taking pride of place.

The rules...The first person chooses a word (family rules decreed it had to be a noun) and then the person to their right has to google another word to find a picture of the first word.  Failure to come up with the goods results in a shot of brandy and then the direction reversed to allow you to get your own back.  Confused?  Try it after you've got a few wrong and had to down the shot!

The picture has to be on the first page of the google search and had to be a valid picture as decreed by all present.  E.g. Joe chose 'bottle' and Sam googled 'ketchup'...a win...simples!

A game of that and then late night boys' poker made getting up to let the chooks out a bit of an event.

Nice sunny dog walk with the Rock Chick, Alex, our pack, Cath and Charlie the Bichon then back home for cheese omelettes all round courtesy of the girls!

Beef casserole

Decided to give Wendywoo's mum and dad a bit of a treat later so cooking up a slow roasted beef casserole as we speak.  Did enough for the rest of us too.  Just as well I did as Alex is coming up a bit later.  As we haven't seen him since he got back from Afghanistan it will probably be a bit of a liquid evening so you won't see much of me until tomorrow.

God save The Queen, fly the flag of St George with pride, prayers and thoughts for our lads and lasses still serving overseas and visible scorn for all politicians...that's all I have to say on the subject.

Peace and love, blog readers, and see you tomorrow!

Samuel Pepys' pork

I picked up a book called 'Pepys at Table' from a charity shop in Tunbridge Wells about a year ago.  It's all about dishes mentioned in his diaries coupled with a suitable recipe from the time.

On 4th September 1667 Pepys, his wife and some friends ate 'broyled' pork at Bartholomew Fayre; which was on the site of Smithfield Meat Market. A recipe by Hannah Wolley in a book published in 1675 is thought to be the sort of thing that would have been eaten at the fair.

'Cut your pork into slices very thin, having first taken off the skinny part of the Fillet, then hack it with the back of your knife, then mince some Thyme and Sage, exceeding small, and mingle it with pepper and salt, and therewith season your collops and then lay them on the Gridiron; when they are enough, make sauce for them with butter, vinegar, Mustard and Sugar and so serve them.'

I've done this recipe a few times now for family and friends.  It always seems to go down well.  I use lovely thick pork chops (courtesy yet again of Michelle at Hayward's) and have tinkered with the recipe a little.  The sauce might seem a little strange and when feeding someone who hasn't had it before I always serve it separately and get them to try just a little at first.  Now I tend to make twice as much as I think I'll need as it's exceptionally moreish.

We're having this for supper served on some braised red cabbage with chucks of apple in it and a pile of cheesy mash to soak up the sauce.

I started marinating the pork chops an hour before cooking in about four teaspoons each of chopped sage and thyme from the garden, a couple of good pinches of sea salt, about half as much ground black pepper and a healthy lug of olive oil.  All mixed round in a bowl until the chops were well coated.

These were browned in a really hot oven-proof pan and then bunged in a 180* oven to roast.  Top tip for a good cracklingy edge...cut through the rind with a sharp knife about an inch apart the length of the chop and when browning stand each chop on its side so that plenty of hot oil starts to work on the skin.  Slightly thicker chops take a bit longer to cook and gives the crackling a good chance to get nice and crisp.

These take around 30 - 40 minutes to cook depending on the thickness of your chops.

The sauce was made by melting 75g of unsalted butter and 35g of dark brown sugar in a pan.  When melted I added three tablespoons each of cider vinegar and wholegrain mustard and cooked together for a couple of minutes.  I always do mine while the pork is roasting and then warm it through if necessary just prior to serving.

Wild garlic

Wild garlic (allium ursinam) is also known as ramsons, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek and bear's garlic.  The last two reflecting the latin name; 'ursa' meaning 'bear'.  See!  A classical education is of benefit after all!

I've washed and trimmed the leaves off as it's a bit late in the season to use them.  All a bit dark green and woody now.  A few of these I chopped up and used in some asparagus and nettle soup, which is on the hob as we speak, and the rest I'll use over the next day or two in place of the conventional cloves.  We love garlic in this house and get through loads so the foraged freebie is a bargain!

Foraging

Some nettle tops, wild garlic and small leaves of Jack by the hedge I gathered whilst on a lovely long dog walk in the sunshine this morning.

Potato, onion and asparagus frittata

In Italy it's called 'frittata' and in Spain it's a 'tortilla'...in English it's potatoes, onions; in fact any other combination of vegetables all bunged in together and cooked in a lovely thick, omeletty, eggy thing.  This evening I'm using onions, potatoes and good old English asparagus!

A couple of handfuls of new potatoes need to be boiled in a pan, drained and set aside to keep warm...if they go cold it's not a problem as they will warm through in the final dish.  I saved the water to very quickly blanch the asparagus spears in.  They need to be kept long as they are used to decorate the top of the frittata.

In an oven proof frying pan I softened a small, sliced onion in a little butter and oil, then added a couple of chopped cloves of garlic and a teaspoon of dried oregano.  The potatoes I sliced and layered on top of the softened onion and gently mixed them together.  Over the top I poured half a dozen of the girls' finest eggs which had been gently beaten and seasoned.  Six suit my pan but you may need one more or less.  The blanched asparagus I arranged in a cartwheel pattern on top.

This was then cooked on a gentle heat.  Once the bottom is cooked you can be a bit flash and turn it over using a complicated manoeuvre involving a plate and burnt fingers but I just bung the pan in a 180* oven until the top has gone golden brown and it's cooked through.

I served this with some salad and garlic mushrooms.  Repetitive, I know, but they are a bit of a family favourite!

Garlic mushrooms with attitude!

This evening we're having paprika chicken with the leftover rice from last night and some spicy garlic mushrooms.  In a pan, over a low heat, I melted the usual sinful blob of unsalted butter and a drizzle of olive oil to stop it from burning.  To this I added three finely sliced cloves of garlic, about half a dozen halved baby plum tomatoes (or you could use tomato puree), a sliced red chilli, a good pinch of salt and a few twists of black pepper.  When the tomatoes started to break down I added a good couple of handfuls (enough for two) of quartered chestnut mushrooms.  Lid on and cooked until the mushrooms were soft and then lid off and heat upped a bit to reduce some of the sauce and get it nice and thick and unctuous.

A handful of chopped flat leaf parsley to finish prior to dishing up.

Spicy prawns, asparagus and jewelled rice

Had some filo pastry in the fridge left over from a bit of experimenting the other day and decided to have a go at making edible bowls to serve spicy prawns in.  It worked very well and the crunch of the pastry was a lovely texture against an otherwise quite soft dish.

I made the bowls by laying half a sheet of pastry in a small pudding dish which had been lightly brushed with olive oil.  The pastry was gently pressed into the dish and the excess was randomly gathered up round the rim so that the uneven edge would catch to different degrees when cooked in the oven.  I then popped a couple of small squares into the bottom of the dish to make a well sealed base.  A little olive oil was dabbed in between layers and more oil was dabbed around the rim.  Placed on a baking sheet and in a pre-heated 180* oven for about 8 minutes until nice and crispy.

Once cool I gently prised the pastry out of the dishes and set aside.

The prawns were marinated in olive oil, loads of garlic, ginger, tomato puree, coriander paste and chilli and then stir fried in a little oil with more garlic, chilli and some quartered baby plum tomatoes that were lurking in the fridge.  Just before serving I added a couple of finely sliced sring onions and a handful of chopped coriander.

The jewelled rice I've mentioned earlier in the blog but it's pretty well made up as I go; using any odds and sods in the fridge.

The asparagus was placed into boiling salted water for a couple of minutes only so as to retain a good bit of crunch.  The woody bits cut off from the base have been frozen and, with previously frozen off-cuts, will be used to make soup for the aged relatives tomorrow.



Grey day

Bit of a grey start to the day today.  Not even a glimpse of blue sky at the moment.  Dogs walked and the potatoes earthed up...well the ones the chickens have left untouched at least!  Amazingly enough the ones that are doing best of all are the Maris Piper from Sainsburys that started to go to seed in the cupboard!  Managed to lose my lens cap somewhere on the walk as well!

Off shopping with The Woo in a bit and then some afternoon experimenting for supper.  That'll cheer me up.

The Chaser Inn

My first visit to The Chaser Inn, Shipbourne yesterday evening for a meal with Wendywoo's Mum and Dad, family and a good friend.  It was Jen's birthday earlier in the week.  What a lovely place!  Great atmosphere, great service and great food.  Will certainly go there agin.

There were sixteen of us and little Jack so quite a crowd.  I had a starter of whitebait, squid rings and tempura prawns with a lovely tartare sauce and a main of confit belly pork with parmentier potatoes and a celeriac remoulade.  The pork was lovely and unctuous with sensationally snappy piece of crackling on top.  Too stuffed to even consider a pud but was sorely tempted by the lemon posset, which is a big favourite of mine and Louise certainly polished her's off in style

The winning dish of the evening, though, seemed to be the roast shoulder of lamb which quite a few people had...and the winning moment was David's face when Cath told him that she hadn't managed all her lamb and he had missed the plate being cleared!

Seriously, though, if you live in this area and haven't been...it's a smashing place to eat!

Dog walk in the sunshine

Very warm dog walk this morning

 Found this little chap in the Bonfire Field

 Freya playing Hide and Seek in the hawthorn

 All looking so lovely and green

 Couldn't resist the arty one

 ...and I know where I'm coming back to later in the year for a handful of hops!

Spicy lamb kebabs

Spicy lamb kebabs, tomato salsa, cucumber raita and salad...all served up with a warmed tortilla.

I started off by making the salsa and raita this afternoon as both need time in the fridge for the flavours to meld.

For the salsa I skinned, de-seeded and then finely chopped three largish tomatoes.  Into a large bowl with a red onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, a red chilli and a handful of fresh coriander; all finely chopped.  A good lug of olive oil and the juice of a lime, a decent pich of sea salt and a healthy grind of black pepper.  All mixed together, covered in cling film and popped in the fridge until ready to serve.

For the raita I used half a cucumber which I peeled, took out the watery middle and then finely diced.  Into a bowl with a couple of teaspoons of chopped mint, a pinch (or more to taste) of ground cumin, some sea salt and enough natural yoghurt to make a nice loose mixture.  All stirred, clingfilmed and bunged in the fridge with the salsa.

I also made the kebabs earlier so they had time to chill prior to cooking.  For these I used 500g of lamb mince and, more or less, the same sort of ingredients as the salsa.  I finely chopped and then sweated in a little vegetable oil a small red onion, a couple of cloves of garlic and a red chilli.  Once soft this was set aside to cool.  Into a large bowl went the mince, onion mix, a teaspoon each of ground cumin and ground coriander seed, a handful of chopped fresh coriander, sea salt, black pepper and an egg yolk courtesy of the girls...it was a five egg Friday today so they're all pulling their weight!  All well mixed together using nature's fleshy spoons and then formed into small balls.  I got eight from this amount of mince.  Clingfilmed and in the fridge.

We like our lamb pink so, when ready to cook, I took the meatballs out of the fridge, flattened them slightly into a thick burger shape (ok so it's lamb burgers but kebabs sounds posher!), fried them for about a minute on one side in a little vegetable oil, turned them over and popped them into a pre-heated 180* oven for about five minutes.  Out of the oven and onto kitchen roll to get rid of the excess grease.

Served on a tortilla (or in - it's your dinner!) with the salsa, raita, some sliced tomatoes dressed in good olive oil, sea salt, black pepper and some chopped thyme from the garden and a bit of salad.

We had two each, Sam pinched on on his way out and I polished off two more.  One left in the fridge for the Rock Chick if she gets the munchies later on. 

These are great on the barbie as well...if we actually get any sun that is!

Late lunch

In from doing a bit of shopping and reporting an accident to the local police.  A very inconsiderate pensioner whacked into a parked car, didn't stop and when I caught up with her at York Parade and challenged her she didn't give a toss!  Flashback to working for a living there!

Anyway, fancied a bit of toast and something sweet.  Very unlike me...must be in shock from the earlier trauma!  Toasted up some Linseed and Soya Vogel bread and slathered some of @TonbridgeDaily's backberry and cassis jelly on it.  Flippin' yummy! 

Thanks again, S!!

Mac and cheese

This is a simple to prepare and very tasty dish that can be made well in advance, feed a huge amount of people and provide yummy leftovers for the next day...or later in the evening when you get the munchies.

I don't use actual macaroni in mine as it's a bit small and I prefer something like spirali.  Spirali is a small sized ridged tube of pasta curled into a spiral shape...doh!  At the end of the day it's all the same stuff so the choice of pasta type is yours but something with a hole in it is better for the cheesy sauce with chunky bits in it.

The pasta is cooked in well salted water.  I used about 800g for the four of us with plenty left over.  Once cooked, drain and set aside...but you can crack on with the rest of the dish while it's cooking.

In a pan I sweated a large chopped onion in a little olive oil, one finely chopped garlic clove and half a dozen rashers of unsmoked streaky bacon cut into small pieces.  Once cooked through set aside.

The cheese sauce is a roux.  I used about 30g of unsalted butter (the bacon seasons the dish enough for me) and about the same quantity of plain flour.  I melted the butter and stirred in the flour until smooth.  This I cooked though for a couple of minutes to cook out the flour taste.  Stirring almost continuously to avoid the dreaded lumps I added milk until the sauce was nice and silky and coated the back of a spoon.  I made its little looser than normal as the later addition of cheese thickens it a fair bit.

Once done I added a good teaspoon of English mustard and a couple of handfuls of extra mature cheddar (always on offer in Sainsbury's and always in the fridge!).  Stirred through until smooth and creamy.  Don't worry if you get a few lumps.  Always use a stainless steel pan and so a good last minute whisk, if needed, won't damage your non-stick surface!

The onion/bacon mixture and sauce is added to the drained pasta and stirred in well.  Into an oiled or buttered, shallow oven-proof dish and set aside until you're ready to cook it.

I pre-heated the oven to 180*,  covered the dish with a couple of handfuls of cheddar/parmesan mix (to get a good cheese coating) and cooked until golden brown on top and heated right through...about 30 minutes or so.  On serving up give it a good grate of black pepper so you get that lovely crunchy bite.

I served this with some steamed broccoli.

Job done!

Sam's yummy macaroni

Busy day today so the Rock Chick and I treated ourselves to eggs (courtesy of the girls), bacon, garlic mushrooms and beans.

Sam had bacon earlier and decided to declare UDI and cook for himself.  What he came up with was quite staggeringly good!

So here's the recipe for Sam's macaroni.

Whilst the macaroni is cooking in some salted water...

In the usual sinful amount of butter (yes, it's a family thing) with a glug of olive oil to stop it burning he cooked some mushrooms with a couple of rashers of chopped up bacon and, when almost done, added a good slug of double cream that was lurking in the fridge.  I should say that this dish isn't for the faint hearted or, indeed, weak hearted!  When the macaroni was cooked it was drained, returned to the pan and had two dessert spoonfuls of Sacla Sundried Tomato Pesto stirred through it.  The mushroom/bacon mix was added and all combined.  A mixture of cheddar and parmesan cheese was added and, when melted together in a 180* oven for about ten minutes, was plated up.

Job done...Huzzah!

Parmesan crisps

Knocked up a quick Spag Bol for supper as Wendywoo's daughter, Annie, and the grandson were over.  Made enough for the boys to finish off as well.  They're both working hard finishing off degree stuff and we have only just got back from Joe's end of course gig.  Great evening out with some amazing talent on show; although Joe (four instruments and vocals), Ronnie (amazing voice) and Becca (spine tingling saxophone) stole the show for me!

While the Spag Bol was bubbling away on the cooker I decided to have a bit of a play with the leftover filo pastry from yesterday.  This is what I came up with.  One sheet of filo pastry brushed with olive oil and then sprinkled liberally with finely grated parmesan cheese.  Another sheet placed directly on top and patted down.  This sheet also brushed with oil and then the whole thing cut into 2cm squares (or triangles, rectangles or whatever takes your fancy).  On a lightly oiled baking sheet and in a 180* oven for five to six minutes or until golden brown.

Once done they were turned onto some kitchen roll to drain and then served as a pre-nosh nibble.  Seemed to go down well!

Next time I might try something garlicy or maybe even with anchovy.  Not everyone's favourite, I know, but a winner with me and the Rock Chick.

Five egg Monday

Well done, ladies.  Yet another five egg Monday so the chooks are obviously firing on all cylinders.  Four this morning found by Joe and then one more a few minutes ago by me.

We'd just got back from picking Jen up from hospital (hooray!) and I went out to let them do a bit of free ranging.  As usual they were clustered at the gate of the run like horses at the start of the Grand National (which I agree should be banned!).  As I opened the gate they sped up the garden to search for seed dropped by the birds and there was a lonely egg on the mud inside the gate.  Obviously the sheer excitement of liberation was to much for the last layer as it was gloriously warm to the touch!

Enjoy the rain, girls!

Leftover stew pie

Watched a cookery programme yesterday morning where Pam Ferris (Ma Larkin) made a chicken, spinach and feta pie.  It looked delicious and gave me an idea of how to use up the remainder of Friday's stew sitting in the fridge.  Leftover stew pie with filo pastry!

This is a bit of an experiment but I wouldn't dare attempt a traditional pie.  You'll know what I mean if you've ever had or ever get to try Wendywoo's shortcrust!

Oven pre-heated to 180* and a suitable shallow dish found.  Three sheets of pastry draped across the dish in different directions so it looks a bit like an exploding hexagon and gently pressed into the dish with the end bits spread out round the edge.  Each layer was liberally dotted with olive oil on a pastry brush.  The stew was spooned in and half a sheet of pastry placed on top.  All the edges were then folded in.  No need to be careful as the best bit about filo pastry is the little burnt bits on the top.  The top was brushed with a little oil and then in the oven for about 30 - 35 minutes or so.  It needs to be golden brown and heated right through.

When done remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.  We're having ours with Anya potatoes and English asparagus.

Wild garlic

Had a lovely dog walk with Wendywoo on a gorgeous sunny day and further investigated the new source of wild garlic I had spotted earlier in the week.  It meant crossing a small stream but the wellies were up to it.

It's all in flower now and the pungent smell is magnificently heady.  The leaves are past their tender best to use either in salads or as a chopped garnish but are still ok if cooked in a stew or a bit of cream as long as you go for the fresher, younger leaves.

I took a few photos on the walk as everything is starting to look so pretty at the moment.  They're over there ----> if you fancy a peek.  There's nothing better than a bit of sunshine to bring out the best of the countryside.  I love our green and pleasant land!

On the way round we bumped in Wendywoo's brother and his wife, Joe and Lisa, walking their dog, Ruby.  It was commiserations for poor heads all round (except for the Rock Chick who drove) as we had been with them at a 50th birthday party last night.

Now it's time to hang the washing out, pop to the shops and do a few bits in the garden while Wendywoo visits her mum.  She left clutching half a dozen of the girls' most recent labours to leave for the smiling rellies when they do their visit later.

Some thoughts on cooking and life

I cook because I absolutely love doing it.  I find it relaxing and immensely satisfying.  It's more than a hobby; it's a passion.  I love preparing food, cooking food, eating food and talking about food.  Friends and rellies seem to enjoy what they get and that's a bonus.  Just the icing on the cake, really.

But sometimes something happens that takes it to a whole other level.

Wendywoo's mum, a lady I have come to love dearly, is a bit poorly at the moment and has been in hospital the past week or so.  She's been off her food and it has been so sad to see her in the hospital bed just not looking or sounding like her old self.

Wendy went up to visit with her daughter today as her mum's not up to a lot of visitors at any one time at the moment.  We superheated some of yesterday's stew and bunged it in a thermos cup (all we could find so we had to improvise!) and she took it with her in case her mum fancied a bite.  When I received a text telling me that she was scraping out the bowl I felt an overwhelming sense of well-being; not in a selfish way at all, just thoroughly glad that something I had done had actually made a difference to someone.

I, like so many, have had a life full of ups and downs.  But I'm happy with my life.  I'm with the person I want to be with, we have five great kids between us and a son-in-law and grandson that complete the picture.  Wendy's mum and dad live just round the corner and her two brothers and their families are close enough to see them regularly.  The dogs, cat and chickens are (usually) a joy to share the house and garden with and everything is generally rosy at Quincewood Farm.

But sometimes, in the midst of all that domestic bliss, life jumps up and bites you right on the bum.  However, with all that we've been through lately it was just soooooooooo bloody great to hear that Jen had actually eaten a whole bowl of food!

Double yolker

At least one of our girls is exceeding the delivery rate.  This is our third double yolker to date; although the first since starting this blog so no pics up until now.

Look and feel as jealous as we are feeling complacent.

Mr Kipling may make exceedingly good cakes but the girls of Quincewood Chickenopolis lay exceedingly good eggs!

Millie incident

Just realised that you might be wondering what the 'Millie incident' was.  At 5.30am this morning our Miniatue Schnauzer, Millie, was yelping in the garden.  Shouting out of the bedroom window had no effect so I donned chavvy traksuit bottoms and a t-shirt and ventured down the garden in my wellies.  No sign of the dog so I let the chooks out of their roosting box into the run.

Discovered the bloody dog had crawled though a Miniature Schnauzer sized hole in the fence into next door's garden...yes the same long suffering next door later invaded by Naughty Nugget.  Cajoaled the dog back to the hole and dragged her through the hole by the scruff of the neck whilst cursing freely.  All this to a chorus of clucks from the girls; clearly awestruck by my dog whispering abilities.

Needless to say the said hole has been blocked with a few kilos of hardcore.  Bring it on, Schnauzer!

Simple beef stew

Long day today and needed to cook something for Wendywoo's dad as well as us after a hospital visit to her mum so a simple beef stew.  Started it earlier today and left it in the oven while we were out.

Three onions peeled and quartered slung into a good sized oven proof pan with a glug of olive oil.  I added two fairly finely diced celery sticks and two large carrots sliced.  Stirred every few minutes over a lowish heat until all started to soften.  Whilst doing this chopped three cloves of garlic (don't worry, Arthur...I left the garlic out of your bit!) and added them as well as two tablespoons of tomato puree and about a teaspoon and a half of dried oregano.

Whilst all this was cooking I poured about four tablespoons of plain flour into a freezer bag and seasoned with sea salt and ground black pepper.  In batches I coated, about two handfulls at a time, one kilo of diced braising steak by bunging it in the bag and giving it a good shake.  Each batch I browned in a large frying pan with a bit of vegetable oil added.  Once browned I added it to the vegetables and stirred in.  Coat....by bunging in bag...shake...brown....stir in...until all the meat was done.  All the gloopy bits in the pan were dealt with by whacking the heat up and adding a glassful of red wine...a good stir to collect and melt down all the loose bits of meat, flour and excess brown bits and all added to the pan.

The covered pan was brought to almost a boil and then placed in a 150* oven for nearly three hours.  I took it out and gave it a stir every half hour or so and an hour before finishing I added four large sliced chestnut mushrooms.

All this was served in a bowl (to catch all the juices and so you can be lazy enough to eat it with a fork...or even a spoon) with a good pile of cheesy, mustardy mash...a bit of a firm favourite as you may well by now have gathered.

No pic as I'm knackered after the 5.30am Millie incident.  Enjoy!

Naughty Nugget

Had our lovely neighbour, Eileen, knock on the door about five minutes ago clutching naughty Nugget who had somehow managed to get over the fence.  We may have to keep a close eye on any further escape attempts by our free ranging ladies!

Half a dozen of our latest deliveries were despatched as a suitable apology.  She also mentioned that she had seen a fox in her garden last week so the guard dogs are on full alert!

Does it 'adder' up?

Went for a lovely dog walk in the early sunshine.  It was already warm at 7.30am and even my light fleece was a bit to much lagging!  Long may it continue so that the hosepipe ban might achieve at least partial credibility.

I so wish I had taken my camera, though.  On the footpath leading from the 'Bonfire Field' towards Margaret Clithero School; the bit that goes through the trees before it opens out into the bridleway, the dogs disturbed an adder that was sunning itself on the path.  By the time I got there it was in defensive mode and I sidled past very, very gingerly; not quite trusting my wellies to deflect the fangs!

Hosepipe ban?

I don't know how we would survive without the imposed hosepipe ban.  Turn into a desert maybe?  The garden is a wreck, we've had to buy wellies for the chooks and the dog walks are a real labour of love with a nice muddy kitchen and conservatory to sort out on a daily basis.  Something nice and warming this evening to warm and cheer us up.

Spicy beans again but this time the proper sort with chicken and chorizo.

Follow the basic recipe from a few days ago but when the onions have softened throw in some diced chicken (I use boned out thighs as the meat is nicer and if you bone them yourselves you save an absolute fortune), some sliced chorizo, a handful of halved baby plum tomatoes, a chilli or two and a few sliced musrooms.  When the outside of the chicken becomes white I add one tin of chopped tomatoes, twice that amount of water, a good glug of red wine and a squeeze of tomato puree.  For herbs I added dried oregand and a teaspoon of paprika.  Season, bring to the boil and simmer very gently for 30 minutes or so.

When the flavours have all come together remove the lid and up the heat to reduce a bit.  You don't want the sauce to be too watery.

When reduced add beans.  I use any mixture I fancy of haricot, cannellini or borlotti.  On this occasion one of each as I'm making enough for lunch tomorrow and for the boys to graze on when they're about.

When the beans are cooked this can be eaten with roast potatoes, on nice toast or even on its own as a stew.  Foe the stew leave a little loose but for beans on toast I tend to reduce it down until it is literally the consistency of baked beans.

I cooked this earlier and it will stay in the pan until we come back from a hospital visit later.  I will take out what we need, heat to eat and bung the rest in containers in the fridge.

Tonight on buttered wholemeal toast with some black pepper and grated cheese.

Meatballs again!

Second round of meatballs today!  We enjoyed them so much last night that supper was the remaining ones reheated in the leftover sauce.  Just to make a bit of a change, though, I fried a nice big chopped vine tomato and a couple of  large chestnut mushrooms, which had been finely sliced,  in a little olive oil and then added the sauce from last night.  In went the meatballs which I had taken out of the fridge for 30 minutes to get them up to room temperature and they stayed on a very low heat for about 30 minuites to ensure that the meatballs were cooked through.  I turned them every 10 minutes to ensure they stayed nice and moist.

                       
 Served with pappardelle and sprinkled with grated cheese.  Simples!

A gorgeous sunny afternoon

Took the dogs for a walk and absolutely sweltered in the coat I had donned on seeing a huge black cloud over the fields.  The second I walked into said field the cloud vanished and out came the sun.  That'll teach me to trust my own judgement!

I did, however, find yet another source of wild garlic and will be returning there at some point over the next couple of days to collect some.  I can feel a creamed wild garlic and Jack by the hedge starter coming on!

I

Why do we brown meat?

We brown meat as part of the cooking process to get all the sugars in the meat well and truly up and running before roasting, poaching, cooking in sauces etc.  According to the Larousse Gastronomique, bought for me by the Rock Chick, the Maillard Reaction is 'A chemical reaction, occurring when amino acids and sugars are heated.  It was discovered by the French scientist Louis-Camille Maillard (1878-1936) in 1912 and plays an important part in many cooking processes, affecting both taste and colour.  Maillard used his theory to explain, among other things, the formation of the crust on bread and roasts and the aroma of roasted coffee'.


So now you know!


All I know is that it tastes better when you do and it proves that men have only been burning meat for 100 years!!

Thoughts on paprika

Smoked or unsmoked?


I use both but mostly the smoked as it really does add an extra smoky dimension to the food.  We eat a lot of paprika chicken, chorizo and bean type stews and obviously the meatballs we're having later so it's a real family favourite.


I've tried lots of different brands over the years but my firm favourite is the one in the little red can with the yellow writing; La Chinata.  It's hot and it's smoky...just like restaurants and tube trains used to be in the summers before the ban!

Hungarian style meatballs

This evening's supper is spicy meatballs in a Hungarian goulash type tomato sauce.  


First off it's the meatballs.  We're never 100% sure who's in and who's out so I always make enough for everybody as they freeze really well as long as properly defrosted prior to cooking.  Really important with this recipe as it contains pork mince as well as steak mince!


Finely chop one large or a couple of small onions and sweat on a low heat in a little oil.  About half way though add some chopped garlic.  I've used four cloves but you can adjust to taste.  Remember, though, that there will be garlic in the sauce as well.  When soft set aside to cool.


To a large bowl add 500g each of pork and steak mince.  You could use more or less of either but I think this mix gives a good balance of taste from the steak and moist fattiness from the pork.  Add the softened onion and garlic, a finely chopped chilli or two, a handful of chopped flat leaf parsley, one or two (to taste) teaspoons of paprika, salt, pepper and an egg yolk.  You could sling in a few more herbs or spices if you wanted to.  Ground cumin and coriander seed work well or you could easily substitute coriander for the parsley or have a mix of both.


Mix together well using the flesh-coloured spoons at the end of your arms.


Form  into balls.  I got twelve, more or less snooker ball sized, balls from this amount of mixture.  Cover in cling film and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.  These can be prepared in the morning for either lunch or supper or even the day before.  


While your balls are in the fridge you can get on with the sauce.  Although how one can be expected to concentrate fully in those circumstances Heaven knows!


Quick note...this dish can either be cooked on the hob or in the oven so whatever pan you make the sauce in needs to reflect which method you choose.  I'm using an ovenproof frying pan with a lid which will do either.


In a little oil soften an onion; adding chopped garlic about half way though.  I've used a couple of cloves as we love it but remember there is garlic in the meatballs as well.  I'm adding a few leftover baby plum tomatoes because they looked all forlorn in the fridge but these aren't essential.  When nice and soft add approximately 400g of chopped tomatoes and the same quantity of water, a glug of red wine and any dried or chopped herbs you care to use. I'm using a little chopped sage and oregano from the garden.  If you like a really tomatoey sauce, as we do, add a squeeze of tomato puree otherwise leave it out.  This is a very forgiving dish and not even remotely traditional so you can play around with it all you want.  A few sliced mushrooms would work or if you want to make this a camper van one pot dish bung in enough bite sized chunks of potato to feed all and serve it as a kind of stew.  Less washing up too!


Season with salt and pepper.  I'm adding another teaspoon of paprika at this point  but enough will leach out of the meatballs during cooking if you don't want yours to be too punchy.


Put the lid on and bring to the boil then uncover and simmer on the hob for about 20-30 minutes to let the flavours jiggle about a bit and for the sauce to reduce a little..  


Next you need to brown the meatballs and get them in the pan.  In a little oil do them a few at a time in a separate pan and add them to the sauce.  Deglaze the pan with a little more red wine and add that too.  If you are cooking this camper van style you might not have enough room to do the two pans at once.  In that case take the sauce off the heat and add the browned meatballs as above.  It's easy enough to bring back up to heat afterwards.


Covered and in 180* oven this will take about 30 minutes to cook.  The same on a low heat on the hob.  In either case check the meatballs are cooked right through.  I always turn them over halfway though to keep them nice and moist.

We're having roasties with ours but this goes really well with a nice wide pasta such as tagliatelle or pappardelle.


Flattened instead of balled these make great burgers for the barbie as well!

Jack by the hedge

Jack by the hedge; otherwise known as hedge garlic or garlic mustard is in abundance in the hedgerows at the moment.  It towers over almost everything else except perhaps the hogweed.  Its distinctive leaf pattern makes it easy to spot and the leaves are edible and FREE!


When crushed or torn the leaves give off a very faint smell of garlic.


The tender leaves at the top of the plant can be eaten raw as a salad leaf.  I have used the larger leaves sautéed with wild garlic roots in a bit of butter and then with some cream added.  A bit of seasoning (I prefer white pepper instead of black) and a garnish of chopped wild garlic leaves and you're done!  A yummy starter and all you pay for is the cream, butter and seasoning!


I found this lovely example on the dog walk this morning.

Here's to good friends

Round our friend Cath's this evening for the most amazing roast duck which had been covered in some homemadfe haw-sin sauce we had given her ages ago.  Lovely and pink and tender.  Perfect roast potatoes using Rooster potatoes which I have seen advertised by irritating Americans but never used.  The roasties were sooooo good that I may have to deviate from the Maris Piper for a bit!

Brocolli with pine nuts...yummy.

Green beans with garlic...equally yummy!

...and the pud was red berries with vanilla ice cream, meringue and melted chocolate...yummy!!!

Three exclamation marks is the ultimate accolade, Cath...and I'm not a chocolate person.  A veritable Michelin 3!!!

A couple of bottles of red and #BGT with two lovely ladies.  What more could a man ask for?  Oh and only a short walk home...bargain!

Nice one, Cath.

Hawthorn v Blackthorn

A very muddy dog walk earlier today but lovely to see the hawthorn bushes starting to flower.  Already made a mental note of where the big ones are so I can come back later in the year to collect the haws (berries) to make some haw-sin sauce.

Also noted where the biggest earlier flowering blackthorn bushes are for some sloe gin ready for Christmas.  All of these pictures are of the hawthorn, by the way.

How do you tell the white flowered bushes apart?  Well apart from the blackthorns usually flowering earlier and being all gone by the time the hawthorn starts; the blackthorn flowers before developing leaves whereas the hawthorn has had leaves for ages and flowers after they are beautifully green.

            Both the young leaves and the flowers of the hawthorn are edible, by the way.

Tilapia

Tilapia with jewelled rice (feeds two)

If you haven't had Tilapia before it's well worth a try.  Lovely succulent flesh (as long as you don't overcook it!) that can take a spicy marinade.

I pre-cooked enough brown rice for me and Wendywoo (with a bit left over for the dogs tomorrow) and set it aside to cool.  In this case 'set aside to cool' was a trip to Pembury Hosptal to visit her lovely Mum who went in today for a procedure.

The tilapia fillets (four fillets are a good meal for two people in my book) were marinated for a couple of hours in a good glug of olive oil, three cloves of garlic, a roughly chopped scotch bonnet pepper (wash your hands immediately after handling and DON'T scratch or rub anywhere tender!), a couple of teaspoons of tomato puree, salt and pepper.  For this dish instead of bulk standard tomato puree I used the Sacla range sundried tomato intense paste.  The bigger Sainsburys stock it sometimes and when I find it I usually stock up with half a dozen jars or so.  It's got a lovely depth of flavour to it.

For the jewelled rice:

Cut an onion in half and then finely slice.  Butter (the usual sinful amount) and a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over a lowish heat and soften the onion.  While it's softening add a couple of finely chopped cloves of garlic, a red chilli (sliced across and with the seeds left in unless you're a wimp!), about half of a yellow pepper roughly diced and a handful of frozen peas.  Add enough rice for the two of you and mix everything together.  Add more butter to make it unctuous looking if you failed miserably on the sinful scale earlier.  After a few minutes add half a teaspoon of groud tumeric and half a handful of chopped coriander.  I usually add mostly the stalks at this point and save the leaves for a garnish.  Now whack the heat up to stir fry mode and keep moving it about to cook the rice through.

For the tilapia:

About two minutes ago you needed to have put a large pan on a moderate to high heat and melted about 25g of butter with a bit of olive oil in a pan.  When it starts to foam add the tilapia fillets to the pan.  Cook on one side for between two to three minutes, turn off the rice pan and cover to keep warm and then turn the fillets over.  Cook for a further two minutes until cooked through...do not overcook!

Dish up the rice and tilapia, drizzle over the cooking butter and liberally scatter with chopped coiander.

Simples!

Meze night

We both had leftover shepherd's pie for lunch so decided on a meze night for supper. 

A plate of salami and cheese, one of mozzarella and tomato salad sprinkled with sea salt and thyme from the garden and drenched in a good olive oil.  Some olives with jalapeno peppers, some ricotta stuffed peppers and lovely sundried tomatoes and parmesan cheese.  A few olive biscuits and a glass of wine from the newly delivered wine case.

Luverly jubbly!

Posh baby food

Looking after the grandson, Jack, until tomorrow morning.  Otherwise known as TLM (The Little Monster).  Posh baby food for tea which was four fishfingers and 'pommes parmentier'.  If you've never had these they're a fun alternative to chips.

Dice up however much potato you need into about a centimetre dice; although I do it smaller for TLM.  Gently fry in a copious amount of butter and olive oil in a frying pan until they are soft and then up the heat a bit to lightly brown.  Turn onto kitchen roll to drain.

They really are moreishly yummy so do far more than you think you'll need!

Shepherd's Pie...Take 2!

The finished article with some steamed spring greens and what was left of the 'cheeky' glass of wine whilst cooking!

News from Chickenopolis

It's our first Four Egg Wednesday!  Well done girls!

Spicy beans

Tonight it's spicy beans.  This takes less than 15 minutes from start to finish and I always make enough for Wendywoo to take into work the next day.  This is a great one pan meal for the camper van as well...just up the quantities or just add stacks of beans to feed the neighbours!

In a little olive oil...a sliced onion, garlic, a few baby plum tomatoes, a little sliced chorizo and a sliced chilli gently cooked until the oil starts to go red from the sausage...

...add a few sliced mushrooms and a tin of baked beans and serve either in a bowl or on crusty toast.  Don't forget the grated cheese...Simples!

Leftovers Shepherd's Pie

Along with fish pie and cauliflower cheese, shepherd's pie has got to be one of the ultimate comfort foods.  We had roast lamb left over from Sunday but one could equally well use minced lamb or, for cottage pie, minced beef.  


This is so easy to do and there are so many variations of what can be added that I'm only going to do my basic recipe.  If you like garlic...add more garlic.  If you like heat...add a bit of chilli.  Mushrooms, leftover beans or peas...anything of that nature lurking in the fridge (well maybe not the Actimel but, hey ho, if you're feeling brave...go for it!).


First get the spuds on.  Anything floury will do as they have got to be mashed.  Our staple is usually Maris Piper because they're good for mash and roasties but today I'm using Maris Piper with a few Whites left over from Sunday.  For quantity I go by eye but, as a rough guide, peel and cut the potatoes and put them in the dish you plan to use.  Cover the bottom of the dish and then do two or three more.  I always do too much mash as it keeps well in the fridge and can be added to your next batch or used for fishcakes etc.  In our house it rarely lasts a day as cold cheesy mash is a family favourite...isn't it, Sam?


I always get the potatoes on first because they need to be mashed whilst hot and tackling cold spuds is hard work!  Once mashed (using a lot of elbow grease, a lot of butter and a little milk or cream...whatever's handy) I add a pinch of salt and white pepper to taste...lots for me but that's my preference, I bung in a good handful of mature cheddar and a teaspoon or two of English mustard...Bang on!!  Oh and by the way...there's nothing worse than lumpy mash.  I always slightly overcook the potatoes until they start to fall apart, drain them, put the colander back on the pan and cover with the lid.  Let them steam and drain dry for a few minutes until you mash them...works perfectly every time.


While the potatoes are cooking it's time to get on with the rest of the pie.


First off you need to prepare your meat.  Whether it's leftover lamb or minced from the supermarket or butcher's it needs to come out of the fridge for half an hour or so.  This is just to bring it closer to room temperature so it is easier to cook properly.  For the leftover meat just get it all off the bone and finely dice it.  It takes a while but dicing rather than mincing or blitzing it retains a nice bit of texture in the finished pie.


Next roughly chop one large (or two small) onions, a carrot and a stick of celery.  What you're aiming for is about an equal quantity of each although I prefer about half as much onion again but it's a personal thing.  You don't need to finely chop or anything like that.  The vegetables will soften completely during cooking and, after all, this is easy comfort food not Michelin Star stuff!  If you watch as many cheffy shows as I do you will recognise this as a 'mirepoix'...the Holy Trinity of any stew, casserole or ragout type of thing.


Soften the vegetables, in a pan big enough to hold all the ingredients, in a little oil.  I use olive oil but whatever you have (not sump oil) is fine.  After a couple of minutes I add a clove or two of garlic just because we like it.  If you don't like it then leave it out.  More than two will probably be a bit overpowering but this is YOUR meal not mine!  Oh and Arthur, when I pop yours and Jen's round later, there is absolutely NO garlic whatsoever in the corner you're having!  


When the vegetables are soft I add, in no particular order; a tin of tomatoes, a good lug of red wine, the meat, a little chopped fresh or dried rosemary (or thyme...or both) and about an equal quantity of water to tomatoes...enough just to rinse the tin out ready for recycling, really!  At this point add anything else you want to use up as mentioned previously.  If you're using leftover meat which has been cooked already just bung it in.  Fresh mince will need to be browned in a separate pan first.


Basically, the longer you can leave this cooking the better the finished pie filling will be.  I bring mine to the boil and then simmer for a good 90 minutes but you'll get away with 45 minutes to an hour.  The hardest part's done so get it on the stove and leave it cooking while you have a glass of vino collapso or a beer.  You're looking for a gloopy, only slightly wet finished product. Too wet and it will leach out over the side of the dish when you top it off with the mash.  Too dry and it will be just that...dry!  If it looks too dry just add a bit of water and cook for about 15 minutes on a low heat.  If it's too wet then take the lid off and up the heat until it looks about right.


When it is cooked, turn the heat off and let it cool a bit.  It's easier to handle when cooler.


When cool, two thirds fill your casserole dish with the meat sauce.  Using a wooden spoon, transfer the cheesy, mustardy mash on top.  I then use a palette knife to smooth it over and then a fork to make some lines in the mash.  This isn't so much to make it look good but to raise some of the mash to get a bit burnt in the oven to make it yummy.  This can either be cooked there and then or left for a day or two in the fridge to let the flavours develop.


We're having ours tomorrow as Wendywoo had a Pizza Express lunch with the girls from work and their boss and only fancies a snack.

To serve I'll sprinkle the top with a handful of parmesan cheese and bake in a 180* oven for about 30 minutes until the top is golden brown with melted cheese and little burnt bits of potato...probably with some spring greens we didn't use at the weekend.