Temporary glitch

Haven't blogged for a few days due to circumstances beyond my control.  Away on the Isle of Wight with family next week and not sure if there's broadband so it might be a restricted service until we get back.  Will update on Twitter and Facebook when I know the score.  Happy eating, Peeps!

Painting frenzy

The Rock Chick went over to her mum and dad's this morning.  Jen still doing a lot better and managing to be out of bed downstairs in the recliner for a fair bit of each day.  Looks like they've finally sorted the medication out so it's doing what it's supposed to be doing at last!

I spent the day painting the (very fiddly) dvd cabinet that's been built into the landing bannister.  It was a storage inspiration we had that Lee, our builder following the flood last year, turned into a very funky reality.  It's been painted a very vibrant pink to make it a bit of a feature and looks great!  The bugger took all day to paint, though, with only one tea break and a necessary wee wee break after the tea!

Popped over to see Jen and Arthur this evening after a long soak to get rid of the residue from sanding the wood and a lot of pink paint!

Roasted duck breasts which have been rubbed with ground cumin, coriander and a bit of salt - with roast potatoes and red cabbage courtesy of J and A's freezer for supper.  Being cooked as we speak with the footie on the Mac in the kitchen.  Those who know me will testify that I'm no football fan but I am fiercely patriotic...so come on England!  Justify your exorbitant wages just for once!!

Anchovy pasta

Not a bad day today in the scheme of things.  The Woo went to her mum and dad's first thing this morning and found her mum sitting up in bed and looking a bit like her old self.  When we dropped off a couple of lamb shanks for their dinner at around eleven I popped up and saw her and she looked great!  I left Wendywoo there for the day and came back and had a bit of a tidy round of the front room, kitchen and conservatory.

The Woo cooked their dinner.  Slow cooked lamb shanks with carrots, onions, pearl barley and a few peas bunged in at the last minute.  Jen had hers as it was with a bit of spinach from their garden and Arthur tucked in to a mini-mountain of mash with his.  The mere fact that Jen had breakfast, eggy bread for lunch and wanted the lamb shanks for dinner is an absolutlely wonderful bit of news.  The added bonus that she was downstairs when I popped round this afternoon and was bossing everyone around was a real sight for sore eyes!

I came back home to give the dogs a second walk and finish the conservatory while The Woo served up their dinner and then left them in Dave (youngest son) and Louise's capable hands.

For our supper it's a tasty and bargain basement anchovy pasta.  This is a real favourite of The Woo's and mine but varies a teeny bit every time.  The basis is olive oil, anchovies, garlic and chilli but you can do pretty much what you want to glam it up...the world is your anchovy (lobster) so to speak!

This evening...in a pan on a low heat a good lug of olive oil, a small finely sliced onion, four green finger chillis (we do like it spicy!) sliced into half centimetre chunks, a three inch squeeze of anchovy paste and the same of tomato puree, half a dozen halved baby plum tomatoes, two large chestnut mushrooms finely sliced, a sprinkle of dried orgegano, a good sprinkle of crushed dried chillis and a decent grind of black pepper...stirred until the pastes are well incorporated and then covered and simmered on a very low heat until the tomotoes are well gooey.

Linguine for two done in a separate pan and then the whole lot stirred together and served with more black pepper and parmesan cheese.  Simples!

You can use proper anchovies obviously but the whole point is that it melts into the oil so the paste is a very economical alternative as only a couple of fillets are needed and the leftovers tend to get forgotten about.

The dried chillis work well with the fresh and give the finished dish an added dimension...but, as I've said before, this is your meal so adapt it as you will.  This is a very forgiving dish as long as you stick to the basics.

Nugget the chicken

Poor old Nugget died during the night.  Another case of being egg bound we think.  We recognised the signs early yesterday evening when we let this girls out for a bit of free-ranging and did everything we could to get her to lay the egg but to no avail.  We're pretty sure we've got the feeding/watering regime pretty well sorted so the only thing we can put it down to is a hereditary thing.  Paprika and Nugget were from the second batch we bought and were presumably from the same clutch.  The other three are absolutely fine and have all produced eggs today.  We're really down in the dumps about the whole thing and it's another sad day at Quincewood Farm.

Hopefully there will be some good news at some point this year!

D-Day at TBC!

Big day in the TBC kitchen today as Nora is in France on some sort of birthday shindig and I was left in charge!  Bangers, mash, and onion gravy was the request of the day so yesterday picked up onions, 7.5 kilos of spuds, 3kilos of carrots and a couple of kilos of frozen peas from Sainsbury's and 80 bangers from Hayward's first thing this morning.  Well actually it was 70 bangers as I think Michelle had an early morning maths trauma.

9am saw me safely ensconced at my post peeling and chunking said potatoes and peeling and slicing said onions.  Do you know exactly how long it takes to prepare that much veg?  Bloody ages!  That's how long!

Anyway, whilst the spuds and carrots were cooking and the onions were frying for the gravy the help turned up.  Volunteers all!  So now the ship was ably crewed by the lovely Margaret, Betty and Wendy...not The Woo.  They set about clearing up the mess I had nonchalantly left lying around to prove that I had actually been grafting while I finished off the gravy and bunged the sausages in the oven.

A vat of stewed apples and a couple of jugs of custard later we were ready to start plating the grub...oh, not forgetting the addition of frozen peas to the carrots just to make it difficult for the one lady who separates peas out from whatever she is served to leave them defiantly on the side of her plate!  Got to keep the old people on their toes after all!

Conveyor belt style plating then in the warmer to await the starting pistol.  Catered for 40 but served 31 so not bad as it goes.  Got rid of the extra sausages and veg and (later) froze the mash to add to a cottage pie or something another time.  It's a tight budget so why throw stuff away, eh?

The only waste was about two inches of sludge at the bottom of a plastic bowl with lots of peas floating about in it.  I wonder where they came from?!?

The highlight of the day was washing up with three lovely, chatty ladies (dishwasher broken for the last week or so) and putting everything away so it's all nice and clean for Steve and me to mess up in the morning.  I'm helping him as he's been let down by the lady who was due to help him out...still, volunteers have lives too!

Enjoyed my time on the poop deck but looking forward to the steady hand of Nora at the helm next Tuesday.

Bob was right

I don't like Mondays!

Odd day today as we've all been rushing round like the proverbial blue bottomed flies.  We're looking after TLM tonight as Annie isn't feeling 100% but he's sound asleep in bed so it's special request from The Woo for sausage pasta.  It's bubbling away as I blog so will sign off in a bit and finish it off.

Big hugs for Analise, though...we love you, Annie, so GET WELL SOON!

Father's Day

A difficult Father's Day yesterday over at Wendywoo's Mum and Dad's as Jen was feeling a bit rough but she rallied round during the day.  Arthur seemed to have a lovely day in the circumstances with some thoughtful gifts from his children; a cake baked by Joe's own fair hands (with full 121 instruction from Lisa), a shirt from David and Louise (in two sizes as they couldn't decide) and a lovely photo, from The Woo, of his uncle and the VC he had won during WWI which is currently in a Manitoba museum.  He wanted a steak treat for lunch so it was duly served all round with roast potatoes, green beans and peas.  The lovely Lisa rang during the evening with news that she had found a recliner for Jen and they were dropping it off within the hour so it was a mad rush to make room before it was dropped off and duly tried and tested by Jen (amongst others)...I won't tell tales but the massage cycle seemed a bit TOO much of a hit with the girls!

Burns Night take 2!

We've had a haggis sitting in the freezer since Burns Night  and have been meaning to sit down with our friend (of the Scottish) persuasion, Cath, and eat it since then.  So this evening she's coming round with her daughter, Fiona, and we're going to see if we can do the wee thing justice.  I've had it before and loved it but never cooked it so wish me luck!

Going to do it with tatties and neeps but southern stylie i.e. roasts and swede/carrot mash.  Wendywoo Queen of the Gravy will no doubt swan in at some point and add her jug of deliciousness.

Like father like son

Claire's birthday today.  Happy Birthday, my lovely, from me and all at Quincewood Farm!

She was too poorly to go out and celebrate so Joe cooked her up a bit of a feast.  Roast duck leg with greens, honeyed carrots and parsnips, roasties and a red wine and redcurrant jus.  The text has just come in and the pic is already on Facebook.

Clearly his father's son.  I have to physically prevent myself from photographing everything I cook as this blog has become something of an addiction!

Another busy morning in the church kitchen.  Will be glad when Steve gets back from Croatia so I'm back to Tuesdays only!  All this volunteering is encroaching on my dog walking, ironing and chook care time!!

Popped in to see Jen on the way back and she's looking much chirpier than yesterday.  Did a Hayward's visit to order 80 gluten free sausages for the luncheon club on Tuesday.  Special request for bangers, mash, peas and onion gravy...if they behave I might even do them some carrots.  Bought one of their cooked chickens for the rellies.  Arthur tucked into his with some mash and marrowfat peas.  Not everyone's cup of tea but I'm with him and love them!  Went back to pick The Woo up about seven and Jen looked even better and had eaten a chicken sandwich.  Result!

Lamb chops for us tonight.  Marinated in olive oil, rosemary and garlic then browned and in a 180* oven for about five or six minutes depending on thickness.  We like our lamb really, really pink in this house and five or so minutes leaves just enough time to get the fat crisp without overdoing the meat!  If The Woo can't see pink she sees red instead and I get walloped!

Chicken two ways

No blogging yesterday as I had an evening job interview for a bit of part time weekend work.  The good news (for me but not necessarly for you!) is that if you buy your bread from Tonbridge Waitrose on a Saturday in the not too distant future it will likely have been made by yours truly.  I'll let you know my first day so that you can panic buy the day before!

Did my little volunteering bit in a local kitchen this morning.  Big day as it was the first time I was completely in charge of food.  The police haven't come knocking as yet so it seems I didn't poison any of the oldies.

Left there at half one and straight round to Wendywoo's mum and dad's.  The Woo had been there all morning as Jen was having a really rough day.  Walked into town to pick a car up from being MOT'd and did a bit of shopping in Sainsbury's (don't grass me up to the new boss!).  We'd decided to cook for the parents this evening.  We do a sort of Meals on Wheels deal heavily involving very hot plates and tin foil.  They're only round the corner so it stays hot enough on the two minute journey.  Picked up some lovely chicken legs from Haywards at less than three quid for the four.  Another bargain meal attempt in the bag!

Whilst out the boss decided she wanted to eat with her mum and dad so we decided to cook it there.  Took the chicken home to sort out the marinades as Quincewood Farm is the more advanced location for chicken spicery!  Arthur isn't a garlic sort of man unless we sneak it into the odd meal disguised as an onion or something, The Woo and I are garlic and spice addicts so it was paprike chicken for us and lemon chicken for them.

For ours; olive oil, garlic, sundried tomato paste, paprika, salt and pepper and a roughly chopped Scotch Bonnet in a bowl and in went the chicken.  For theirs; a quartered lemon in a bowl with some olive oil and seasoning and in with the other two legs.  It was left to marinade while I loaded up with the rest of the ingredients for the meal and then off back round to Shipbourne Road HQ!

When ready to go it was some deft handling of two roasting tins (to avoid any sauce mingling) and into a pre-heated 180* oven for 50 minutes with a baste half way through.  We had this with cheesy mash (again!) and some creamed leeks with sweetcorn.  This goes so well with chicken and is a real favourite of ours.  Chopped leeks softened in some butter and olive oil, tinned sweetcorn added after about 10 minutes, cream sloshed in after another two minutes and then ready after a touch of salt and white pepper.

This came in at £1.25 per head.

Dr Pepper ham

This is a cheap and easy meal to rustle up as long as you get ahead of yourself and leave the required time to prepare it.  Uncooked ham and bacon joints are three for £10 at the moment in places such as Sainsbury's and Asda and one joint will easily feed four or more people with a bit left over for sandwiches etc.  They come as smoked or unsmoked.  I prefer the unsmoked but it's personal choice all the way.  We do it quite often just to leave in the fridge to graze on.  They freeze well so buying them three at a time really isn't a problem!

Bung the joint in a pan which is about an inch larger all round.  Add an onion which has been peeled and chopped in half.  Fill the pan with Dr Pepper until the joint is just covered when the fizzing has stopped.  Cover and bring to the boil and then gently simmer for 90 minutes.  A bit of the liquid will disappear with the cooking so I turn the joint in the pan half way through.  Oh and don't remove the wax paper from around the meat until cooked and cooled as this will keep it in one piece whilst in the pan!

After 90 minutes turn off the heat and leave the meat to cool in the cooking liquid for an hour.  Remove when still warm.  It can be sliced and served at this point or stuck in the fridge, when completely cool, until you are ready for it.  If you try and carve it whilst too hot it all falls to pieces.

This evening we had ours with cheesy mash and some cabbage from Hadlow Farm Shop that had been sauteed in butter with a chopped apple and cream added towards the end of cooking.

I've done this with full fat coke, ginger beer (great as a cold summer alternative) and dry cider with a few whole black peppercorns...all work well.

I've also done this as a Christmas ham with a decent sized and better quality gammon joint.  Cooked a bit longer in full fat coke and cooled overnight.  Glazed with honey, mustard and brown sugar and baked in the oven until the glaze runs...delicious and a real crowd pleaser.

Fish Pie

Been laid up all day with a touch of sciatica so spent a lazy few hours flat out watching St Hugh of Fearnley.  Supper was courtesy of Annie who made a lovely fish pie.  Yummilicious!

Sausage pasta

I love cooking this dish for friends and family as it's so easy, so forgiving, so comforting and probably the first thing I made as a new foodie that actually impressed my sons!  It's a real family favourite and Alex and Joe seem to make it themselves a fair bit.  In fact I vaguely remember Joe doing it for a Food Tech exam years ago but may be wrong.

There's no set recipe with regards what sort of sausage to use; it's all about availabilty and how much you want to spend.  Over the years I've used bulk standard smoked sausage, kabanos, chorizo, franks, bratwurst and a host of others.  I usually use smoked sausage (good old Matteson's) and just one other in each dish, though, as I love the smoky flavour, don't want to overcomplicate flavours and a little of each certainly goes a long way.  Plus the smoked sausage plumps up when cooked in the sauce and is a real burst of flavour when you find a slice!

The version I've done this evening works out at about 70p per person!  I made it a little while ago and will re-heat it later when I do the pasta as we have TLM this evening and overnight and it's easier to have our meal when he's gone to bed.  He's just finished off a huge plate of fishfingers and chips (his favourite by a long shot) and a tub of yoghurt and we're all watching Shaun the Sheep on iTunes on the posh TV in the lounge; having persuded him that Dip Dap isn't for the over 3's!  Result!!

Ok so for the sausage pasta...in a large pan I softened a chopped onion and added four cloves of garlic.  Once soft I bunged in a good handful of baby tomatoes that were on offer at Sainsbury's, three whole bird's eye chillis (JazzBass Joe is eating tonight and he's not a hot food person...so keeping them whole means he won't inadvertantly eat one and spontaneously combust!) and a good sprinkle of dried oregano.  In went a whole sliced Matteson's smoked sausage and about a third of a chorizo that was also on offer at 2 for £4!  After a few minutes I added a carton of chopped tomatoes and the same amount of water.  Salt and peppered, brought to the boil and then simmered, whilst covered, for about half an hour and then uncovered (to reduce a bit) for another 20 minutes or so.  Heat off and lid on until ready to eat later.

I'll do this with some penne although any chunky pasta will work. Cook the pasta and stir the re-heated sauce in once drained.  A good sprinkle of grated mature cheddar seems to compliment it far better than parmesan for some reason...maybe it's the robust flavours.  You can add mushrooms if you want, more or less garlic and can omit any chilli heat completely to get things to your taste.  As I said at the start; it's a very forgiving dish!

If you do this with a kilo of pasta it will serve 6 - 8 people.

Carrot and coriander soup

I bought a bargain bag of carrots at the weekend for 90p and decided to use them up in a batch of carrot and coriander soup.  This works out at 65p a litre so about 30p for a generous serving.  Whack out a good chunk of decent bread and it's still a bargain at less than 50p per person!

This recipe is for about four litres of soup so make sure you have the freezer space!

Three and a half litres of water heating up while you do the prep.  I added a couple of vegetable stock cubes at this point.  To this I added three chopped onions softened in a bit of oil, one and a half kilos of chopped carrots and three teaspoonfuls of ground coriander.  To this I added a couple of handfuls of basmati rice but two or three potatoes would work well.  Bring to the boil and then simmer for 20/30 miniutes until everything is soft.  A couple of handfuls of fresh coriander finish things off.  Blitz when cool and serve with a bit of creme fraiche/creme and a sprinkling of chopped coriander.

Freeze prior to the fresh coriander bit but serve a such when thawed and reheated

English asparagus

Asparagus is certainly up there amongst my most favourite of vegetables.  Bought a huge bunch from Hadlow Farm Market yesterday for £2.50.  Having it lightly steamed with the last of the leftover shepherd's pie.  The pie by now is a freebie so this is an indulgent £1.25 per person meal!

Shepherd's Pie

Sam, Wendywoo and I have just munched through about three quarters of the shepherd's pie (meant for at least six!) whilst watching Secret Eaters on TV.  Feeling slightly guilty but at least it wasn't in secret!  Oh, and not wanting to grass anyone up...Sam's just in from dinner at his Dad's!!

Globe and Rainbow

Extended family meal at the Globe and Rainbow in Kilndown last evening.  Special deal with two courses and a bottle of house wine at £30 per couple.  With extra bits it worked out at just under a hundred quid between three couples so great value.  I had a lovely pate with a delicious fig and balsamic jam as a starter and then a duo of beef; a lovely thick beef stew and mini cottage pie with accompanying vegetables.  Wendywoo went for chicken livers and then a surf and turf with a lovely rare bit of sirloin.  I had a mouthful of the steak and, although rib-eye is my cut of choice, it was very tender and juicy.  A great evening out at a place we have visited a few times before; the most recent being a Sunday morning forage and delicious multi-course meal afterwards about 2 months ago.  Shame it's not closer...Neil's obviously at the top of his game as the food is delicious!

Brunch

Couple of slices of toast with a chunk of last night's tortilla as a late breakfast...yummy!

Another tortilla

Bit if a glut of eggs and some salad to use up so it's another chorizo tortilla this evening before we settle down with a drink or three to watch the Jubilee concert.  Cooking with a nice cold beer for company and listening to Chris Evans in the kitchen to get warmed up.

Red onion softened in a bit of oil, couple of cloves of chopped garlic and about 6" of chorizo sliced and quartered.  A sprinkle of oregano and a bit of seasoning and then in with a few sliced new potatoes that I boiled earlier.  All stirred around and in with half a dozen (free!!) lightly beaten eggs.  On a medium heat for a few minutes to cook the bottom and then in a 180* oven to finish off.  It's done when the egg is just set but it won't hurt too much if it overcooks a little as the onions and potatoes keep it moist.

Nice green salad and the rest of the potatoes which I will dress in a nice mustardy vinaigrette to go with it.  Enough for four...£3.46 so well under a quid per person!

Leftovers shepherd's pie

Took all the rest of the meat off the two legs of lamb from yesterday and made enough shepherd's pie for at least eight people.  A small two person one for Jen and Arthur and a huge one for here at home that will do a meal for the four of us tomorrow with some leftovers (possibly- although we do know how to eat in this house and a meal for six usually just about does the four of us!) for a lunch the day after. As the meat was a freebie it came in at £4.11 and with something green to have with it will be well under £1 per person.  Bargain!

Jubilee roast

10.30am  Been out and picked up a leg of lamb from Annie and Ben's and another from Jen and Arthur.  The roast will take a bit of planning as cooking some at home and some at Jen and Arthur's and then (hopefully) serving it up there all in one piece...and hot!

Watch this space...need to go sort out the veg!

1pm  Dropped Wendywoo and Sam off with enough prepared spuds and swede & carrot to feed an army.

1.50pm  The Woo's sorting out the swede and carrot mash and the roasties at her mum and dad's.  I've got the parboiled parsnips and buttered leeks in the car which I'll finish off when I get round there.  Two legs of lamb about 10 minutes away from being done in the oven.  As soon as they're ready I'll foil them up and take them over to rest while I cream the leeks and the parsnips go in with the spuds.  Should get there just about in time to watch the flotilla on the kitchen TV!

2pm  Zero hour!  Lamb foiled...just hope I don't have a crash else it'll be carnage!

9.50pm  Sitting at home with a glass of vino collapso looking back on a great family afternoon with some lovely people and a pretty damn good roast!  Well, all except the parsnips which could have done with ten minutes more!  Lessons learned...always useful...per ardua ad astra etc etc

Paprika chicken

Don't panic!  We're not eating our recently departed Paprika.  Still feeling a bit sad about the whole thing but there were chicken thighs in the fridge that needed eating today as it's family roast lamb tomorrow and they wouldn't keep until Monday.

Annie and Jack over for supper.  Jack's tucking into fish fingers and skinny chips with a bit of a cucumber side as we speak.  I've got half an eye on ours cooking whilst updating this.

The chicken thighs (free range from Haywards) were marinated in olive oil, garlic, chilli, paprika and seasoning and are being roasted in a 180* oven to get a nice crispy skin.  Will be served with cheesy mash and garlic mushrooms.  All came in at £5.83 for the three of us so under budget which proves that you can eat good quality meat without breaking the bank!

Sad news from Chickenopolis

Wendywoo went out about half an hour ago to check for eggs and found Paprika dead.  The others seem fine so no idea what caused it although, in hindsight, she has seemed a bit quiet for a couple of days.  We're all feeling a bit glum now!

Paprika far left only a few days ago as right as rain!

Satisfied customers

...Joe and Claire's port donation is ready and waiting as you can see!

Budget meal No 1

Joe and Claire over for the night so decided to do the Samuel Pepys' pork as mentioned in an earlier blog.  It came in at £1.96 per person and that's with the chops coming from a decent butcher (Haywards as usual).  Pork is such good value.  Four nice thick ones came in at not much over five quid!

As it's Jubilee weekend I decided to get the patriotic pinny out...sorry about the legs.