Spicy beans with chorizo

Tuesday is Woo's late night at work and we tend to have something quick and easy to eat as it's after 8.30pm when we finally get settled  A jacket potato with beans and cheese is usually our supper of choice.  I had some time spare late afternoon so decided to do a home made baked bean dish instead.  Also, whilst I was ordering the meat for the Day Centre lunches in Haywards I decided to go for a couple of lovely chicken legs to go with it.

In a large pan I softened a finely sliced red onion in a little butter and olive oil.  To this I added a couple of finely chopped garlic cloves and a tablespoonful of tomato puree.  In then went a couple of scotch bonnet peppers (halved), about 100g of quartered button chestnut mushrooms and a good seasoning of sea salt and black pepper.  Left over from our Christmas tapas was a pack of cooking chorizo languishing in the fridge.  This was sliced and added to the mix.

All stirred together and cooked out for a while and then in went half a glass of red wine and 800g of chopped tomatoes and the same amount of water.  The sauce was brought to the boil and then simmered for a good 90 minutes until it started to thicken.

The chicken legs went into the oven.  All I did to them was season well with sea salt and black pepper and a liberal sprinkle of smoked paprika to complement the chorizo in the baked beans.

Whilst the chicken legs were roasting I added a tin each of borlotti, black eyed and cannellini beans to the sauce and let it all cook out.  This took about as long as I took to pick Woo up so it was all more or less ready by the time we got in.

A handful of coriander went in for the final two minutes of cooking and then served.

#simples #yummy #cheap #easy

Plenty left over for Woo to take to work tomorrow!

The dreaded sprout!

I absolutely LOVE brussel sprouts!  This time of the year they are at their absolute best; an amazingly versatile vegetable not just for being boiled to death with a turkey dinner.

This is one of our favourite ways to have them.

We picked up a lovely lamb shoulder yesterday from our favourite local butchers (Haywards in York Parade) and Woo decided to take over cooking duties this afternoon.  We had a fruitful morning of chores around the house before calling in on the Head Honcho (Woo's dad) then into town to pick up a few bits of shopping. With the slow roasted lamb we decided on roast potatoes, swede and carrot mash, roasted red peppers with garlic and sprouts with pancetta and sesame seeds.  Oh, and gravy courtesy of The Queen of the Gravy herself!

For the sprouts:

In a large pan fry off a good handful of pancetta pieces in a little butter.  After a few minutes add your sprouts.  We halve the large ones to ensure an even cooking time.  There's no need to pre-cook them; especially if you like a little crunch as we do. Leave them sautéing for a few minutes until the sprouts start to go golden brown at the edges and the pancetta becomes lovely and crispy.  Add a good sprinkling of sesame seeds, stir in and cook for a further minute or so.  Season to taste but it won't need too much salt due to the pancetta.

Serve!

This sprout dish goes well with any roast meat and is a great one try try out on the sprout dodgers amongst your family and friends.

Pasta Madre

Well The Woo's Birthday Weekend is over but what a lovely time we had!

Saturday morning we decided to head for Tunbridge Wells for an antique plate hunt around the Chazzas (Charity Shops for the uninitiated!). We'd been recommended a small restaurant in Camden Road by good friends Sue and Nick and decided to try it out for an early lunch.  What an absolute find was Pasta Madre!

This is a small place with only a dozen or so covers and the kitchen is set on a sort of mezzanine arrangement at the back of the seating area.  We arrived at noon and were seated at the foot of the kitchen area.  There's a counter running the length of the shop with a delicious assortment of cakes etc on display for sale.

Our lunch menus arrived. The waitress was delightful.  We saw that there was a selection of stuffed arrancini on offer as starters but we couldn't decide what to go for. Our waitress explained that a portion was two pieces but readily suggested that they could do us a shared taster plate with a selection of arrancini for us to try.  We went for that option straightaway...bargain!

One was mushroom...yummy; one was a sort of cheesy thing, super yummy; our joint favourite was stuffed with a ragout sauce and it was absolutely delicious!  What a start to an unexpectedly delicious lunch experience!

For the main Woo had the pasta bolognese and I opted for the ricotta and spinach ravioli in a sage and butter sauce.  Gobsmacked!  Gorgeous homemade ravioli, packed full of flavour and the sauce was indulgently buttery with beautiful kicks of sage leaves.  I almost licked the plate clean!

The chef was most attentive, served some of the dishes herself and was exceptionally keen to please.  I would heartedly recommend this lovely restaurant.  Great food in a wonderfully family atmosphere.   Great value too!  We will certainly be back!

Grazzi Mille!

Eggs in bed

It's my Woo's birthday weekend but I was the one treated this morning with breakfast in bed.  Ducks eggs on toast with a sprinkle of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. What a great way to start the day!

Baked Camembert

We decided on a light supper this evening.  One of our favourites is baked Camembert and we usually have one languishing in the fridge.  There are loads of ways to do this simple dish but this is our favourite.

Take the cheese out of its box and unwrap it.  Return it to the box and place on a baking tray.  Slice a garlic clove into 8 - 10 pieces and make the corresponding amount of incisions in the top of the camembert with a sharp knife.  Insert the garlic slithers into the cuts.  Drizzle with a little white wine and let it run into the cheese.

Bake in a 180* oven for about 20 mins.

We have ours either with crudités or, tonight's choice, toasted pitta bread and grapes.

Take it out of the oven...and eat!

Roast vegetables

One of our favourite ways to eat vegetables is roasted in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  All we do is cut the vegetables into manageable sized pieces, throw them into a roasting dish; usually with a whole head of garlic cloves (unpeeled), sprinkle with sea salt, add a good lug of olive oil and an equally good lug of balsamic vinegar and then mix it all together using God's spoons (your hands!)  Into a 170/180* oven for about 30/40 minutes with a quick stir round about half way through and that's all it takes.

These vegetables go well with all sorts of things; this evening we're having spatchcock poussin with a salt and pepper crust.  This is an ideal combination because it all takes more or less the same amount of time in the oven.

This evening we're having red onions, courgettes, corn on the cob, chicory and red pepper...with the garlic of course!  There's nothing like squeezing the roasted garlic pulp out of its paper covering straight into your mouth.

Other vegetables you could use include aubergine, pak choi, green beans, spring onions.  The list is more or less endless and the choice and mix is entirely yours.

Give it a go and let me know what you choose and how you get on!

Quick and easy gravy

We love our gravy in this house and my Woo is the domestically acclaimed 'Queen of the Gravy'.  She has a touch of genius when it comes to the final seasoning that gets everyone who tastes one of her magical concoctions absolutely rave about it!

However, this is my quick and easy gravy recipe for use when you're having pie and mash, cottage pie or something similar which needs a bit of sauce to finish things off.  It uses a stockpot so it's blatant cheating, takes no time to prep and just cooks away on the hob until you're ready for it.

In a pan soften a finely chopped onion or shallot in about 25g of butter.  I always use unsalted butter as I prefer to add my own salt to taste.  Boil a kettle and add 600ml of boiling water to a stockpot in a jug/bowl/whatever.  Top up to a litre with the wine of your choice and pour the lot into the softened onion.  Cook on a medium heat for half an hour or so and then pass the whole lot through a sieve into another pan.  Don't forget to scrape all of the mushy onion gorgeousness from the bottom of the sieve.

Carry on cooking the sieved gravy until it's lovely and thick.  If you're in a hurry just add a little cornflower mixed with cold water to the pan and stir until it thickens.  Either way it tastes good and any leftovers can be frozen or kept in the fridge for use another time.

Don't forget to taste and season before serving, though!

The choice of stockpot/wine is yours and depends what you're pouring it on; beef or lamb needs red wine, chicken/vegetable/fish is better with white but it's your gravy, your rules at the end of the day.  If you're cooking a roast this gravy works well as a base which you can mix with all the cooking juices to turn the whole thing into a culinary delight.

PS this gravy recipe works even more effectively if you drink wine and listen to cheesy music whilst cooking.  We've got Simon an Garfunkel on Amazon Prime as we speak and it's working a treat!