The Italian version … first up

… the meatballs!

The recipe that follows is easy and makes really tasty meatballs. As a rough guide 450g of minced meat will give you 24 meatballs.

Meatballs

450g minced beef, pork, turkey

or Quorn mince

*salt and black pepper

*garlic – either 2 tsps of paste or 2 cloves, crushed

*oregano – a generous sprinkle

*half a tsp of chilli

*heaped tbsp of tomato paste

*1 egg

sprinkle of plain flour

Rapeseed or vegetable oil for shallow frying

Place the mince in a large mixing bowl then add the remaining ingredients marked *, mix well. At this point your mixture may be too wet. If it is, sprinkle a little plain flour over the mixture and fold in gently.

Use a teaspoon as a measure and heaped with mixture, roll it between your hands and set aside on a board. When the meatballs are ready, heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry on a low heat, gently and carefully shaking the pan to ensure they are evenly coloured – use tongs if you are accident prone! Seal the meatballs in batches - 8 at a time and then transfer to an oven-proof dish or foil tray ready for later – cool, cover and fridge.

When you are ready for supper later in the day place the dish or tray containing the meatballs in a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 and complete the cooking for 20 minutes – this time will vary depending on the sizes of the meatball – ensure that they are properly cooked – cut a larger one in half to be sure.

Note:

You can freeze Quorn mince once it has been cooked – make sure your meal is cold before freezing – use within a month. For use, defrost fully in the fridge and cook within 24 hours ensuring it's piping hot.

Now for the “lip smackingly good” tomato sauce!

Bombay Aloo

Here's a dish which again uses baked jackets spuds that you have in you fridge stash. This is originally a side dish but has morphed into a stand-alone veggie meal by adding a selection of other stuff – cauliflower and chick peas to name but two!

Bombay Aloo – aka Bombay Potatoes

2 large jacket spuds from your stash, peeled if you prefer

OR

500g of cooked potatoes – I use Charlottes – whatever you use it should be a waxy potato that holds its shape, so any new potato will be just the job

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

250g passata

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp ginger paste or 1” fresh, grated.

2 cloves of roasted garlic or 2 cloves of fresh, crushed

1 tsp each of ground cumin, coriander, garam masala and curry powder. Use a curry powder that best suits your palate and how much heat you like – mild, medium or hot

1 tsp salt or to taste

Use a medium size saucepan (21cms/8”).

Your potatoes should be cut to approximately 6-12 cms/¼” to ½” pieces.

Fry the onions in the oil until soft – 3-4 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, spices and salt. Fry so that the spices are released. Add the potatoes and the tomato paste, fry gently so that the potatoes absorb the flavours and the paste cooks too – 3-4 minutes.

Add the passata and sugar and cook on a gentle heat for 10 minutes**. Taste the Bombay Aloo, adjust salt and sugar to personal taste. Cool, box and fridge. The longer you leave this dish the better it will be. It freezes well.

As a guide this recipe will give you 690g of scrumptious Bombay Aloo.

You can add a can of chick peas, drained and rinsed or tiny florets of cauliflower with the passata and sugar marked ** above - or anything that takes your fancy!

Here's a photo guide of the original Bombay Aloo …

Version two – veggie or not!

How about koftas? These Indian meatballs are a real hit. As you'd expect from me they can be made ahead and frozen.

Koftas - makes 25/30 ish

500g of minced lamb

or Quorn mince

*salt and black pepper

*2 cloves of garlic, crushed or 2 tsps of paste

*1 tsp of ground cumin

*1 tsp of ground coriander

*pinch of garam masala

*pinch of chilli powder

1 heaped tbsp of tomato paste

1 egg

sprinkle of plain flour

kitchen gloves or damp hands

Rapeseed oil for shallow frying

a foil tray 23cms x 23cms

Place the mince in a large mixing bowl then add the ingredients marked * and mix well. Add the tomato paste and the egg and combine. If you find the mixture too wet, then sprinkle a little plain flour into the mixture and fold in gently.

Using either gloves or damp hands your mixture should aim to be the size of a walnut (or 1 heaped teaspoon). Roll the mixture between your hands and when you've 8 or so heat the oil in a large frying pan. Seal the koftas on a low heat and carefully shake the pan to turn them – use tongs if you are accident prone!

At this stage you can continue to cook the koftas in the pan or you can transfer to an oven-proof dish and pop into a pre-heated oven 160fan/180c/Gas 4 for 15 minutes.

Alternatively let the koftas cool once sealed, transfer to freezer bags and freeze until required. Defrost and then place in a foil tray and warm in a pre-heated oven as above for 15 minutes.

Easy peasy and really tasty … the photo guide is next up

My Veggie Roast!

This dish ticks two boxes – it's for those who love stuffing with their roast and with the extra ingredients it becomes a vegetarian roast in its own right.

It's tried and tested, here it is :

Chestnut and Apple roast

170g/6oz of dried breadcrumbs

2 tsps dried sage

100ml/3fluid oz boiling water

or

1 packet of sage and onion stuffing mix – 170g/6oz

suitable for vegans

1 packet – 180g/7oz of vac packed chestnuts, blitzed to a

crumb – not dust!

Vac packed chestnuts are available all year in

larger supermarkets

300g of chunky apple sauce – preferably Bramley apple

OR

Portion of apple sauce – 225-350g/8-12 oz

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Drop of rapeseed oil and knob of butter.

2 additional knobs of butter

I used an oval cast iron oven proof dish measuring 25x17x5 cms – 10”x7”x2” in old money.

For your dried breadcrumbs, remove the crusts and tear up into chunks – weigh to achieve 170g/6oz. Pre-heat oven 150fan/170c/Gas 3. Blitz the bread in a food processor until you get an even crumb. Spread the crumbs onto a baking tray and bake for 6 minutes until they are golden. You can make a finer crumb by blitzing again when cooled. Add dried sage to taste – I'd suggest 2 tsps.

You don't have to make your own breadcrumbs, you can buy them dried.

Alternatively if you're short of time, use a sage and onion stuffing mix.

Fotos to follow!

The raw slaw

Time is our greatest enemy – or rather lack of it - whether its a commute, long hours, collecting and ferrying children, there's very little left to think about food and meals - here's my antidote which does require some prep but it's well worth the effort.

The basic raw slaw

It's much better to prep the slaw in separate food bags – it lasts longer.

How much you prep is up to you – as a guide :

110g white or red cabbage, finely sliced – approximately

one third of a medium size cabbage – a “cheek”

use a paring knife – see hints and tips to follow

1 carrot – peeled and sliced with a

julienne peeler

1 spring onion – 15g finely sliced

salt and black pepper

Slice your cheek of cabbage as finely as you can using a sharp paring knife – bag, clip and fridge. 

Next up the carrots – they bleed if you grate them – not to mention pebble dashing every nook and cranny in your kitchen – how is it possible that grated carrot can jettison so far?

Ta dah – enter the julienne peeler.

Here it is, along with the uniformly sliced strips of carrot it produces :

Bag, clip and fridge.

A neat piece of kit and inexpensive too.

Finally, spring onions are mild, you could use a Spanish onion if you prefer or a red version. You can get a sweet, mild variety too. Slice, bag, clip and fridge.

The ingredients are deliberately bagged separately – they keep fresh longer!

When you're ready to serve …

Fancy fotos!

Heat the butter and the cream

together

Add the Parmesan and heaps of

black pepper

The bowl

The bowl with petit pois

I didn't have any fettuccine in my pantry but I did have spaghetti – if you're not fond of “ribbony” types of pasta just choose your favourite.

You can adapt this to a plant based recipe using:

1 tbsp Flora Plant unsalted butter

200ml Elmlea 100% Plant Double Alternative

to cream

50g Parmesan alternative – for example

Violife Parmesan style

The simple things in life are the best!

Now for seasonal strawberries …

Action plan!

Heat 2 tbsp of rapeseed oil in a pre-heated wok or large frying pan. I used a wok. Seal the fillet slices on either side quickly and then set aside – don't overcrowd – cook in batches. Add the onion and sweet peppers to the wok and stir fry for 2/3 minutes, then add the cooked potatoes, stir fry again for 2/3 minutes. Add the broad beans, asparagus and sealed, sliced fillet along with any residual juices. Finally add the stir fry sauce of dark soy, rice wine and sweet chilli sauce. Toss to stir fry for another 3 minutes.

Serve immediately in warmed bowls.

Here's the beginning of the photo-guide :

I wrote this with entertaining in mind so it would work for any gathering.

Food for thought … here's another idea - a perfect supper for a duvet/box set day.

Or, how about a date night - making one huge plate to share … I'll leave that with you!

Here goes … the dumplings!

You've got a choice!

Dumplings made with suet have more texture to them. If you prefer light and fluffy then probably without suet would be better for you. If you've never sampled this delicacy then the only way is to make them both ways and decide for yourself.

Suet Dumplings

100g self raising flour

50g vegetable suet

pinch of salt

60ml of ice cold water

A generous pinch of dried mixed herbs - optional

Mix the flour, suet and salt with the water – you want to achieve a firm dough with some give.

Divide into eight and shape into balls.

Place on top of your casserole or soup, simmer for 20 minutes. Ensure that the casserole or saucepan has a tight fitting lid.

Dumplings sans suet

140g cold unsalted butter

250g self raising flour

salt and black pepper

150ml cold water

Generous pinch of mixed herbs – optional

Back to basics – rub the butter into the flour – aka the rubbing in method – until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the herbs and a pinch of salt and black pepper. Add the cold water and mix quickly to form a dough. Dust your hands with flour and divide the dough into twelve and form into balls.

Add to the top of your casserole, soup or stew and bake for 20 minutes, as above.

You might think this is a lot of fuss about nothing – I suppose you have to be a certain age – give them a try, see for yourself!

A veggie version …

You won't need your slow cooker – you can use a large frying pan or a casserole.

Following the recipe, substitute the braising steak with Quorn pieces – you won't need to seal the Quorn pieces.

Gently fry your onion and garlic in a generous drop of rapeseed oil. Add the spices and cook together so that the spices are able to release their deliciousness!

Add the passata and the chilli sauce and bring to the boil.

Add the Quorn pieces and simmer for 12 minutes if frozen – 9 minutes if not - set aside until you're ready to roll.

The optional extras are the same – even the chorizo! Try M&S Plant Kitchen “No chorizo puppies” - they are freezable. Made with red pepper, smoked paprika and roasted garlic, mushroom and caramelised onion to name but a few ingredients!

Slice the chorizo and fry with a little oil, turning frequently. If you're adding sweet baby peppers sauté them in the chorizo oil.

When you're ready to serve add the chorizo and peppers and the residual oil with the kidney beans to your chilli and re-heat gently until piping hot!

Serve with whatever takes your fancy – rice, good bread or wraps.

Yum!

Happy New Year

The veggie roast!

This dish ticks two boxes – it's for those who love “stuffing” with their roast and with the extra ingredients it becomes a vegetarian roast in its own right.

It's tried and tested, here it is :

Chestnut and Apple roast

170g/6oz of dried breadcrumbs

2 tsps dried sage

100ml/3fluid oz boiling water

or

1 packet of sage and onion stuffing mix – 170g/6oz

1 packet – 180g/7oz of vac packed chestnuts, blitzed to a

crumb – not dust!

Vac packed chestnuts are available all year in

larger supermarkets

300g of chunky apple sauce – preferably Bramley apple

OR

Portion of apple sauce – 225-350g/8-12 oz

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Drop of rapeseed oil and knob of butter.

2 additional knobs of butter

I used an oval cast iron oven proof dish measuring 25x17x5 cms – 10”x7”x2” in old money.

For your dried breadcrumbs, remove the crusts and tear up into chunks – weigh to achieve 170g/6oz. Pre-heat oven 150fan/170c/Gas 3. Blitz the bread in a food processor until you get an even crumb. Spread the crumbs onto a baking tray and bake for 6 minutes until they are golden. You can make a finer crumb by blitzing again when cooled. Add dried sage to taste – I'd suggest 2 tsps.

You don't have to make your own breadcrumbs, you can buy them dried.

Alternatively if you're short of time, use a sage and onion stuffing mix.

To assemble … have a look at these photos :

Hey presto!

Merry Christmas everyone

A romantic bowlful!

It's another gallimaufry – but this takes it up a notch ...

Asian Spiced Gallimaufry

Serves 2

The marinade

2 x 4oz fillet steak, sliced thinly

110 – 120g in grams (*see note below)

2 roasted garlic cloves

1 tsp powdered star anise or one whole star anise

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

Mix together the marinade and pour over the fillet slices, ensuring that the slices are thoroughly coated. Box and leave in the fridge for an hour or so – it won't hurt to leave it longer.

The stir fry sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp Chinese rice wine (dry sherry will do)

1 dessert spoon of sweet chill sauce

mix together – can be made ahead, covered and fridged

Ahead of the game

Choose vegetables that are in season and that you love. I chose :

Cooked Jersey Royal potatoes – 500g

quartered

100g asparagus, blanched, plunged into ice

cold water, pat dry, box and fridge

100g baby broad beans – blanched and popped – box and fridge

100g small sweet mini peppers, finely sliced – bag and fridge

100g (2 large) salad onions, finely sliced - ditto

The amounts given are not set in stone – they are a guide to help you - build your own recipe.

*A note about weights – an ounce is exactly 28g but is usually written as either 25 or 30 – whichever suits you best but stick to what you decide – don't confuse yourself!

Plan of action up next!

The final side

… the humble onion salad :

Onion Salad

2 medium onions, finely chopped -

weight 150g per onion approximately

salt and black pepper

2 tbsp fresh orange juice

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp tomato paste

pinch of chill powder

Place the onions in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Place the salad in sealed airtight containers and store in a cool place.

The secret to this salad is that you should not serve it for at least a day, preferably two after making it. It's important that the orange and lemon juice and the tomato paste are allowed to “mature” - leaving to infuse takes away any harshness from the onion and the tomato paste.

This is a perfect accompaniment for any curry.

Here it is :

If you are a lover of all things spicy then this onion salad is excellent with cold meats or, best of all, with a strong mature cheddar cheese.

It's a match made in heaven – koftas, curry and two sides as well.

Next – if you don't fancy a curry what about a Cheat's Chilli?

Bombay Aloo – photos!

 Here's a photo guide of the original Bombay Aloo :

the beginning

the middle

the end

in an individual pot, ready to roll!

It's a win win – you use up any potatoes and produce a dish that will go down a storm – an added bonus - if you cook it on purpose it doesn't break the bank – I love it when a thrifty plan comes together especially when it tastes so good!

The final side ...

Bombay side … or main!

Although this is used as a very popular “side” it can morph into a stand-alone veggie meal by adding a selection of other stuff – cauliflower and chick peas to name but two!

Back to the recipe – for those of you who follow the blog you'll know I always have baked, jacket spuds in my fridge, so you could use two of them.

Bombay Aloo – aka Bombay Potatoes

2 large jacket spuds from your stash, peeled if you prefer

OR

500g of cooked potatoes – I use Charlottes – whatever you use it should be a waxy potato that holds its shape, so any new potato will be just the job

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

250g passata

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp ginger paste or 1” fresh, grated.

2 cloves of roasted garlic or 2 cloves of fresh, crushed

1 tsp each of ground cumin, coriander, garam masala and curry powder. Use a curry powder that best suits your palate and how much heat you like – mild, medium or hot

1 tsp salt or to taste

Use a medium size saucepan (21cms/8”).

Your potatoes should be cut to approximately 6-12 cms/¼” to ½” pieces.

Fry the onions in the oil until soft – 3-4 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, spices and salt. Fry so that the spices are released. Add the potatoes and the tomato paste, fry gently so that the potatoes absorb the flavours and the paste cooks too – 3-4 minutes.

Add the passata and sugar and cook on a gentle heat for 10 minutes**. Taste the Bombay Aloo, adjust salt and sugar to personal taste. Cool, box and fridge. The longer you leave this dish the better it will be. It freezes well.

As a guide this recipe will give you 690g of scrumptious Bombay Aloo.

You can add a can of chick peas, drained and rinsed or tiny florets of cauliflower with the passata and sugar marked ** above - or anything that takes your fancy!

A photo-guide ...

The curry sauce!

This is a middle for diddle curry sauce, it won't blow your head off erring on the mild side – you could ramp it up by increasing the strength of the curry powder to your taste, if you prefer!

I use this all the time – it's quick, easy and above all it's yum!

Rendang Sauce

160 ml coconut cream

3 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp curry powder

(I used mild)

1 tbsp kecap manis

(also known as sweet soy sauce)

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over a low heat for 3/4 minutes

and serve. Can be made ahead and re-heated.

Cool, then set aside alongside the koftas until you're ready to serve.

If you're a fan of “sides” here are two of my absolute favourites!

Your kofta guide

You'll find it so much easier if you use a foil tray - with 2 tbsp plain flour – it enables you to roll around the koftas to coat with flour without having to “assist” them – a few at a time!

If you would prefer a larger version then use a dessert spoon of mixture, treated in exactly the same way, like these:

Coming up … the curry sauce and a couple of sides!

Under your belt!

I know the holidays have gone but I'm including this recipe so that you've got it “under your belt” - you'll use it all year round I promise you.

You'll never buy another cheese straw/twizzle or whatever other fancy name they give them, again. If you think I'm exaggerating then try the recipe just because you deserve a savoury treat!

You will guard this recipe with your life - these biscuits will become your best friend.

Parmesan biscuits

Makes 25-30

100g/4oz cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

100g/4oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting

pinch salt

pinch cayenne pepper

1 heaped tsp mustard powder

50g/2oz finely grated mature cheddar cheese

50g/2oz finely grated Parmesan, plus extra to decorate

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 180c/160fan/Gas 4.

Place the butter and flour into a food processor with the salt, cayenne, mustard powder and cheeses. Process together then pulse the mixture in short spurts until you notice the mixture coming together. It will eventually bind without the need for egg or water. Tip the mixture onto a sheet of cling film and use the cling film to bring it together into a round. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Leaving longer will do no harm.

Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the pastry thinly. Cut out the biscuits in shapes to suit the occasion. Lay them on a greased or non stick baking tray – 2cm apart. You'll need two trays.

Brush the surface with egg and sprinkle over a little of the finely grated Parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Use a palette knife to ease the biscuits off the tray and place on a rack to cool.

They will keep for a few days – good luck with that - take my advice and bake and freeze when there's no-one around – otherwise the aroma from the oven will bring everyone into the kitchen and it'll be bye bye biscuits!

Another piped paté

Paté number two is so easy and perfect for piping!

Cream cheese and cashew nut paté

1 carrot, finely grated

225g cream cheese

100g roasted cashew nuts, crushed to a rubble – not

to a dust!

1 tbsp of chopped chives

salt and black pepper

black olives – pitted and sliced to garnish

Mix all the ingredients together, box and fridge – complicated it isn't!

If you have leftovers it's yummy on rice cakes, gluten free cheese oatcakes, toast or even as a sandwich filling – a toasted bagel would be good. Waste not, want not!

Pipe onto crostini and garnish with black olives!

Paté number 3 up next …

Mushroom paté piped and garnished

A couple of tips before I show you ...

*A glug refers to liquid, usually oil or alcohol too in my culinary book. If you want to be reasonably accurate then a glug is what I'd call a generous tablespoon.

*A word about dry sherry. If you're not a sherry drinker – not my favourite tipple – then you might find it useful to know that, for the purpose of this recipe, and anything to do with enhancing the flavour of mushrooms, fino is the driest followed by manzanilla and then amontillado – any of the three will do very nicely. Alternatively you could use a glug of a good red wine.

A photo … you eat with your eyes …

How good does the paté look garnished with the sweet, baby orange pepper thinly sliced?

All that's left to do is to pipe onto crostini and garnish!

Next paté coming up …

Piped patés!

Alternatively you could be “cheffy” and forget the faff and make different patés – piped and topped with appropriate garnish they look very professional but most of all yummy!

I'd bake the bread slices without the paté topping so that it is crispy and allow it to cool.

Here are three easy, peasy recipes.

Mushroom paté

250g chestnut mushrooms

250g cream cheese

4 cloves of roasted garlic

30g unsalted butter

a glug of extra dry sherry*

salt and black pepper

2 tsps of tapenade – optional

For garnish thinly sliced circles of

sweet baby peppers

Trim the mushrooms, clean and then slice finely. Using a medium frying pan – mine measures 28cms in diameter - melt the butter and then add the sliced mushrooms with the garlic and sauté. Mushrooms release liquid and they need to be sautéed until it has disappeared – 10 minutes. 7 minutes into the cooking time add a glug of sherry. Continue sautéeing until the sherry has been absorbed – 3 minutes.

Let the mushrooms cool.

Blitz the mushrooms in a food processor, add the cream cheese and blitz again. Season to taste and leave to cool. Decant the paté into a piping bag with any leftover into a box and fridge until required.

Ready for action!