Recipe for chicken, mushroom and tomato risotto
I’m not very keen on the combination of chicken and cooked tomatoes. Would never have chicken on a pizza. But I had half a tin of tomatoes left over from our favourite sausage and bean dish and thought that I’d bung them into a chicken risotto as an experiment. Risottos are so easy to make and are a great way of using up scraps that are knocking about in the fridge. The result was really tasty and good. Danny was amazed – I hadn’t told him about the experiment just passed him his plate of food and slipped nervously into the kitchen as...
read morePigs’ cheeks braised in apples and cider. Slow cooker/crock pot recipe.
The Chicken Lady, who writes the excellent blog Kitty's Super Allotment, was cooking pigs’ cheeks with apples when I popped in a few weeks ago. "I think that the butcher just sliced them off the head. Look there's a piece of ear." Initially I felt a bit squirmy about tasting this dish. But these were quite delicious - the skin crispy yet soft and the meat similar to slow cooked belly of pork. Celia from Purple Podded Peas had mentioned pigs' cheeks to me ages ago and I'd forgotten all about them. In fact at the time I secretly...
read moreRoast chicken thighs with summer vegetables recipe
Why chicken thighs again? For one thing, it makes a succulent, tasty and economical meal. Also, Fiona split her jam making over two days, which is a great idea because it is then less of a major task. The house is filled with the aroma from the two jam saucepans. One has wild plum and the other is greengage. I am the unofficial taster and quality assurance agent, apparently. So I am giving her a night off from writing. We had this variation on Shereen’s excellent original already this week. I found a large gammon at the CFC on Thursday and...
read moreRecipe to add zest to boiled rice, frittata and other dishes
Simple boiled rice, such as good basmati, or a dish like frittata can be a joy, especially if you add a little something to lift it above the ordinary. In my wilder years, I learned to cook by trial and error after accepting a position in a Chelsea, London household even though I did not have the foggiest idea of even how to boil an egg. Nowadays I would probably be summarily fired after Day Two but this couple were exceptionally kind people. On this blog I call them Smart Wife and Kind Husband. In England, the term Smart means relatively...
read moreVeal Schnitzel (Wiener Schnitzel) Recipe
“How about Wiener Schnitzel for supper tonight?” Danny looked unimpressed. Picking through the freezer I had found some small veal escalopes that I’d picked up from the Tesco *CFC a few weeks ago. One was a little smaller than my hand and the other barely reached across my palm. Wiener Schnitzel seemed the sensible option. I had never made schnitzels and was keen to have a go. Danny perked up when I mentioned that I was going to marinade the meat. “Great idea. Veal can be so tasteless.” Between you and me I like the subtle flavour of...
read moreMy best easy recipe for delicious Mango Chutney
Growing up there were a handful of meals that I really liked my mum to cook. One of these was curry. Back in those days curry powder was the norm, with the remains of the Sunday roast diced into the mix. I loved the exotic colour of the sauce but it was the way that she served each plate that intrigued me. Curry on a bed of rice in the middle of the plate and around the edge of loads of little piles of things too cool the curry down. Thinly sliced banana jostled with desiccated coconut, dried fruit, sliced cucumbers, diced onion and glorious...
read moreBest melt in the mouth pork meatballs in a piquant tamarind, fresh ginger and honey sauce recipe
I love meatballs. But only the melt in the mouth variety. Having sharpened my teeth on ultra firm chewy meatballs, I decided never to attempt to make them myself. What was the point? Why push hardened walnut sized balls of meat onto anyone else? Several years ago Danny’s special brother, Donagh, gave me the secret of melt in the mouth meatballs. He had served meatballs to die for and I was desperate to get his secret. “It’s so simple. I learnt the method from the mother of my Spanish girlfriend.” He finally revealed. I was all...
read moreEasy, chic and cheap recipes: delicate cauliflower leaf and pecorino soup
For years it has hurt me to throw away the green outer leaves of the cauliflower. I have simmered them for the chickens in the past but mainly they are added to our kitchen compost bin. Having had the tip from John Coe – that all the leaves on the sprouting broccoli plant are edible - I decided to experiment with the cauli leaves this week. I chopped up the main stalk and tore the leaves away from the fibrous stems. Then I simmered them for about twenty minutes in vegetable stock. They looked really unappetising when I lifted the lid. So I...
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{ Thank you it's a great idea about growing sweet peas with runner beans its my first time growing runner bean so hopefully ill get a... } – Tue 3 :47 pm
{ Hi Jo, The download can be found on my skydrive here. https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=950831DD56DCEB87!613&authkey=!AN83pYKjaJ4Cx4s } – Mon 9 :35 pm
{ So sorry to hear about you and Danny, havent seen your site since Jan when we lost Dad/Fred xxx Time does heal, thnking of you... } – Mon 12 :05 pm
{ Hi! Just wondering which mangoes you used? The regular red/yellow ones or the smaller sweeter yellow ones? I prefer the yellow ones for eating but... } – Mon 4 :07 am
{ Hi Fiona, I have belatedly read your blog. I was on my own for 14 years and loved and hated it. Eventually, I decided that... } – Sat 12 :17 pm
{ Don't throw unset jelly out. Use it as a sauce over yoghurt or ice-cream. Shiraz jelly is good, espcialy with roast meats like pork, turkey,... } – Sat 3 :13 am
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