Beef and broccoli stir fry recipe with oyster mushrooms and noodles
A great beef stir-fry need not have much meat. You can pad it out with most any vegetables you have to hand. Slice your beef thinly to 2mm bites and take care to cook the veggies starting with the tougher ones that may take longer.
read moreSkirt of beef recipe stir fried with baby vegetables and red wine
Skirt of beef (also known as Flank Steak, Fajita Meat, Skirt Steak and Philadelphia Steak) is not well known in the UK. It has an excellent texture and flavour somewhere between sirloin and fillet steak. It can be used as a fried steak or here in a stir fry as well as in stews.
read moreRavenwood Hall Hotel: Review and top marks
Having given me a clean bill of health on the MS and going gaga front, the neurologist put down his pen and announced, “The next thing that I want you to do is to book a holiday.” The ensuing silence was almost squeezable. “We don’t take holidays,” Danny eventually responded. (We can’t really afford them in normal circumstances and with me having been off work for months a ‘normal’ holiday was out of the question). “But we do sometimes go to the coast for a day. It’s a great break,” Danny continued. After a pause the...
read morePork risotto recipe with mushrooms, sweet peppers and tomatoes. Tasty budget meals.
Ever since I saw the Compassion in World farming videos we have only been buying free range pork. These videos expose the terrible conditions that many factory farmed pigs live in and whenever I reach for a cheap pack of pork I remember the images and quickly pass by. Buying free range pork can be a bit alarming as it is expensive. Happy pork does taste much, much better and is savoured at the cottage as a real treat. Even though we have been avoiding cheap pork for months, I was dismayed when I saw the size of joint that Danny...
read moreUpdate on Baby. Life in solitary splendour.
Baby our diminutive and bullied cockerel had been picked on endlessly. Not just by the Wicked Ginger Hen but by the whole flock. Just passing Baby in the run was an excuse for most chickens to give him a peck. Poor Baby had become the flocks’ punch bag. A tatty, forlorn creature – my heart went out to him. So I moved him into The Emerald Castle. This is where he has always chosen to sleep at night – well away from the thugs stampeding in the main chicken house. Here he has his own water fountain and chicken pellet buffet. And now,...
read moreSpare ribs recipe slow cooked in a rich sauce
Before Danny met me he lived in America for three months. Often he refers to the spectacular spare ribs that he ate there. “One guy spent three days cooking just one pot of ribs. They were superb.” Unfortunately Danny didn’t get the recipe. When D’s brother came to visit he made some stunning ribs. His secret ingredient was black bean sauce. Unfortunately we didn’t note down the recipe. I had a longing for slow cooked spare ribs this week and I had two packs in the freezer that I’d picked up from the Waitrose *CFC which would be...
read moreCan you identify these mystery ‘cuckoo’ seedlings and win a wildlife friendly prize?
Help! I bought this agave plant from the wayside stand outside the secret garden last autumn. Yes, I know that it’s hard to see it as the “cuckoo” seedlings are rearing to go. All plants, whatever the value are 40p (33p if you buy three, which I always do). So I was delighted with this bargain. Agaves are great. Just ask S and The Chicken Lady – they have loads of argaves. And I agree with them. A good argave in a hot summer is a perfect focal point in a garden. This new agave was coddled in the greenhouse this...
read moreBaby turnip, Romano pepper and continental onion salad recipe. With a homemade walnut vinegar dressing.
Danny and I spent all day yesterday developing a tasty slow cooked spare rib recipe. I reckon that we eventually pulled it off as the dish was guzzled very fast and everything was almost licked clean. You can find our spare rib recipe here. I wanted to serve the ribs with rice and a crisp salad. Finely sliced Oasis baby turnips were top of my list to try. I teamed two turnips with a couple of continental spring onions and a slim Romano pepper. The turnips were sweet and spicy – rather like a more succulent radish. The dressing was a...
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