Bacon, cabbage and mash

It's quite chilly now, and we fancied something traditional and warming, but I also wanted to ring the changes a little - so a quick forage around Todmorden market, and this delicious concoction was invented.

From Bracewell's the butchers

Gammon steaks

From The Crumbly Cheese

Raclette, butter

From The Mediterranean Pantry
Olive oil, caraway seeds, bouillon powder

From Garry the veg

Onions, Potatoes, white cabbage

1.  Peel and boil potatoes for the mash.
2.  Chop onion, sautee in olive oil.
3.  When the onion is soft add shredded cabbage, a scant teaspoon of caraway seeds (not too many, it goes medicinal), a teaspoon of bouillon powder and a cup fo water, simmer gently.
4.  Mash the potato, with butter, and pop in the oven to brown.
5.  Top the onion and cabbage mix with raclette, and pop in the oven to melt.
6.  Fry the gammon for a couple of minutes on each side - you can pop it into the bottom of the oven to keep warm until the potato reaches the right colour for your taste.
7.  Serve, scoff

Lovely, and about £4 a head.

Fish pie

This tasted soooooo much better than it looks.

Potatoes
Haddock - 50/50 plain and smoked
Soya Milk
Onion
Bay leaf
cornflour
Butter
peas
carrots

1.  Peel and boil potatoes for the mash.
2.  Poach the fish in chunks in soya milk (or real milk) with a halved onion and a bay leaf.
3.  Fish out the onion and bayleaf, put the fish in an oven dish, thicken the milk into a sauce with slaked cornflour, add that to the fish and top with potatoes mashed with butter.  Bake for about 25 minutes - until top browns a little.
4.  Steam veg
5.  Scoff

Pork chop, with mustard and cider sauce and mash

Not just any pork chop - this was a delicious, monster, juicy pork chop from Nick at Melling's butcher's in Todmorden Indoor Market.  Add to that some veggies from the outdoor market, and some garlic, bouillon and mustard from The Mediterranean Pantry, butter from The Crumbly Cheese - and some cider from the off licence across the road - and a delicious dinner was achieved.

The veggie person also had fantastic halloumi from The Crumbly Cheese.



Potatoes
Olive oil
Onion
Garlic
Mustard
Cider
Carrots
Spring greens
Butter
Pork chop

1.  Peel the potatoes and boil them in salted water.  When they are ready mash with butter and put in the oven to brown the top a little.
2.  Make the sauce - sweat chopped onion in olive oil, then add crushed garlic, a teaspoon of bouillon powder, a heaped teaspoon of wholegrain mustard and about half a pint of dry cider.  Simmer gently.  Turn it off when the onions are soft, and heat again gently when the pork is ready.
3.  Peel the carrots, chop them, shred the spring greens (or other green brassica) - steam them.
4.  Seal the pork in a hot pan, in a little olive oil.  These were lovely juicy pork chops, so I cooked them for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until they took a little colour - and then put then in the oven for 12 minutes to cook through.
5.  Just before serving fry slices of halloumi in a hot pan.
6. Serve, scoff.

Plaice with a shrimp and garlic sauce

Paul the fish on Todmorden market has confirmed our Friday is fish day habits as his fish is so consistently fantastic..  There is no religious significance to this, but it has developed into a thing ... and today I choose plaice and to jazz it up a bit with a buttery, garlicy shrimp sauce.

Potatoes
Olive oil
Plaice
Butter
Garlic
Shrimps
Black pepper
Frozen peas

1.  Roast chopped potatoes in olive oil.
2.  Chat ... there's nothing to do until 10 minutes before you eat.
3.  Fry the plaice gently in a mix of butter and oil (to stop it burning) for a a couple of minutes on each side - keep warm in the oven.
4.  Boil peas.
5.  Briefly fry crushed garlic and peas in butter and oil in the fish pan - pour over the fish.
6.  Serve, scoff

Vegetable cheese with mini roasties

How do you get veg into a veg dodger?  Particularly "but it's not even Christmas" sprouts.  Smother it in cheese sauce, that's how.

Mini "roasties"

Chop potatoes and roast in hot oil for about 50 minutes.

For veg

Kale
Cauliflower
Sprouts
Butter
Flour (gf for us)
Milk (Soya for us)
Wholegrain mustard
Cheddar

Steam the veg.
Make a roux by melting the butter, then stirring in the flour until smooth.  Gradually add milk, keep stirring until sauce thickens and is smooth - using a whisk helps reduce lumps.  Add a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard and shed loads of grated cheese.
Put the veg in an oven dish, top with even more grated cheese and bake while the potatoes finish.
Serve, scoff, watch veg dodger have thirds.

Prawn paella

Open fridge, scratch head, shut fridge.  Open fridge again ... leek, red pepper, green beans, half a bag of spinach and some mushrooms ... add rice, frozen prawns and a tin of tomatoes and you have "paella", or something resembling it - not too shabby for a mid-week tea.

Veg available from Garry on the outside market, rice and spices from The Mediterranean Pantry - fresh prawns from Paul the Fish (or frozen).

Olive oil
onion
leek
garlic
saffron
Stock
red pepper
short grain rice
chilli flakes
mixed herbs
king prawns
mushrooms
spinach

1.  Sautee chopped leek and onion in olive oil, add crushed garlic when it's soft.
2.  Add chopped red pepper, cook for a minute or so.
3.  Soften a pinch of saffron in a dropof warm water.
4.  Add a good handful of rice to the pan, turn over in the oil so that every grain is coated.
5.  Add saffron water, chilli flakes and herbs and a pint or so of stock, stir in.
6.  Simmer gently, add chopped mushrooms and a tin of chopped tomatoes.  Stir now and again to stop it sticking.
7.  Defrost prawns in hot water, drain.
8.  Test the rice, season - when it's nearly done add in prawns and a big handful of spinach.  Turn it over in the pan.
9.  The prawns will cook in about 2 minutes.
10.  Serve, scoff ... have seconds.