Sunday roast chicken and cauliflower cheese

Just delicious - you really can't beat  good roast chicken sometimes, and this was one of those times.

Potatoes
Olive oil
Chicken
Garlic
Lemon
Chicken rub
Cauliflower
Green beans
Soya milk (or dairy milk)
Cornflour
Cheddar
Emmental
Grainy mustard

1.  Roast potatoes in olive oil, for about an hour and a quarter.
2.  Cut a bulb of garlic in half, and a lemon in half - stuff half the garlic, half a lemon, half a garlic, half a lemon into the cavity in the chicken.
3.  Rub chicken rub and olive oil all over the chicken - roast - breast side down first for about an hour and a quarter.  After 20ish minutes turn the chicken over and move the potatoes about a bit to allow even cooking.
4.  Steam cauliflower florets and green beans.
5.  Make cheese sauce by boiling the milk, slake cornflour in water and add to the milk to thicken.  Add grated cheese and a spoonful of grainy mustard.
6.  Put the steamed cauliflower in an oven dish and pour over sauce - bake for 20 minutes, or so.  Keep the green beans warm
7.  Check the chicken - if you insert a sharp knife into the fattest bit the juices should run clear.
8. Serve, scoff ... hide any seconds you might want for lunch. The veg dodger finished everything else off for a midnight feast.

Salmon salad wraps

 The hottest June day in 40 years!  Well!  Actually, it wasn't that hot in Tod in comparison with the rest of the country - but it was a lovely summer's day - so what better than a light salady (is that even a word) dinner (the veg dodger was not home, so that made it easier).   We had some broad beans in the fridge too, so a garlicky bean medley joined the steamed salmon and salad in the wraps - delicious.

Broad beans
Green beans
Olive oil
Garlic
Salmon
Lettuce
Cucumber
Red pepper
Baby plum tomatoes
Spring onion
Avocado oil
Balsamic vinegar
Tortilla wraps
Garlic mayonnaise

1.  Double peel the broad beans, and steam with green beans.
2.  At the same time steam the salmon - put it on some greaseproof paper in a second layer of the steamer.
3.  Crush a big clove of garlic and heat gently in olive oil.
4.  Splash wraps with a tiny splash of water - just to create a little steam - wrap tightly in foil, and put in a medium oven for a few minutes to heat through.
5.  Make the salad - shred the lettuce, chop the other bits and toss.  Dress lightly with avocado oil and balsamic vinegar.
6.  Serve, build wraps ... like this ....

7.  Roll the wrap over, and scoff .... with lots of filling most of it falls out, so this can end up being a delicious messy event!

Vegan curry

It's British Nutrition Foundation Healthy Eating week, and World Meat Free Day - we also had leftover roast potatoes (unbelievably!) so, I fashioned together some vegan curry thingies.

Basmati rice
Red lentils
Onions
Garlic
Tikka masala paste
Olive oil
Black mustard seeds
Fennel seeds
Cumin seeds
Coriander seeds
Turmeric
Chilli flakes
Green beans
Mushrooms
Cauliflower
Tinned tomatoes
garam masala
Curry leaves
Cardomon pods
Chillis
Cumin seeds

Start the rice, then the dhal ... then the two curries - then go back to finish the dhal.

Rice

Put rice in a heavy pot, cover with cold water to an inch above the surface of the rice, stir once and bring to the boil.  Slam the lid on and turn right down. Leave for 20 minutes.

Dhal

Boil red lentils until they are gloop.  Just before serving stir in the tarka - hot olive oil, with curry leaves, cardamon pods, chllies and cumin seeds flash fried.

Bombay potatoes

Sautee chopped onion and garlic in olive oil, add a spoon of tikka masala paste and left over potatoes.  Stir around - add half a tin of chopped tomatoes and the same of water and leave to simmer.

Vegetable curry

Sautee chopped onion, crushed garlic and spices.  Add chopped vegetables - beans, mushrooms and cauliflower today ...  add half a tin of tomatoes and the same of water, lid on and simmer until veg are softer ... stir in garam masala to taste, add more tomatoes/water if needed.

Serve, scoff ...

Piri piri roast chicken thighs, aubergine and courgette bake with za-atar, feta and hazelnuts

We've had sunnier June days!

I wanted a cheap, tasty, and summery dinner ... and I had a look in the fridge - courgettes and aubergine which needed using, lots of mediterranean flavours added to give it some sunshine.

Potatoes
Olive oil
Chicken thighs
garlic
piri-piri seasoning
Aubergine
Courgette
Tomato
Oregano
Hazelnuts
Za'atar
Feta
Salad leaves
Avocado oil
Balsamic vinegar
Radishes
Spring onion


1.  Chop potatoes into big chucks and roast in olive oil.
2.  Cut 4 fat garlic cloves into chunky peices and put into oven dish.  Add chicken thighs, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with piri-piri spices. Bake for 40 minutes or so.
3.  Cut aubergine and courgette into slices about 4mm thick, griddle in a hot pan with olive oil.  Slice tomatoes to about the same thickness.  Layer them - auberine, courgette, tomato in an oven dish.
4.  Roast hazelnuts briefly in the griddle pan when you have done the veg - roughly chop and sprinkle over the vegetables.
5.  In the same griddle pan briefly fry crushed garlic and chopped oregano is olive oil - drizzle this over the vegetables and sprinkle the dish with za-atar.  Bake for 20ish minutes.
6.  Put together a simple salad - salad leaves, thinly sliced radish and spring onion - dress with avocado oil and balsamic vinegar.
7.  Tear some feta onto the vegetable bake.
8.  Serve, scoff

The veg dodger dodged the veg and the salad, the vegetarian didn't have the chicken - I had the lot.  Happy days.

Pork and chorizo casserole, chickpea casserole and baby potatoes

Living with a vegetarian and a veg dodger leads me, fairly frequently, to making several different dishes so that people can mix and match.  Today I just decided on a bit of a spanish vibe - so for the vegetarian a chickpea and red pepper casserole - which is infact totally vegan.  As I'm pretty much an omnivore I get the best of both worlds and had a bit of each.  Once again - all ingredients available from Todmorden Market Hall.  Pork steaks from any of the 3 excellent butchers, chorizo, beans and spices etc from The Mediterranean Pantry.  Veg from Traynor.

Onion
Garlic
Olive oil
Pork steaks
Chorizo
Red pepper
Carrot
Mushrooms
Chickpeas
Paprika
Tinned tomatoes
Baby potatoes

1.  Sweat down chopped onion and crushed garlic in two separate pans.
2.  When soft add pork steaks, diced, into one of the pans.
3.  Add diced carrot, red pepper and mushrooms and a pinch of paprika to the other pan.
4.  Put the potatoes on to boil.
5.  When the pork has browned a little add chunks of chorizo and turn the heat down a little.
6.  To the veg version add a tin of drained, rinsed chickpeas.
7.  Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, a perhaps a little stock, to each of the casseroles and simmer until done - about 15 minutes.
8. Drain potatoes, serve, scoff.

I hid some leftovers for my lunch - the veg dodger finished the entire chorizo version for supper.

Smoked mackerel biryani, roast beetroot with hard boiled egg

This dinner was made in stages, but is incredibly easy.  The beetroot was actually roasted yesterday, bunged in the oven while I was roasting potatoes.  The ricey bit - I'm calling it biryani because I used a biryani spice mix, and it uses raw rice, rather than kedgeree which uses cooked rice) takes a few minutes (about 8) to start, and then you just leave it gently cooking itself until 5 minutes before serving.  Eggs - simply put on to boil in cold water, done 3 minutes after the water starts to boil.



Roast beetroot

Beetroot
Garlic
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Smoked Mackerel biryani

Onion
garlic
Olive oil
Biryani spice
Basmati rice
Vegetable stock
Frozen peas
Smoked mackerel

Boiled eggs

Eggs!

1.   Wash beetroot, put, unpeeled, in a roasting dish with lots of garlic - just bash a few cloves and stick them in.  Drizzle with a little olive oil and cover tightly with foil.  Roast until beetroot is soft ... about an hour.
2.  Cool beetroot.  When cold - peel - I always wear gloves as otherwise you end up looking like an extra from the Texas chainsaw massacre - this time I had run out of gloves so improvised with 2 plastic bags on my hands ... clumsy, but it worked.  Chop into chunks and drizzle with balsamic.  Store in the fridge.
3.  Sweat off chopped onion and crushed garlic in olive oil, in a heavy bottomed pan with a tight fitting lid.
4.  Add a teaspoon, or so, of biryani spice mix (or curry mix of your choice).  Stir in.  Add basmati rice, stir until every grain has a thin layer of oil.  Add stock to 1 inch about the rice, bring to the boil.
5.  As soon as the rice boils stick the lid on it, and turn it RIGHT down.  Leave for 15 minutes.
6.  Boil the eggs.  (From cold, bring to the boil, simmer for 3 minutes, put under running cold water to cool quickly ... peel)
7.  Stir frozen peas into the rice, add flaked smoked mackerel - stir gently, slam the lid back on for 5 minutes.
8.  Serve, scoff

Steak, with stuffed mushrooms and tiny roasties

Sunday night tea - nice bit of steak.... and with it some mini roasties, stuffed mushrooms, roast tomatoes and speiced squash (leftovers).

Potatoes
Olive oil
Cherry tomatoes
Onion
Garlic
Field mushrooms
spinach
cheddar
steak

1.  Dice the potatoes and roast in olive oil.
2.  Chuck the cherry tomatoes in to roast at the same time.
3. Sweat down chopped onion with some crushed garlic in olive oil.
4.  Roast the mushrooms in olive oil for about 10 minutes each side.
5.  Add spinach to the onion mix, allow it to wilt.
6.  When the potatoes are nearly ready - put cheddar into each mushroom, top with the spinach mix, and stick back in the oven.
7.  Fry the steak for a couple of minutes, on each side, in a hot pan.  Rest for at least 5 minutes.
8.  Serve, scoff ...

... and relax - film night for us.  "Inception" ... I won't do a review - but the others enjoyed it.

Pan fried sea trout, mini roasties and herbed courgettes

Paul the fish had some excellent sea trout, so that made the decision of what to have for tea - also, it was quite late, I had a few jobs to do and I didn't fancy too much faffing.

Potatoes
Olive oil
Courgettes
Polenta
Italian seasoning
Sea trout

1.  Cube potatoes and roast in olive oil for about 45 minutes.
2.  Faff about doing jobs.
3.  10 minutes before serving toss courgettes in polenta mixed with italian seasoning, fry in olive oil.
4.  Fry the fish in a hot pan, skin side down first for a couple of minutes on each side.
5. Serve, scoff

Simple and delicious.