Mushrooms and cabbage, with mash and bacon

Open fridge, ponder, shut fridge, ponder ,,,, OK - ragu of onions, mushrooms and savoy cabbage, creamy mashed potatoes and a few rashers of bacon - bliss.

Potatoes
Onion
Olive oil
Garlic
Savoy cabbage
Vegetable stock
Butter
Bacon

1.  Start with the mash - peel, chop and boil potatoes.
2.  The ragu - very easy - sautee chopped onion in olive oil, add crushed garlic and chopped mushrooms.  When they are soft add shredded cabbage and a cup of veg stock to fry/steam until done.
3.  Mash the potatoes with butter, put it in the oven to keep warm and brown the top.
4.  Grill the bacon.
5.  Serve, scoff.

Pork chop, with cider and mustard sauce

Comfort food!  Pork, mash and cabbage - with a few butter beans with fried onions.  Jazzed it up with some cider and mustard gravy - delicious.

Potatoes
Cabbage
Onions
Butter
Olive oil
Pork chops
Flour
Dry cider
Wholegrain mustard
Chicken stock
Cream cheese/cream

1.  Peel potatoes, boil, steam shredded cabbage on top - then mash the potatoes with butter.  Pop in the oven to get a nice crispy brown top.  Keep the cabbage warm.
2.  Chop onions and fry until golden brown, add drained butter beans.
3.  Fry pork chops, in a little olive oil, on each side for a couple of minutes - keep warm while you make the gravy.
4.  Stir a spoonful of flour into the pork pan, deglaze with dry cider.  Add a little chicken stock and a spoonful of grainy mustard.  Stir and simmer as it thickens a little.  Take it off the heat and stir in a small spoonful of cream cheese (or cream).
5.  Serve, scoff

Monster pork chop and onions, with cider and mustard sauce

Monster pork chops from Fielden's family butcher, Todmorden market - juicy and delicious!  Served with mash and veg of your choice (ours was left over from previous dinners ... here, and here).  Made the pork extra lovely with fried onions and a cider and mustard sauce.

(Butter from The Crumbly cheese, mustard and olive oil from The Mediterranean Pantry ... great ingredients from Todmorden market).

Potatoes
Onions
butter
Pork chop
cider
mustard

1.  Peel and boil potatoes for mash, mash with butter and seasoning.
2.  Fry onions in olive oil until soft - remove from pan, and keep warm.
3.  Pan fry pork chops in onion pan - when done, transfer to oven dish and keep warm.
4.  Make quick sauce by adding mustard and cider to pork pan - simmer briefly - done.
5. Meanwhile cook/heat veg.
6.  Serve, scoff ...  veggie had halloumi and onoins ... everybody was happy.

Sausage and mash, with braised red cabbage

You can't beat sausage and mash, particularly when it's cold and drizzly outside.  Lots of choice of sausages available in Todmorden Indoor market - these are your classic pork sausage - but lot's more available from the three excellent butchers - Bracewell's, Stanfield's and Fielden's.

Also, extras like butter from The Crumbly Cheese, tomato puree and wholegrain mustard from The Mediterranean Pantry, and veggies from Todmorden fruit and veg outside.

There were also veggie sausages fro the veggie.

Red cabbage
Olive oil
Clementine
Chilli flakes
Potatoes
Butter
Sausages
Onions
Tomato puree
Wholegrain mustard
Vegetable stock

1.  Shred cabbage and braise in a little olive oil and a cup of water - I added some clementine juice and a pinch of chili flakes.  Simmer gently, adding more liquid when it looks a bit dry.
2.  Peel potatoes and put onto boil for the mash.
3.  Prick the sausages with a fork and put in the oven for 15 minutes - then turn them.
4.  Make the onion gravy - sautee chopped onion in olive oil until soft, squirt in some tomato puree, add a teaspoon of grainy mustard and a cup of water, simmer.  You might want to add more water/vegetable stock to keep the correct consistency.
5.  Mash potatoes with butter - you could put them in the oven to crisp up.
6.  Serve, scoff

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.

Veggie sausage and mash

Sometimes it's the only thing which will hit the spot.  Not really a recipe, but I have included it as I did the sausages in a nice tomato and onion gravy (with peas), and added cabbage to the mash.

Potatoes, peeled and cubed
Cahhage, shredded
Olive oil
Onion
Garlic, crushed
Veggie sausages (these were Linda McCartney's)
Tomato puree
Veggie stock
Butter/Margarine/Olive oil

1.  Boil the potatoes, steam the cabbage on top.
2.  Gently fry the onions in olive oil, then add the sausages and garlic.
3.  After a couple of minutes add a squite of tomato puree to the sausages, and about 1/2 pint of veggie stock - simmer.  Add peas to the sauce after about 10 minutes.
4.  About 12-15 minutes later everything will be ready.  Mash the potatoes, add butter and cabbage.
5.  Serve, scoff, sleep.

Mustard mash, cavolo nero and kale with pine nuts - and a bit of a vegtable ragu

Quite (!) a busy week, and  need to chill at the weekend - but also some teenage student fetching and carrying (not that I mind, actually) - so by Sunday teatime, some comfort food was in order.  BUT, this isn't just comfort food - this is comfort food with bells on - it is incredibly nutritious and delicious.  There is some butter in the mustard mash - but otherwise - gluten free and without anything processed.

Start with the potatoes, then chop the onion, then the greens.  If you get the onions softening before the potatoes have boiled, you are really on it.  Keep working on the ragu, put the shredded greens on top of the boiling potatoes when they have been boiling for a couple of minutes.

Keep the ragu cooking, adding stock if it gets too dry.

When potatoes are boiled and mashed, stick them under a hot grill to crisp up the top for 5 minutes.  Keep the greens warm and roast the pine nuts at the last minute.

Mustard mash

potatoes, peeled
butter
whole grain mustard

1.  Boil potatoes - chopped into even chunks - in salted water,
2.  When done, drain, and mash with a good knob of butter (olive oil or soya spread for vegans).
3.  Beat in a splodge of wholegrain mustard.

Cavolo nero, kale and pine nuts

1.  Shred cavolo nero and kale, steam on top of boiling potatoes.
2.  Roast pine nuts in dry frying pan.
3.  Toss pine nuts onto steamed leaves

Vegetable ragu

onion
garlic
olive oil
mixed herbs
yellow pepper
mushrooms
courgette
vegetable stock

1.  Sweat chopped onion in olive oil until a bit soft.
2. Add chopped pepper, mushrooms, courgette and herbs and continue to soften.
3. Add a cup of stock and simmer until vegetables are all soft and tasty.

delicious.  Really!  Try it!

Fish pie with steamed vegetables

onion
bay leaf
soya milk
mixed fish (cod, salmon, smoked haddock)
cornflour
potatoes
olive oil spread
parsley
salt and pepper

green beans
carrots

Fish pie

Poach the fish, in bite sized pieces, in the soya milk flavoured with the onion and bay leaf, for about 7 minutes.
Peel, boil and mash potatoes.  Season well, add butter/olive oil spread and soya milk to taste.
Pull fish from soya milk with a slotted spoon, put into oven dish.  Discard onion and bayleaf.  Thicken sauce with slaked cornflour in soya milk/water, over a lowish heat.  Add loads of chopped parsley and freshly ground black pepper.
Add sauce to fish (shake oven dish to distribute evenly).  Top with mashed potatoes.  Keep any spare sauce to have with the veg for extra luxury.
Bake at 180 for about 25 minutes until golden.

Steam vegetables.

Scoff

Pork, butter bean and apple casserole

Another autumnal day in July, calling for another autumnal comforting casserole.  So, today, pork, butter bean and apple with mash and peas.  Sautee one chopped onion with celery, diced pork shoulder, garlic, mixed herbs, pepper, courgette, green beans and mushrooms. When a bit cooked add a spoonful of English mustard and a sprinkle of flour to thicken the sauce.  Turn over until the flour is thoroughly mixed, then add some chicken stock.  Simmer for a good half hour, and add chopped apple and butter beans, and a sprinkle of paprika.  Simmer a bit longer and serve with mash (or rice).  It was OK, nothing more.