Mac and cheese etc

Comfort food is the order of the day - but so is getting some vitamins as well as the carbs and protein - so I ramped up mac n cheese with some vegetables.  It didn't take any longer, and was delicious.

Cauliflower

Mushrooms

Soya milk

Cornflour

Macaroni

Cheddar cheese

Peas

Tomatoes

1.  Chop cauliflower into florets, place in steamer part of steamer pan.  Add a good handful of sliced mushrooms.

2.  Grate quit a lot of cheddar cheese.

3.  Put steamer pan on top of pan of water, heat until boiling.

4.  Add pasta to water, stir once, and replace cauliflower pan above it.

5.  Heat soya milk until simmering, then add slaked cornflour to make a sauce, as it thickens add grated cheese, stir until all melted - season with salt and pepper.

6.  Boil pasta for 10-12 minutes, until it is nearly done. stir occasionally to make sure it's not sticking together.

6.  Add frozen peas to steaming veg.

7.  Slice tomatoes.

8.  In a baking dish add steamed veg and drained cooked pasta, add sliced tomatoes.

9.  Pour on cheese sauce.

10.  Bake for 20 minutes or so.

11. Serve, scoff

Rosti, tomato and feta casserole with mushroom and leek stuff

Really bad pics at the moment - apologies!

Rosti

6 potatoes
2 onions, 1 red one white

Grate potatoes and onion season well, put into seive and weigh down to drain out water.

Squish into patties.  Fry, when other stuff is nearly ready in olive oil and butter for a couple or 3 minutes each side.

Tomato and feta casserole

5 tomatoes
1/2 red onion
feta
handful of olives

Chop tomatoes roughly, and red onion finely, put in oven proof dish - crumble in feta and chuck in stoned black olives.  Bake, covered with foil for half an hour or so.

Mushroom, leek and pea sauce

olive oil
2 leeks
handful mushrooms
garlic
splash of white wine
handful frozen peas
creme fraiche

Sautee chopped and washed leeks in olive oil, when a little soft add mushrooms and garlic.  Adda  splash of white wine and simmer gently.  When nearly ready to eat chuck in handful of frozen peas, heat through, take off the heat and stir in tbsp creme fraiche.

My favourite bit was the hot sweet tomato with the salty feta and olives, against the fried potato.  Yums.

Meatball and cauliflower pasta bake

This has to be one of the easiest things to chuck together, but it's tasty and relatively good for you.  Boil penne and cauliflower florets in salted water for about 9 minutes.  Mix 2 tins of chopped tomatoes with some squished garlic, salt and plenty of black pepper (you could cook this first, you could add other veg etc to make a more complex sauce, and/or chili to heat it up a bit, but this works).  Tip meatballs, drained pasta and cauliflower into oven proof dish, stir in tomato sauce.  Grate cheese on top.  In the oven for 20-30 minutes.  Scoff.  I wasn't sure if victim would like this, and we have been a bit pasta'd out recently - but the declaration was "tasty!".

Spaghetti and spicy meatballs

Bargain spicy sausages, some veg and tomatoes - pan of spaghetti - and cheap and cheerful dinner.  Quite easy, which is just as well, because we're both stiff and tired after faffing in the garden for much of the afternoon.  So, chopped and sauteed in olive oil - onion, celery, green pepper and some mushrooms.  Took 6 spicy (paprika and stuff) sausages from their skins and shaped into meatballs.   Fried these off with the veg for a few minutes (pushed veg to sides of pan, browned meatballs off a bit) - added 2 x tins chopped tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper, red wine and about a mug of stock.  Simmered for 20 minutes(ish).  Meanwhile, boiled spaghetti in salted water for 8 minutes.  Test - drain when al dente - mix pasta and sauce together and scoff.  Delish.  4 pots left for kitchen fairies.

Cheese and tomato omelette

Yum - simple but delicious - because the chickens have started laying again.  Beat 4 bantam eggs and season, fry in hot pan with olive oil.  When bottom layer of egg is cooked gently pull the cooked bit into the middle and swirl the uncooked egg onto the pan to cook.  Chop tomato and grate cheese, roll omelette over the filling and serve with pea shoots.  Yum.

Lentil soup with piccalilli

Don't knock it 'til you've tried it!  The sharp cool piccalilli stands up really well to the earthy warming soup.  Chopped and sauteed an onion, some celery and swede.  Add crushed garlic and about half a teaspoon rosemary, then stir in teaspoon of marmite.  Chuck in big handful of red lentils and water.  Simmer, add a tin of chopped tomatoes.  Simmer, season, zizz.  Serve with dollop of piccalilli.

Meatloaf ... veg out of hell

Meatloaf - zizz onion and garlic, reload zizzer with bread for breadcrumbs, once zizzed empty into bowl with onions and garlic mush and continue with a courgette or two, and half a red chilli... this is the first secret veg.  Mix zizzed ingredients with minced beef and 2 eggs.  Add herbs, and a good amount of seasoning - squish and mix with hands and put into lined loaf tin.  Bake in bain marie in hot oven for 45 mins +.  Meanwhile I made a slightly spicy tomato sauce (onions, garlic, celery, carrot (secret veg 2 and 3) and chopped tomatoes - splash of lea and perrins, salt and black pepper) simmer on low for however long it takes, adding water if it gets dry.  Also boiled some potato chunks, then put in oven drizzled with olive oil for 15 mins, steamed sweetcorn and runner beans.  Victim left visible green stuff - but that meant 5 types of 6 eaten!  chortle.  Next time will spice meat mixture more, as it was a tad ordinary - maybe just add some spicy BBQ or cajun sauce to the mix.

Chicken news:  Sophie and Rosemary still broody despite frequent de-nesting (chickens swear you know)- only one egg (Clarissa?) and Clarissa trying to become an inside chicken - roaming into the kitchen at the slightest opportunity.

National Baking Day: Day 6: Sundried tomato and parmesan scones

Delicious!  They could easily have some chopped olives mixed through too.