Pork stir fry with noodles

 

Well, folks, it has been a while!  My cooking mojo has taken a serious dip.  We've had dinners, obviously, but not that exciting ... and I've not been in a sharing mood.  So, in an attempt to get back at it - I've gone a little oriental (well, with what I had in the fridge and cupboard).

Coconut oil
Pork steaks

Spring onions

Garlic

Ginger

Chilli flakes

Medium egg noodles

Carrots

Pak choi

Mange tout

Oyster sauce

Tomato ketchup

Rice wine vinegar

Shaoxing rice wine

Soya sauce

Cornflour

1.  Prep the meat and veg.  Cutting pork into small pieces, peel and slice carrots, thinly slice spring onions, crush garlic, grate ginger etc.

2.  In a wok, heat coconut oil to very hot, then chuck in spring onions and stir in the oil.

3.  Put a pan of water on to boil for the noodles.

4.  Add the diced pork to the spring onions, stir until a little coloured.

5.  Add crushed garlic, grated ginger and chilli flakes to the pork, keep stirring.

6.  Add noodles to boiling water - for about 6 minutes.

7.  Add chopped veg to pork mixture - carrots and pak choi stems first, stir fry for a minute or two, then add the softer bits.  Keep moving around.

8.  Add oyster sauce, a squirt of ketchup, rice wine vinegar, rice wine and soay sauce ... keep moving.

9.  Slake the cornflour.

10.  Add a ladle of water to the meat and veg, keep moving.

11.  Stir in slaked cornflour to thicken the sauce, stir in well.  Add more water if it's too sticky.

12.  Drain noodles and add them to the wok.

13.  Stir together for two minutes.

14.  Serve, scoff ... add more soya sauce to taste ...

Cauliflower, carrot, cabbage and pasta cheese - with some sausages

Open fridge, close fridge ... think ... ah well here we go.

Sausages
Oil
Cauliflower
Carrots
Cabbage
Pasta
Oat (or whatever) milk
Cornflower
Cheese (mostly cheddar, but a bit of ?? which needed using up)
Mustard

1.  Prepare veg for steaming.

2.  Place sausages in an oven dish, toss in a tiny bit of oil.  Bake.

3.  Steam veg over boiling water, for a couple of minutes, then add pasta to the water.  Put the steamers back on top and keep simmering for 10-12 minutes.

4.  Make the cheese sauce by boiling the "milk", add a spoonful of mustard and bring to the boil.

5.  Add most of the grated cheese to the sauce, whisk until the cheese is melted.

6.  Slake the cornflour and add to the cheese sauce, whisk in and simmer for a minute or so, until cooked through and the sauce is thickened.

7.  Drain veg and pasta, place in baking dish, add the sauce, mix together.  Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and bake for 20 minutes.

8.  Serve, scoff...

Slow roast lamb ....

 

OMG!  Obviously I had heard of slow roasting lamb ... and roasting it over some potatoes and onions .... but WOW ... this is soooo good.

To be fair, I saw Simon Rimmer do this on Sunday Brunch this morning - so nicked it .. so I have to say - thank you Simon - this was delish.  He served it with a salsa verde - which sounded fabulous, but I didn't have the bits and peices, so served it with cumin roasted carrots and parsnips.

Joint of lamb ... this was a half leg

Onions
Potatoes
Olive oil
Garlic
Rosemary
Red wine
Stock (veg in our case)
Cumin seeds
Parsnips
Carrots

1.  Peel and roughly chop some onions ... not sure that you can do too many - I use 4 medium onions for two of us.

2.  Cut potatoes into roasting sized pieces (or whole new potatoes if you have got them).

3.  Toss onions and potatoes into roasting tin, in olive oil.  Add springs of rosemary and roughly sliced garlic (6 cloves for us)

4.  Pop the lamb on top.  Season well with salt and pepper.  Pour in a generous glass of red wine, and the same of stock.

5.  Roast at 150ish for HOURS ... about 4+  baste, and turn the meat over now and again.

6.  Two hours before you reckon to be eating peel and chop parsnips and carrots into biggish batons.  Toss in olive oil and a teaspoon of cumin seeds.  Pop into the oven.

7. Every no and again - mix the veg up, and baste the meat.

8.  Serve, scoff ... OMG ... this is brilliant

Sausage casserole with cheesy dumplings

 

Oh my word.  It's been a few days of cold rain and biting winds.  And, we have no potatoes ... so today - sausage casserole with cheesy dumplings!  Gorgeously comforting - but it gets some veg into the veg dodger too.

olive oil

red onion

garlic

Sausages

Carrots

Swede

Stock

Butter beans

Tin of tomatoes

SR flour

Butter

paprika

mixed herbs

baking powder

Cheese

Yogurt

1.  Chop red onion in slices, sautee in olive oil.

2.  Add sausages and brown on most sides (ie... keep moving them around to get a bit of colour, but don't get neurotic, there is plenty of time for them to cook.)

3.  Peel carrots and swede, chop into bit sized pieces and chuck into the pot.  Add crushed garlic.

4.  Add about a pint of stock and simmer for a few minutes.

5.  Add butter beans, a tin of tomatoes and some water, keep simmering.

6.  Let it simmer for an hour - add more water/stock if it's getting dry.

7.  Make the dumplings.  Rub butter into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, sprinkle on a teaspoon of baking powder to help the dumplings lift.  Season and add mixed herbs and a good pinch of paprika.

8.    When the casserole is 20 minutes from finished shape the dumplings by adding the grated cheese and a spoonful of yogurt - flour your hands and roll the mix into balls and drop onto the top of the casserole.

9.  Simmer for 20 more minutes.

10.  Serve, scoff

Lemon sole with mediterranean vegetables.

We had it with baby roast potatoes, but you could have rice or bread instead. 

Olive oil

Red onion

Red pepper 

Courgette

Fish seasoning

Lemon sole

Lemon pepper

1.  Prep vegetables and toss in olive oil in a baking dish.  Sprinkle on fish seasoning, toss gently and roast for about 20 minutes.

2.  Pop the fish fillets on top, drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of lemon pepper.

3.  Roast for a further 15-20 minutes.

4.  Serve, scoff,

so easy, so delicious, so healthy.

A scottish feast

 

Film night at Kitchen Fairies HQ, Macbeth.  

Venison casserole, neeps and tatties with spring greens seemed appropriate.  The venison, however was much more Yorkshire than Scotland - from Bracewell's in Todmorden Market Hall.

Onion

Olive oil

Garlic

Bay leaves

Venison

Flour

Carrots

Mushrooms

Red wine

Stock

Worcestershire sauce

Tinned tomatoes

Potatoes

Swede

Butter

Cabbage

1.  Gently fry chopped onion in olive oil, add bay leaves and crushed garlic.

2.  Add venison, brown slightly.  Sprinkle with flour and fry for a minute or so.

3.  Add chopped carrots and mushrooms, then half a bottle of red wine.  Simmer for a few minutes to let the alcohol evaporate.

4.  Add stock and a tin of chopped tomatoes, and a splash of worcestershire sauce.

5.  Simmer for about 2 hours, adding more stock/water if necessary.

6.  Peel potatoes and swede, and boil.

7.  Mash potatoes and swede with butter, and plenty of black pepper.  If there is time pop into the oven to brown the top.

8.  Steam the cabbage.

9.  Serve, scoff.

Squib pie

 

Film night at KitchenFairies HQ again - which means firing up the imagination (and Google).  The film was Official Secrets, and the whistleblower was employed by GCHQ - so I found some traditional Gloucestershire recipes.  Well one (and adapted it a bit) - and we had double gloucester and crackers for "pudding".

The traditional squib pie would have been made with mutton, onions and apples - flavoured with nutmeg - and baked for 2 hours.

We don't like pudding with dinner so omitted nutmeg, but I did include the apple - bulked it out a bit with swede and potato.  It worked very well!

Onions

Olive oil

Diced lamb

Swede

Potato

Apple

Flour

Stock

Flour

Butter

Plain yogurt

1.  Sweat off chopped onion in olive oil.

2.  Add diced lamb and brown a bit.

3.  Chop swede, potato and apples into small dice, add to the meat mixture.  Season.

4.  Stir and cook a bit, then add a spoonful of flour and sir in - to help thicken the gravy.  Pour in a pint or so of stock and simmer until its cooked.

5.  Meanwhile make the pastry, rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs, add a spoonful of plain yogurt and work into a paste.  Chill for at least 30 mins.

6.  Keep stirring the meat mixture.  When it's reduced down transfer to a pie dish, cover with foil, and put in a medium oven to keep cooking gently.

7.  Roll out pastry and cover the meat mixture with it.  Wash with soya milk (or dairy milk).

8.  Bake at 180 for 35-40 minutes.

9.  Steam carrots and cabbage.

10.  Serve, scoff ... was delicious.

Bobotie with geelrys

 

It was film night again, at Kitchenfairies HQ.  Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom. So, I thought I would make the South African national dish - Bobotie.  I had never made it before, and have an aversion to "pudding with me dinner" ie. sweet in savoury, so I toned down the fruitiness - but kept some.  I was also a bit wary of savoury custard over the spiced mince, but it works well.  The traditional accompanying geelrys also usually has dried fruit in it - that would have taken me over the edge - so perhaps this was really more of a pilau.  It was delish all the same.

Bobotie

Onion

Garlic

Olive oil

Butternut squash

Minced beef

Curry powder

Grated apple

Mango chutney

Stock

Worcestershire sauce

Frozen peas

Soya milk (or dairy milk, if you're not lactose intolerant)

Bay leaves

4 eggs

Geelry

Onion

Olive oil

Cinnamon

Turmeric

Basmati rice

Stock

1.  Soften chopped onion and garlic in olive oil.

2.  Peel butternut squash and cut into small dice, add to the onion.

3.  Add minced meat to the vegetables and brown.

4.  Add curry powder to taste (I used mild caribbean, with a little black pepper) and keep cooking.  Add stock and simmer for a few minutes.

5.  Heat soya milk with a few bay leaves.

6.  Add grated apple and a couple of big spoons full of mango chutney to the meet.  Simmer again.  When the mince is just about done add a handful of frozen peas and a good splash of worcestershire sauce, stir in.

7.  Transfer to and oven dish and bake at 180 for about 20 minutes.

8.  Start the geelrys by frying finely chopped onion in olive oil.  Add cinnamon and turmeric, then add basmati rice and turn in the spice mixture until every grain is coated.  Add stock to 1 inch about the surface of the and bring to the boil.  Ass soon as it hits the boil, slam on the lid and turn it down as far as it will go.

7.  As soon as the milk hits the boil turn it off, remove the bay leaves, and let it cool a little.  Whip together the eggs.

8.  Pour the milk onto the eggs and whip together quickly (if the milk is too hot it'll just be scrambled eggs, so do let it cool a bit).  Return to the saucepan and keep whisking as it thickens a bit.

9.  Pour the custard over the meat mixture, and bake for a further 20 minutes.

10.  Serve, scoff, with a bit of salad ... have seconds ... no really - it was fab!  Quite astonishing for something which was pudding with yer dinner.

"Tibetan" beef curry with steamed pak choi

So, film night again at Kitchen Fairies HQ.  The chosen film was Seven Years in Tibet, so I looked into Tibetan cuisine.

Apparently the diet is quite calorific, to cope with the climatic conditions, and there is quite a lot of meat included.  There is an absence of yak around these parts, so I made a stew with shin of beef instead.  Also, I was surprised to learn that a lot of root vegetables are used.

Less surprising, possibly, is that there is a real combination of spices used, both from Chinese and Indian influences.  Anyway, this is what I invented, and it was tasty.

coconut oil

onion

garlic

ginger

cumin

shin of beef, cubed

chilli

soy sauce

oyster sauce

rice wine

rice wine vinegar

celeriac

butternut squash

carrots

chicken stock

tomatoes

new potatoes

pak choi

1.  Sautee chopped onion in coconut oil.  Add garlic, ginger and cumin seeds.

2.  Add cubed beef and brown off.

3.  Add soya sauce, oyster sauce, rice, wine, rice wine vinegar and chilli flakes.

4.  Add a little water and simmer for a while.

5.  Prep celeriac, carrots and butternut squash - cut into fairly even sized pieces and add to the meat mixture.

6.  Simmer again, after adding chicken stock and a few chopped tomatoes, for about 2 hours.

7.  Boil new potatoes in a separate pan.  When they are nearly done, strain and add to the stew, simmer for another 20 minutes.

8.  Chop pak choi - steam the soft leaves, and add the white stalk to the stew.

9.  Serve, scoff ... it was very tasty, the beef just melting!

I'm not sure how authentic it was, but it was a decent invention.

Pork chops, in a mustard cream sauce, sauteed new potatoes and carrots, peas parisienne

 

Well , the photo is a disappointment, but the dinner wasn't!  It was film night at KitchenFairies HQ, and I try to theme the dinner with the film.  The film was "Hugo" ... the connection was that the film was set in Gare du Nord, Paris - so it was French Bistro food.

Also, I have no idea if peas parisienne have any authenticity to them - it's just what I have always called leeks, peas and lettuce cooked this way.

Pork loin chops

Olive oil

Meat seasoning (black pepper, garlic, celery salt, paprika)

New potatoes

Carrots

Butter

Leek

white wine

Little gem lettuce

Garlic

Chicken stock

Dijon mustard

Cream

1.  Rub the pork loin chops with the seasoning and olive oil, set aside for an hour.

2.  Peel new potatoes and carrots, cut potatoes in to quarters, length wise, and the carrots into diagonal chunks.

3.  Wash and shred leeks.

4.  In a heavy frying pan with a lid melt butter (lots ... twice as much as you think you need) and add the potatoes, carrots and cup of water.  Put the lid on and simmer for about 10 minutes.

5.  Take the lid off the potatoes and simmer off most of the water.

6.  Sweat the leek off in olive oil, add crushed garlic.

7.  20 minutes to go ... heat butter and olive oil in a frying pan, when hot add the chops and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side.

8.  Stir the potatoes and carrots, put the lid back on and let them crisp up.  Shake about every 3 minutes to stop them catching.

9.  Remove chops from the pan, add white wine to the pan, with a little chicken stock and a teaspoon of dijon mustard, stir and simmer.  Add cream.  Put chops back into the sauce and keep on a low heat.

10.  Add frozen peas and wedges of little gem lettuce to the leeks, add a splash of white wine.  Simmer for 3 minutes.  Add a drop of cream.

11.  Serve, scoff ... it was delicious!  really rich - but fabulous.