Fish Pie

Our village has a market on a Wednesday and when time permits in the morning before going to work Andrew likes to go. The fish stall comes from Fleetwood with that days fresh catch so its really as fresh as it gets.

Ingredients

Cod
Sweetcorn
Spinach
Seasoning
White Sauce
Mashed Potatoes
Breadcrumbs

The cod, sweetcorn, spinach and seasoning were mixed together in the white sauce and the the mashed potato was the layered on top with breadcrumbs spinkled on top. This was then all baked in the oven for 30 mins.

Leg of Lamb

Andrew asked that I update his website this week whilst he's away as he thought it would give me something to do, so apologies now for not putting up as much detail as normal. Maybe Andrew will update it soon with the detail.
Anyway my sister-in-law was with us this weekend so we decided that we'd use something local so we choose a leg of lamb from the farm across the road. This was marinaded for a few hours in a range of spices (in a Moroccan style) this was then roast for a couple of hours. Shortly before the lamb was ready we add a couple of tins of Chick pea's so they'd absorb some of the flavours of the meat. To serve we also made a salad with some lettuce from the veg patch as it was a really lovely day we ate outside.

Picture should be here but I can't get the computer to do what i want

Frank Salad

I am not sure if I have any avid fans but just in case I do I need to explain why the blog has been unpopulated over the last month. The reason is that we have moved from our little two bed apartment and purchased an old farmhouse out in the sticks. The place is significantly bigger than what we are used to and needs a bit of effort to scrub it up to my wife's high standards.

Anyway - first job was to plant up the vegetable patch (we moved in at the start of June so were probably a bit late for the growing season but spinach and salad should do ok).

We have some really nice new neighbours and Frank from across the road dropped off some salad leaves and some lettuce for me to plant so fittingly (despite having a lovely range cooker at my disposal - and gas!!!) the first post is dedicated to the humble salad.

Ingredients

Selection of fresh salad leaves
2 tomatoes
4 radish
1 ball of buffalo mozzarella
1 red onion
4 new potatoes
1 oz butter
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of ginger wholegrain mustard
2 tablespoons of honey
1 teaspoon of plum and port conserve
salt

Method

Arrange the salad items (less the red onion) on a plate, leaving a gap in the middle.
layer the mozzarella on the plate with the tomato and put mozzarella in the gap in the middle of the leaves.
Boil the potatoes then drain. Add the butter to the pan and keep on the heat. When the butter is melted add the sliced red onion and then mix the remaining ingredients and reduce the liquid by half.
Place the potatoes with onion and dressing in the middle of the plate, the heat will start to melt the mozzarella and any spare dressing in the bottom of the pan can be drizzled over the leaves.

De Neils Curry

This is a mish mash curry that takes influence from both India and S.E. Asia. This is a home devised recipe but is a real corker.

Curry is a well favoured meal in the UK but there is no need to turn to a tin or take-away as it is dead easy to rustle up your own top notch curry and it is possible to make your own creations like this one of mine.

Ingredients

Spice mix
1 onion
2 tbs groundnut oil
4 cloves
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fenugreek
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cinamon
1 tsp paprika
3 cardomon pods
3 red birds eye chillies (de-seeded and finely chopped)
3 tsp garam masala

Curry
2 chicken fillets
one sweet potatoe
3 tomatoes
300ml coconut milk
one tsp tamarind paste
4 green birds eye chillies (whole)
250ml reduced fat creme fraiche

Method

Start by making the spice mix. Put all the ingredients (except the oil and onion) in a mortar and pestle and pound to a paste as far as possible (whole cloves are nasty if you crunch on one when trying to enjoy your curry so at least make sure these are bashed a bit).

Heat the oil in a frying pan and start to saute the onions then add the pasted spices fry off for a good fie minutes or so - stirring regularly. This gets the spices working and is an importnt stage in the process.

Remove from the heat and set aside whilst the rest of the dish is created.

For the curry

Peel the sweet potatoe and slice into small discs the thickness of a 1 pound coin but the size of a 10 pence piece. Add these to the frying pan and cook off for a few minutes. The add the cubes chicken and add three tomatoes (quartered). Cook until the chicken is sealed all over then add the stock. To make this warm the coconut milk with the tamarind. Add the spice mix that was created previously and the whole green chillies, stir well. Cook for 20 minutes at a low simmer in the pan, or so until the chicken is cooked.

Just before serving add the creme fraiche and stir through - natural yoghurt could also be used if desired. To finish sprinkle with freshly chopped coriander.

I served with Naan bread a great product for mopping up any left over sauce.

Beef and Mushroom Stew with Dumplings

Right then this is good British grub simple, and delicious. It wont win a Micheline star but it will put a smile on the face of the eater.

Ingredients

500g stewing steak cut into chunks
6 mushrooms
one onion
1 beef stock cube
2 tbs turkey gravy granuals
two bay leaves
6 dashes of Worcester sauce
1/2 pint beer
flour
50g suet
100g self raisimg flour
a few sprigs of fresh thyme

Method

Start by softening the onion (roughly chopped)in a casserole dish with a tablespoon of sunflower oil. Add the stewing beef tossed in seasoned flour.

When the beef is browned add the mushrooms (cut in two) and add 500ml of boiled water mixed with the stock cube and turkey gravy (lighter and fresher than beef gravy granuals). Drop in the bay leaves and Worcester sauce and cook for an hour and a half.

To make the dumplings mix the suet, self raising flour and finely chopped thyme (remember to season them up with salt and pepper) with a few tablespoons of water. The consistency should be non sticky to the hand but still feeling moist.

Make golf ball sized dumplings and add to the stew. If you want soem veg add it at this point. I lobbed in some broccoli but carrots are a good choice as well. Given the flour basis of the dumplings there is no need for extra carbohydrates e.g. potatoes.

Add some extra moisture (I used half a pint of beer) and cook for 20 minutes and then serve.

pollo a la dolchelatte

Chicken is so versatile but by itself it can be a bit bland. If using a chicken fillet simply cutting a slice to make a cavity in the breast makes a great pocket to pack flavour into the meat.

Using salty and strong flavoured dolchelatte is perfect for this purpose. Tht being said Gorgonzola, Stilton and Roquefort all perfectly suitable for the job.

I also add some herbal flavour inn the for, of 2 dried bay leaves.

Ingredients

chicken breast
2 slices of dolchelatte cheese
2 bay leaves
olive oil
salt and pepper

vegetables to serve with

Method

Cut a slit in the chicken to make a pocket. Stuff the pocket with the dolchelatte and bay leaves. rub the outside with olive oil and season well. Place in an oven proof dish and put in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve with fresh vegetables - I had new potatoes, chanterelle carrots and French beans

Oriental Wild Boar

Obviously pork has a limited place in asian cuisine (given the religious preferences of not an insignificant proportion of SE Asia). Wild Boar, however, is probably more akin to the type of pork meat encountered in Asia - the standard European pig (as popular in Britain and Denmark) is a different proposition so when I had a look in the freezer and saw we still had some wild boar steaks this easy throw together was an easy decision.

Ingredients

Marinade
1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 teaspoon Rice Wine Vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 wild boar steaks

Quick cook noodles, mange tout and baby corn to serve.

Method

Add the marinade ingredients to a dish, mix and add the Wild Boar (coat on both sides and set aside for an hour to marinade).

Grill for 5 or so minutes on each side. The other ingredients take about 4 onutes to boil in a pan.