Meal Twenty Two - Nathan's Roasted Red Pepper Risotto

No recipe books tonight. No experiences to recall. Just good old fashioned experimentation.

The pennies are getting a little tight this month and over the past few meals, I've spent a bloody fortune, so I thought tonight was the night to rein in and get back to basics.

This dish offers a lot of flavour with the chosen ingredients. Ingredients chosen as I had them available to me and they were just waiting to be used. Whether a risotto was their preferred destination remains to be seen.

The dish has all the basics of a risotto; arborio rice, onion, white wine and vegetable stock. The remainder of the ingredients are just classic combinations that simply work.

Once again I used my new paella pan. It's definitely my pan of choice at the moment, until it gets usurped by a slightly larger frying pan. (I don't seem to be having much luck with these at the moment!)

Risotto is Italian by origin but there is certainly a Spanish flavour going on here, so maybe the paella pan is apt.

In reflection, I'm very pleased with the outcome. There are two things I regret; using a cheap chorizo sausage (Sainsburys own brand) and not adding a knob of butter at the end to give the dish a lovely gloss.

Ingredients:

2 red peppers

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

1/2 ring chorizo sausage, diced

1 red pepper, de-seeded and chopped

1 garlic glove, finely chopped

2 handfuls arborio rice

400ml bouillon or vegetable stock

250ml Italian white wine (Frascati)

2 tbsp dry Vermouth

olive oil

Parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 deg. celsius. Cut the peppers in half, de-seed and take out the bitter white skin then quarter, place on a baking tray and cover in olive oil. Pop in the oven and roast for a good 20 minutes or so until the fringes begin to blacken.

2. Add the chopped chilli and garlic to a cup and cover in oil.

3. Once the roasted peppers are ready, drain the oil and add to a hot frying pan (or in my case - paella pan). Add the chopped onions and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the chorizo and fry until the oil begins to run red with blood (or indeed, the pimonton...). Finally add the garlic and chilli in the oil and fry for another minute or so.

4. Add the rice and ensure it's coated with the oil. Fry off for a good couple of minutes. Add the wine and Vermouth and give it time to bubble off the alcohol. 

5. Once the wine liquid has virtually disappeared, begin to add the vegetable stock ladle by ladle. With a couple of ladles of stock left, quickly chop the roasted peppers into strips or cubes and add to the risotto. Add the remaining stock and test your rice. (It needs a slight bite to it)

6. Grate some parmesan cheese (a large handful) and add to the risotto, along with a smattering of cracked black pepper and salt to taste.

TIP:

KEEP STIRRING THROUGHOUT!! It might seem a lot of work, but a great risotto needs movement 100% of the time!

Meal Twenty One - Chicken & Leek Pie

I asked Sam whether there was anything that she particularly wanted to eat and her first suggestion was chicken pie.

I've made chicken pies in the past and they have been tasty, but I wanted to try someone else's recipe to see what else was out there.

Today I opted to go for Nigel Slater's Chicken & Leek Pie.

The difference between my pie and this pie is the way the chicken is cooked. I tend to brown my chicken off in a frying pan along with the bacon and leeks, but Nigel instructs us to poach the chicken in milk infused with bay leaves, peppercorns, onion and then add to the bacon and leek later on and I will tell you what; it is an absolutely amazing smell in the kitchen!

The sauce is then made up of the strained milk along with flour and Dijon mustard. The mustard adds a real tang to the flavour, and along with the all-butter puff pastry, you can't really go wrong.

Ingredients:

600g chicken thighs

10 pepper corns

1 small onion

2 bay leaves

milk (enough to cover the chicken pieces)

5-6 rashers smoked bacon, cubed

butter

3 leeks, sliced into 1/2 inch discs

3 tbsp plain flour

3 tsp Dijon mustard

2 x 375g packs of all-butter puff pastry

1 egg

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 deg. celsius.

2. In a saucepan, add the chicken, peppercorns, onion and bay leaves. Cover with milk. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked.

3. Meanwhile fry the bacon in some butter (approx. 30g). Add the sliced leeks and allow to soften.

4. When the chicken is cooked, remove from the milk and flake into the pan with the leeks and bacon.

5. Add the flour and cook through for a couple of minutes before adding the milk through a sieve to remove the peppercorns, bay leaves and onion. Add the Dijon mustard and stir constantly to make a thick sauce.

6. Roll out the sheets of puff pastry to a rectangular shape at a pound coin thickness. Lay the first sheet in a large ovenproof dish and spoon in the filling. Lay the second sheet over the top and crimp together.

7. Beat the egg and brush over the pie topping. Bake in the oven for approximately 35 minutes. 

Meal Twenty - Quick Pasta & Pesto

For a light lunch, I really enjoy a plate of pasta. It's quick, filling and tasty.
I like the fact it's so versatile. You can put it with a tomato sauce, a cream sauce or something very simple like I've done today - pesto!
Don't bother with the shop bought pestos as nice as they are, as the homemade version is just as quick and easy and above all tasty!

Ingredients:

50g pine nuts

large bunch of basil

50g parmesan or pecorino cheese

150ml olive oil

2 garlic gloves

200g fusilli bucati pasta

Method:

1. Bring a frying pan up to a high heat and toast the pine nuts until golden.

2. Add the pine nuts, garlic cloves, cheese, basil leaves and storks and olive oil to a food processor and blend until smooth.

3. Add the pasta to some salted boiling water and cook between 10 and 12 minutes. (I like a bit of a bite to the pasta so cook for 10 minutes).

4. Drain the pasta and return to the sauce pan. Add two to three large spoons of pesto to the pasta and stir through.

5. Serve with a grating of cheese and a touch of olive oil.

Tip:

The pesto will keep for a good couple of weeks if you don't use it all.

Pop the remaining mixture into a jar and cover with some more olive oil.

Meal Nineteen - Spicy Chicken and Rice

The second dish of the night was also chicken - sorry Quig.

As I've mentioned before, a lot of my dishes will follow on if I have an overstock of ingredients.

This is the first time I got to use my paella pan, of which Sam bought me for Christmas.

It definitely makes a difference, as there is a lot of chicken to brown off!

The flavours and smells from this dish are amazing and aside from the little taster I had, I can't wait to tuck into this for lunch tomorrow.

Ingredients:

1.5kg chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 red, 1 yellow and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and quartered

2 green chillies, deseeded and finely diced

450g tomatoes, skinned and chopped

1 onion, finely diced

2 tbsp vegetable oil

salt and cayenne pepper

1 tsp paprika

150g long grain rice

450ml vegetable stock

1 tsp fresh thyme

100g green olices, stoned and halved

few drops of Tabasco sauce

2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan (or paella pan). Season the chicken with the cayenne pepper and salt, add to the pan and fry for 8-10 minutes, turning it brown all over. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon. 

2. Add the peppers and onion and fry for 5 minutes until browned, then again remove from the pan with a slotted spoon.

3. Add the chillies, rice and paprika, stirring for 1 minutes until the rice is coated with the excess oil.

4. Add the hot vegetable stock and the cook the rice over a low heat for approximately 10 minutes. (You may have to add a touch of water if the rice begins to stick during this time. I had this problem, but I think the heat wasn't low enough!)

5. Return the peppers, onion and chicken to the pan. Add the thyme, tomatoes then cover and simmer for 20 minutes. (Use some foil if the pan is too big.)

6. Add the olives and stir into the pan. Add the tabasco sauce then taste and season if necessary.

Sprinkle with parsley and then serve.

Meal Eighteen - Thai Red Chicken Curry

For tonight, I really needed to play a little catch up.

The first dish I decided to go for was a Thai curry. For this version, I went for "red" as I've eaten copious amounts of the "green" style in the past.

In this dish, it had the added bonus of some aubergine, which I think is fast becoming my favourite vegetable!

Cooked with light coconut milk, instead of the full fat, or dare I say - coconut cream - this actually turns out to be a fairly healthy dish.

The outcome was superb, and I had to go back for seconds and aside from the aubergine, even my sister-in-law enjoyed it!

Ingredients:

400ml canned coconut milk (I chose the light version)

3 tbsp red Thai curry paste

4 chicken breasts (I put in three and two boneless chicken thighs - purely to save money)

4 tbsp fish sauce (I had oyster sauce and it's just as good)

2 tbsp caster sugar

225g tinned bamboo shoots

1 medium sized aubergine

juice of 1 lime

fresh basil leaves

1 tbsp grated fresh coconut - optional (I decided against it)

1/2 red chilli for decoration.

Method:

1. Pour 200ml of the coconut milk into a large saucepan. Stir in the red Thai curry paste and bring the mixture to the boil. Boil rapidly for 4-5 minutes or until the sauce is reduced by half.

2. Using a sharp knife, cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces. Add to the coconut sauce and bring back to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the chicken for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Stir in the oyster sauce and sugar and then bring back to the boil. Drain the bamboo shoots and cut into matchsticks, Cut the aubergine into small chunks. Add to the pan along with the the bamboo, Bring back to the boil again, then lower the heat and simmer for 5-6 minutes.

4. Stir the remaining coconut milk, lime juice and 2 tbsps shredded basil leaves. Heat through for another 2-3 minutes.

5. Serve with rice and some scattered red chilli.

Meal Seventeen - Nathan's Shepherds Pie

Firstly, apologies for the lack of cooking/blogging action over the past few days. It's been a bit manic in all honesty. A few changes in my job role have certainly contributed and that along with a guest over on the Friday and Saturday night meant that my meal plans were kind of out of sync.

For Friday nights (late) dinner, I decided to go for a family favourite - the humble Shepherds Pie.

I can't remember where I picked the original recipe up from, but after numerous years of adjustments and tweaks, I'm happy to share this wonderful dish with you.

The trick to this dish is all in the preparation. The ingredients may be similar to ones you've used in shepherds pies before, but with a little care and attention, this dish can have the "wow" factor.

If you follow the method below - without blowing my own trumpet - you will have not tasted a better version.

Ingredients:

500g minced lamb

6 rashers of smoked bacon, cubed

1 carrot, grated

1 onion, half grated half finely chopped

2 celery sticks, finely chopped

maris piper potatoes

1/2 punnet chestnut mushrooms

a handful of fresh rosemary (and it must be fresh), chopped

1 1/2 glasses of good red wine (if you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it!)

250ml vegetable stock

1 egg yolk

100g grated parmesan

milk

50g grated mature cheddar

salt and black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 deg. celsius. Add the minced lamp to a frying pan and brown off for 4-5 minutes. (Don't worry about the lack of oil, the lamb will produce plenty). Add the bacon and continue to fry for a few more minutes.

2. Add the carrot, celery and onion and continue to fry over a medium heat until soft.

3. Gradually add the wine and cook out the alcohol. 

4. Add the mushrooms and allow to soak up the juices in the pan.

5. Gradually add the vegetable stock and stir through continuously.

6. Add the rosemary and cook through for a few more minutes.

7. Reduce to a low heat and simmer for a good 20-25 minutes. (This allows the "gravy" to reduce down).

8. Meanwhile, peel and half your spuds and add to cold water. On a high heat, continue to boil the potatoes until of a consistency to make mash. (Maris piper is a floury potato, so keep an eye that they don't just fall apart.)

9. When the potatoes are done, add a splash of milk, the egg yolk and parmesan. Then whip and mash yourself into a frenzy. (No-one likes lumpy mash!)

10. Spoon the lamb mixture into an oven proof dish and level with a spoon.

11. Spoon over the mash potato, and with a fork, create some grooves across the top. Sprinkle over the grated cheddar and pop in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden.

12. Serve with carrots, beans and some wilted spinach.

Meal Sixteen - Multi-mushroom Stroganoff

I wanted something quick tonight, as the Champions League football is/was on, but just because it's quick, it doesn't mean it's not tasty.

I chose a mushroom stroganoff for a few reasons:

1. I've never done one before

2. I mentioned it in my introduction page

3. Stroganoff was recommended to me by a good friend

This is also a vegetarian dish, so I know a couple of people will be looking forward to it.

I chose a multi-mushroom recipe because it offers so many flavours from just a mushroom. The shiitake mushrooms - with their firmness - offer a very meaty alternative, whilst the closed cup chestnut mushrooms give the dish a real earthiness.

Finished off with crème fraiche, it's actually not too bad on calories either, so as far as I'm concerned, it's a win-win situation.

Served with brown rice, I was very pleased with the outcome. I just only wished there was more.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil

450g fresh mixed mushrooms (I chose shiitake, mini portobello and closed cup chestnut mushrooms)

3 spring onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp dry vermouth

300ml reduced fat crème fraiche

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan (the larger the better - it's a lot of mushrooms!!) and fry the mushrooms gently, stirring them occasionally until they are softened and just cooked.

2. Add the spring onions, garlic and vermouth and cook for a couple of minutes more. Season well with salt and black pepper.

3. Stir in the crème fraiche and heat to just below boiling. Stir in the chopped thyme, then scatter over the parsley. Serve with brown rice.

Meal Fifteen - Nathan's Savoury Pancakes

If you're going to have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, then you may as well have a main and a pudding!

I started with my savoury pancake. Incorporating bacon, chicken, leeks, garlic and cheese, binded together with some cream cheese, this is everything I love about cooking, all wrapped up in a pancake!

A warning for you though - they are very filling! I had to give myself half an hour in between so that I at least stood a chance with dessert.

 

Ingredients:

Batter: (Makes approximately 6 pancakes)

220g plain flour, sieved

4 eggs

400ml milk (with a little water)

4 tbsp melted butter

2 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tbsp chopped basil

smoked paprika

Filling:

300g chicken thigh fillets

2 leeks, finely sliced

6-7 rashers smoked bacon, chopped

150g shittake mushrooms, sliced

glass of white wine

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

half cup of milk

half pack of cream cheese

Cheese Sauce:

2 tbsp plain flour

butter

olive oil

milk

couple of handfuls of extra mature cheddar, grated

handful grated mozzarella

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg Celsius. Then heat up a pan and dry fry the bacon until golden. Add the chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes until the flesh turns white, add the leeks and garlic and cook through for a couple of minutes. Add a knob of butter if required. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for a further 2 minutes. Now add the wine and rapidly boil to evaporate the alcohol.

2. Add the cream cheese and stir thoroughly. Add a dash of milk to bind the ingredients together. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Keep over a low heat and add a touch more milk if required.

4. Meanwhile, sieve the flour into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and add the eggs. Begin to whisk the eggs and flour and add the milk/water a bit at a time. The batter should have a thick double cream consistancy.

5. Add the chopped herbs and the melted butter and whisk once more.

6. Heat another pan until scolding hot. Reduce to a medium heat and lubicate with some butter. Add a couple of labels of batter mix and swirl around the pan until the sides are covered. Wait a couple of minutes and then flip. Cook for the same amount of time on the fresh side.

7. Prepare a plate and several sheets of grease proof paper/tin foil and store each pancake - layered - to keep warm.

8. Once all pancakes are cooked, on a flat surface, spoon a line of the filling into the middle (see picture). Roll each individual pancake and place in a baking dish, with the flap at the bottom to seal in the mixture.

9. Prepare a stainless steel pan and add a couple of knobs of butter and a tbsp of olive oil. Allow the butter to melt then add the flour. Mix vigorously with your whisk and allow the flour to "cook out".

Add milk a little at a time and don't worry if the mixture looks very pastry like - more milk will sort this out. Continue with the milk until the sauce can coat the back of a metal spoon. If it's too thin, add a touch more flour (mixed previously with a little milk) and whisk thoroughly.

10. Add the grated mature cheddar and a large handful of mozzarella. The mozzarella will make the sauce "stretchy" not unlike a fondue cheese.

11. Pour the sauce over the rolled pancakes until covered. Add a small handful of grated mozzarella and sprinkling of smoked paprika and cook for approx. 20 mins or until slightly golden. (See picture.)

12. Serve with some salad or on it's own. Trust me, it's very filling!

Shrove Tuesday - Pancake with Toffee Macadamia Nut Ice Cream and Nutella

You can't let Shrove Tuesday pass you by and not do some sweet pancakes.

Tonight I passed on the sugar and lemon - or Jif for satirists - and decided on some of Sainsbury's Toffee and Macadamia Nut with a couple of scoops of Nutella.

What can I say? It's a pancake. Tasted great, and the Nutella worked wonderfully with the macadamia nut ice cream.

We would have had seconds had we not been so full from the evenings previous savoury pancakes.

Ingredients: (Makes approximately 4-5 large pancakes)

220g plain flour

4 eggs

300ml milk with a touch of water

butter

ice cream

Nutella chocolate spread

Method:

1. Weight out the flour and sift into a bowl.

2. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the eggs. Whisk together and gradually add the milk/water. Do not worry about any lumps as these will disappear after further whisking. Finish whisking when you have a thick, double cream consistency.

3. Add 2 tbps of melted butter to the mix and whisk once more.

4. Get your frying pan up to the highest heat possible, then reduce to a medium heat.

5. Lubricate the pan with more melted butter and add two ladles of pancake batter.

6. Rotate the pan, covering all sides with the batter mix and leave for a couple of minutes.

7. Flip your pancake if you dare, and cook for the same amount of time.

8. Add a spoon of ice cream and a couple of spoons of Nutella.

9. Serve. 

Meal Fourteen - Greek Lamb Pie with Garlic and Herb Sauteed Potatoes

Unusually I had a weekend off cooking. I wanted to do a few dishes, but time just didn't allow.

Fortunately I still ate well, as I went out for dinner both Saturday and Sunday.

So to get myself back on track, I'm really going to have to push this week.

Tonight was another recipe book dish - Greek Lamb Pie. It's the first time I've tried this and I'm afraid to say - the first time I have ever contemplated using filo pastry.

The dish came together brilliantly so I don't know what I was worried about regarding the pastry.

I have to admit, the pastry is shop bought, so for all you purists out there, I'm sorry.

Having watched numerous cookery shows in my lifetime, I don't think I've ever seen any celebrity/professional chef attempt filo pastry. They always seem to direct you to the good quality, shop bought stuff, so I don't really feel that bad.

The dish tonight started out very much like a shepherds pie, thought with the introduction of tomatoes, it seemed to gain lasagne status. The addition of nutmeg took it towards the Greek flavour and the filo pastry definitely worked well with it.

I brought together some sauteed garlic and herb potatoes along with some colourful fresh veg to finish the dish.

The flavours were very much to my liking and apparently also Sam's, as for the first time within the blog, she asked for seconds.

A couple of people have asked whether I would include the methods to the dishes, so please see below for instructions (including a few tips).

Ingredients:

500g minced lamb

1 onion, sliced

1 garlic glove, crushed

400g tin plum tomatoes

2 tbsp chopped fresh mint

1 tsp grated nutmeg

350g young spinach leaves

275g filo pastry

1 tsp sesame seeds

salt and ground black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 deg celsius. Lightly oil a 8.5" springform tin.

2. Fry the mince and sliced onions (not diced - sliced will go softer during the frying process) in a non-stick pan without fat (there is enough fat in the lamb to fry the meat and onions) until golden.

Don't worry if you think it's taking too long as you want the meat golden and not grey.

Add the garlic (I crush using a knife and some rock salt on a hard surface and smooth out to a paste), tomatoes, chopped mint and nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.

Bring to the boil, stirring from time to time.

Simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of the mixture has evaporated. Break up the plum tomatoes with your spoon/spatula whilst doing so.

3. Wash the spinach if required (Mine was pre-washed in spring water) and remove any tough stalks.

Then cook down in only the water clinging to the leaves for about 2 minutes or until just wilted.

4. Lightly brush each sheet of filo pastry with vegetable oil and lay in overlapping layers in the tin, leaving enough overhanging to wrap over the top.

5. Spoon in the meat and spinach (I layered it, like a lasagne) then wrap the pastry over to enclose like a parcel. Scrunch the top slightly to seal then sprinkle with the sesame seeds and bake for approximately 30 mins, or until golden and crisp.

Serve with the vegetables and potatoes.

For the potatoes:

1. Take 3-4 medium potatoes and peel.

2. Square off the potatoes by cutting all 4 "sides" and proceed to cut into approximately 1cm sq. cubes.

3. Put two knobs of butter in a frying pan, allow the pan to heat up until the butter begins to bubble, then add the potato.

4. Continue to fry, stirring or tossing the potatoes, until they begin to brown.

5. Add some chopped basil, mint and crushed garlic and continue to saute for a couple more minutes.

6. Serve. (I kept the potatoes warm in a seperate dish in the oven while the pie was finishing off.)

Meal Thirteen (or twelve according to Eddie) - Sweetcorn and Bean Tamale Pie

Time for another vegetarian dish.

Tonight it's Sweetcorn and Bean Tamale Pie. Nope, I've never heard of Tamale either, though I'm guessing by the ingredients, there must be some sort of Italian influence?!

It tasted great, though at the very beginning I must admit I had to take a double glance at the amount of ground cumin you need - 2 tablespoons to be exact.
It's not a print error, it is actually 2 tablespoons and do you know what? It really works!

I've cooked with polenta before and will admit I wasn't the biggest fan, but I was willing to give it a go.

Before, I bought the ready made polenta and had it grilled with a tomato sauce and tasted rather bland to me.

This time around, it's not just the polenta you taste, as there are other flavours incorporated such as the cheese.

The dish is very eastern in it's taste. The cumin, onion and garlic are very much curry ingredients but the chilli, kidney beans and tomatoes take it into the South American flavour bracket.

Add polenta and parmesan to the mix and you've got yourself a complete mishmash of flavours that really do work. A definite dish I'll be sharing with my vegetarian friends.

Ingredients:

2 corn on the cob

vegetable oil

1 onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 red pepper, seeded and chopped

2 green chillies, seeded and chopped

2 tbsp ground cumin

500g ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 tbsp sundried tomato puree

425g red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsps dried oregano

For the topping:

125g polenta

25g plain flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 egg, lightly beaten

150ml milk

1 tbsp melted butter

80g grated mature cheddar cheese

grated parmesan

Meal Twelve - Chicken Saagwala

It's another Ruby Murray tonight but this time a Saagwala.
Saag means "green" so technically you don't have to use spinach in the recipe though traditionally it is the vegetable that is generally recognized.

I was very pleased with the outcome although it did have a bit more spice than the one's I've tried in the curry houses.

Once again the recipe came from the "150 Curries" book. Seeing as it's the second successful dish to come from the book, I'll definitely be exploring more spicy dishes.

Meal Eleven - Chilli Beef Shepherd's Pie with Chunky Cajun Wedges

I don't know about you, but I'm getting mightily peeved with this weather.

Yet more snow this morning. Okay, not the flourish that we had the other week, but I could really do with some sunshine in my life around about now.

Feeling cold, and miserable, especially with our boiler (and now gas fire) playing up, I wanted a dish that was going to warm up my weary bones. Hence, the reason why I went for nature's radiator - chilli.

The parsnip mash on top really does make a change from the usual pastry or potato topping.

Sweeter to the taste, the flavours within the chilli itself utterly compliment one another, though next time, I wouldn't mind adding a sprinkling of mature cheese.

The chilli was easy and less fussy than my usual attempts. Occasionally I like to add a touch of dark chocolate to give a velvet like texture, but I thought that if I stuck to the recipe, I could be sitting down and eating it, unusually before 7pm.

The cajun style wedges are a family favourite and go with a lot of meals I cook. The trick is to cut them extra chunky so they don't soak up to much of the olive oil.

Ingredients:

Shepherd's Pie

500g lean steak mince

400g chopped tomatoes

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

410g red kidney beans

1tsp hot chilli powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

4 dashes tabasco sauce

1tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 can water

1kg parsnips, peeled and chopped, then mashed

2tsps cumin seeds

Wedges

4-5 large maris piper potatoes, cut into thick wedges

1tsp smoked paprika

1tsp garlic salt

cracked black pepper

olive oil

Meal Ten - Nathan's Creamy Fish Pie with Herb & Nut Crumb and Honey Glazed Chanterray Carrots with Courgette Rosti

This dish turned out a lot better than the starter.

After thinking all day about what I wanted to make tonight, I decided to go the fish pie route.

I normally pop a mashed potato topping but decided to go for something different as a had a couple of bunches of herbs and some stale bread to use up.

As part of my blog is to try and reduce food wastage, the obvious option was to go for a herb crumb.

Generally with my normal fish pie, the white sauce flavoured with the fish juices and the chopped dill is counteracted by the creaminess of the mashed potato, but as there was no potato topping tonight, I decided to add some strong cheese to the sauce to offer a balance to the abundance of herbs.

You know what? It worked. I was very pleased with the outcome.

For most of my fish pies, I tend to go over the top with the amount of fish, but with the beginning of February being tight money wise, I opted for a bag of white fish fillets, some prawns that were on offer and then bulked up with peas and mushrooms.

To go with the pie, I felt I needed some vegetables, as I've eaten a lot of pasta and rice over the past couple of days, so I opted for some chanterray carrots, some French beans and a homemade concoction of broccoli, flour, parmesan and salt and pepper for the rosti.

Ingredients:

Pie Filling

520g white fish fillets

300g fresh jumbo prawns

punnet of button mushrooms, quarted

200g extra mature cheddar, grated

50g parmesan, finely grated

milk

fresh dill, finely chopped

Crumb

2 small baguettes, breadcrumbed

a handful of fresh flat leaf parsley

a handful of fresh basil leaves

a small bag of hazelnuts, roasted and then blitzed in the food processor

Rosti

1 courgette, grated and water extracted

2 tsps flour

parmesan, finely grated

olive oil

Meal Nine - Rachel Khoo's "Oeuf en cocette"

Tonight I had to play catch up again, so out come a couple of dishes.

Firstly I had a go at Rachel Khoo's Oeuf en cocette. (Potted Egg essentially)

I have to say, for the first time in my blog, I was pretty disappointed with the outcome.

It was far sweeter than I anticipated and the creme fraiche wasn't far from curdling.

I know Rachel would kill me for using normal bread for the dipping, but at this time of night, it's pretty damn hard to get a freshly baked baguette for the "soldiers!"

I think that for this dish to be a success, it would need a lot less nutmeg and certainly less creme fraiche on the top of the egg.

From the photo (and indeed from the tasting) it just looked/tasted like a bad rice pudding.

Ingredients:

300g creme fraiche

1 egg

pinch of nutmeg

salt

pepper

Bread for dipping

Meal Eight - Nathan's Spicy Pepper Pasta

Last night I decided to throw some ingredients together that needed using up. Sticking them with some pasta is generally the most filling option.

Sam had bought some lovely peppers from our local greengrocers and although they always taste fantastic, I often find that they don't really last that long. So much so, that had I not chosen to cook with them tonight, then they would have been going in the bin.

That is one thing I can't stand in modern life. The waste we have when we cook.
Often I blame the supermarkets from the over-use of packaging to the buy one get one free ethic they try and force down our throats.
Why not give us a reasonable price on the one pack, rather than fooling us into buying more than we really need, and secretly enjoying the extra sales?

One of the reasons behind the blog is to cut back on the waste and plan out the meals so that ingredients bought can often stretch over several dishes whilst still offering something new and inviting.

This dish is no exception.
I had the peppers that desperately needed using, an open bottle of Tempranillo wine and some chorizo and cheese, that have been used over a couple of previous meals.

The dish - for the first time in the blog - has not come from a recipe book. This is one of my own creations, that really, is very, very simple.
It's got good ingredients, that work well together such as the peppers, tomatoes, chilli and chorizo. It's just up to me to get the balance right, and showcases pretty much what my cooking style is about.

Sam and I wolfed it down, mainly due to the fact we'd not really eaten during day and that it was coming up to 9pm.

I would recommend a crusty roll with this dish, and a large class of vino!

Ingredients:

1 large red pepper, finely diced

1 large yellow pepper, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 chorizo ring, sliced into discs

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

2 tsps Worcestershire sauce

4 drops Tabasco sauce

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 1/2 glasses of Tempranillo Spanish wine

Parmesan cheese, finely grated

flat leaf parsley, chopped to garnish