Seaside Fish Cakes

For a nice variation on fish cakes, these are super, the original recipe said to use two cans of Salmon – drained, skin and bones removed – I poached to large salmon filets instead, retaining the milk for the recipe – also I would use Ritz crackers, and not saltines, but that’s our preference.

Salmon Fish Cakes

2 large Salmon Fillets

Enough milk to cover salmon (1 cup to be retained)

2 beaten eggs

2 tbsp lemon juice

3 cups crushed Ritz Crackers/Saltines if preferred

2 tsp finely chopped onion

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Dill Sauce

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp dill

¼ tsp salt

Dash pepper & nutmeg

1 ½ cups milk

1. In a large skillet, place your salmon fillets and cover with the milk, cook until done, it should easily flake with a fork, when they are ready, remove them from the pan, carefully flake them checking for bones as you go, also remove any skin if there is any.
2. Next put the beaten eggs, cup of retained milk, lemon juice, Ritz crackers/Saltines, onion, salt and pepper, into a large mixing bowl. Add the salmon and mix well. Shape your fish cake mix into, 12 patties, place on a greased baking sheet, and bake for about 30 – 35 minutes at 350˚F (180˚C) or until lightly browned.
3. Meanwhile, gently melt the butter in a saucepan, then mix the, flour, dill, salt, pepper and nutmeg with the milk. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the saucepan, bring to the boil and stir continuously until it’s thickened. Serve with the patties.

KFC? Not quite but almost!!!

If you like KFC – Kentucky Fried Chicken, then this is surly one for you. There’s not much that gets me truly excited these days. My husband does, when he sneaks up on me at work – that makes me beam instantly, and my heart goes pitty patt, but don’t tell him that, or if I can’t see him, but can hear him, that gives me butterflies – that excites me, because we’ve been together for five years, I haven’t become complacent, I don’t take him or us for granted, I look forward to 1630, because that’s when he picks me up from work, and I can’t wait to go home, shut the door and pretend nothing and nobody else exists, it’s perfect. The only other thing to get me excited is anything to do with my kitchen, cookbooks, utensils, gadgets – and any recipe I find that is really good or similar to something we have eaten in a restaurant, for example these… I only use chicken breast and we all know by now why, but if your just now joining the blog, I don’t do bones.. But it works well with drumsticks or wings if you prefer.

 Pan-Fried Chicken

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1tsp pepper

1tsp garlic powder

½ tsp paprika

¼ tsp poultry seasoning

¼ cup milk

1 egg

2 Chicken breasts cut into chunks

1/3 cup evoo (extra virgin olive oil)

1. In a large sealable freezer bag, mix the, flour, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and poultry seasoning. In a bowl beat the egg and milk. Add the chicken to the bag and give it a good shake to coat the chicken pieces, shake off any extra before, dipping in the milk and egg mixture, then put them back into the bag and shake again…. Let the chicken pieces stand for about 5 minutes.

     2.  In a large skillet, fry the chicken on a high heat until golden brown, then reduce the heat and carry on cooking for about 15 minutes

Lemony Yummy Lamb

I swear by this recipe, it’s an absolute corker, the meat is melt in your mouth, everything just works perfectly together, the recipe requires a minimum of 2 hours marinating time, so a little preplanning…. To be honest it is best left over night. It’s great served with fries (chips for my English friends) and a salad – or equally new potatoes and vegetables. Serve the vegetables with a little butter though if you must, you don’t want to being smothering the lamb with sauce.  

Lemony Lamb

¼ cup evoo, extra virgin olive oil.

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp grated lemon peel
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp dried basil
¼ tsp rosemary
¼ tsp pepper
2 lamb loin chops 6oz or 1" thick

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, add all the ingredients except the lamb, mix well and then add the lamb. Marinate, for at least two hours, preferably over night.

2. Drain and discard marinade then broil the lamb to desired doneness.

Messy Sausage and more pasta!

Right I’ll be perfectly honest, unless you are American you may find some of the ingredients, for this next one a little obscure and hard to get, although alternatives are possible – manicotti is cannelloni pasta shells, while in America I found manicotti to be almost toblerone shaped and ridged, where as cannelloni is cylindrical and smooth, either will work equally well though. Sausage meat in Germany, from what I can tell doesn’t exist….. and if it does I haven’t found it yet, although always keeping my eyes peeled for that all elusive ingredient. So I sort of make my own, this is a perfect way round the inability to find sausage meat, it’s simple but messy – buy your favourite sausages, and squeeze the meat out of it’s skin… Hey Presto…. Sausage meat…. How cool am I?

Sausage Pasta

1lb sausage meat (that’s an awful lot of sausage squeezing)

2 cups cottage cheese
1 package manicotti or cannelloni shells
1 (26 oz) jar tomato sauce (whichever type you like)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 tsp sage

1, Preheat your oven to 350˚F (180˚C), and grease a baking dish big enough for all you pasta. In a large mixing bowl, mix together, the sausage meat, cottage cheese and sage. Once it’s well mixed, stuff it into the pasta shells, then place in your baking dish. Top with the tomato sauce.

2, Cover and bake, for about an hour, or if you have a thermometer the centre to the shell should have reached 160˚F (80˚C).

3, Uncover the pasta bake and sprinkle with the mozzarella, and bake for a further 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and bubbling.  

American Biscuits...........!!!

We love American biscuits, I’ll be perfectly honest, we used to buy the frozen Pilsbury ones all the time, but I also realised that eventually we would be leaving the States, that meant either no more biscuits or I had to learn to make them from scratch. This is the first recipe I tried and again it’s a baking thing, so minimum ingredients was key. To be honest they weren’t bad but not of the Pilsbury quality either, slightly disappointed, but I emphasise the fact that I am not a very good baker….

I have since found one that is pretty close to the Pilsbury style that my husband and I, know and love so much, but that comes later….. For now try these and let me know what you think.

Cornmeal Biscuits

1 & 1/3 cups all purpose flour
½ cup cornmeal
2 ½ tsps baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup shortening
½ cup grated cheddar
1 cup milk

1. In a mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, cut in the shortening until it looks crumbly, stir in the cheese and milk, until just moist.
2. Drop ¼ cupfuls onto a greased baking sheet about 2” apart and bake in the oven at 375˚F (190˚C) for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Moooohahahahaha....... She tries to bake...

I am a self professed rubbish baker, I mean like all out really, really, hit or miss, super rubbish, crazy bad. I choose baking recipes depending on ingredients, the fewer the better, this was an all out, hit, hit, hit. Oh my goodness calorific, my, oh my, brilliant – no exaggeration – cheesecake factory fantastic. Thankfully it tastes so good that the few minor mishaps, and I always have some minor mishap or other, don't matter too much. With my cheesecakes they tend to split – the first time because I didn’t use a water bath, then I did use a water bath but not very well – my baking pan didn’t fit in the receptacle that I was using very well. The other time I got it spot on, other than the fact that I was really, really drunk, so it was perfect right up until the point, I forgot to peel the edges of the cheesecake off the side of the baking pan, as it cooled and retracted, the edges pulled and it in turn split the cheesecake anyway, I was really upset about it, mostly because my alcohol consumption caused a really silly mistake on what should have been a perfect cheesecake!........ Like I said though thankfully taste negates from the fact I ruined it.

 Chocolate Brownie Caramel Cheesecake

 9oz Brownie Mix

3 eggs
1 tbsp cold water
1 can sweetened condensed milk (nestle stuff super thick and sweet)
16 oz whipped cream cheese
½ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate sauce for drizzling

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and grease a 9” spring form pan.
2. In a small bowl mix together the brownie mix, 1 egg and water, spread into your spring form pan and bake for 15-20 minutes.
3. Open your condensed milk and pour the contents into a pan, over a low heat and stirring continuously, cook for 10 – 15 minutes or until,  you can turn a cooled tablespoon of it upside down without it falling off.  The other way to do this is slightly more time consuming, but may give better results. Place the can of sweetened condensed milk in a pan of simmering water, for 2 – 2 ½ hours, you need to remember to keep toping up the water level, if it dries out the can could explode. When it’s done, let it cool before you open it, it should be very thick and caramel coloured.
4. Keep some of the caramel to one side, you are going to need it to drizzle over the top of the cheesecake, use the rest over your warm brownie crust.
5. Next you need to beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl until smooth. Then in a separate bowl, beat 1 egg and then mix it in with the cream cheese, making sure that it is well combined and then do the same again with the 2^nd egg. Pour your cream cheese mixture over the caramel and brownie crust.
6. Using a water bath bake the cheesecake for about 40 minutes, chill in the pan, don’t forget to run a knife around the outside edge to peel the cheesecake off the sides… Heat the saved caramel and drizzle over the cheesecake along with chocolate sauce.

Chicken and Bacon Burgers

After I moved to America, I was suddenly unemployed, housewife it was then….. I had always been told that I was a really bad “housewife,” so to be honest I felt as though I had something to prove, anxious that I wouldn’t live up to a perceived expectation, that I thought, Glen would have of me, I was scared. I am so in love with him and so desperate, not to let him down, or fail him. I still don’t want to, but not in the same way as I felt then… To begin with I was genuinely worried, that being at home all the time and being responsible for the housework, that he would realise that I wasn’t what he thought of me at all. We had never lived together before, a few weeks here and there, but this was us, together, forever and always.

 I didn’t have any reason to worry. Turns out I’m not rubbish like everyone had said for years, that I was….  I do have OCD and given the right circumstances, it breeds and manifests itself into something ugly, with help I had got it under control, I was given techniques in which to find another place, as it were, and block out the feelings causing tension and anxiety that would feed my OCD… When I lived with my Ex, to a certain extent I could block out a lot of the MESS that bothered me, I was told to find other things to occupy my mind, work, the children, dogs, reading or keeping a journal. To begin with after I moved in with Glen, it got a little “ugly” I cleaned everything, even though it didn’t need cleaning, top to bottom, every room in the apartment, drawers got emptied and reorganised, his clothes cupboard got a complete overhaul, colour co-ordinated, including his pants…. I admit I still get a little upset, if I put his boxers away and he has messed up the draw, especially if I am in one of “those anxious states.” In some ways this is a good thing, I have a mop, but if I am on my hands and knees, with a toothbrush, scrubbing the kitchen floor, he knows I am upset about something. Who needs words, when you have a husband that knows when something is wrong, will pick you up off the floor and give you one of those reassuring hugs that says, “It’s going to be ok, I’m here?” I am not saying we don’t talk because we do, but sometimes I am just not able to express myself.

Anyway I badly digress, as usual. I used to wake up most mornings, with Glen, made his coffee and breakfast, turned on the computer, took the dog out and made sure his lunch was ready for work. After he left I would do the chores. After my initial clean I had a routine, and everything would been done usually in time for Regis and Kelly, daytime T.V. Martha Stewart….. Not so much, her, but sometimes. My favourite was Rachel Ray, I love her and Glen bought me her “Book of 10.” This is one of hers.

 Bacon and Ranch, Chicken Burgers With Scallion Sticks.                                Serves 4

 8 bacon rashers (slices)

1 ½ lbs ground chicken
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ small onion
¼ cup parsley
¼ lb havarti cheese
2 tsp poultry seasoning
2 lemons
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil
2 cups butter milk
1 tsp paprika
Flour for dredging
16 scallions
4 English muffins
Creamy ranch dressing

1. Cook the bacon over a medium-high heat until crisp.
2. In a large bowl combine the chicken, garlic onion, parsley, havarti chunks, poultry seasoning, the zest and lemon juice of half a lemon, salt, and pepper. Then form large patties. Coat them with vegetable oil.
3.  Remove the crispy bacon from the pan to a towel-lined plate and keep to one side. Then cook the chicken burgers, until done all the way through.
4. In a large skillet, heat about 1 ½ inches of vegetable oil. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, mix together the buttermilk, paprika, and the rest of zest and juice from the lemons.
5. Put the flour in another mixing bowl, toss the scallions in the buttermilk and then the flour and then repeat the process. Fry the scallions until golden on each side. Put them on kitchen paper and season with salt.
6. Toast the muffins, and coat with a lot of ranch, then layer the bottoms of the muffins with the burgers, then the bacon and then place on the muffin tops.. Serve with your scallion sticks.

The Story Behind Vodka Cream

Glen and I got married, on New Years Eve 2009, I can’t think of anything more romantic, or more fitting for that matter. We get to start a New Year, symbolically in our marriage every year. You tend to start fresh every New Year I think, and we get to do that with our marriage at the same time… Sounds kinda, kooky, I know, but it’s, how I feel.

The way in which we got married, is incredibly special for us, and a story I love to tell. I must be honest it always puts a smile on my face, I am smiling now. We’d been planning to get married since 08, looking at rings and possible wedding locations, Mexico, Bahamas, Caribbean, Vegas, the choices where endless and at the time financially not constrained, I could have gotten married anywhere! Something inside me though didn’t sit right, I wasn’t after something massive or outrageous, but I did want something different – If it’s not in a registry office or a massive church wedding everyone gets married on the beach or in Vegas (well everyone I know anyway) so we started looking for an alternative. Glen found a website and sent me a link and I loved what I saw – New York – We talked about Central Park if it was summer and he Empire State building if it was winter, with our minds made up over rings, location and my dress which my mother made, all we had to do was wait, for the minor complication of my divorce to come through, which should have be finalized in November 08. It took a year longer than expected and the court date came through for my Ex’s birthday.. 03 November 2009…… In theory I had been divorced since July 2008, everything was agreed (he got EVERYTHING), any paperwork that needed signing had been signed I just needed a judge to date stamp it. I had already moved to America to be with my husband, so I had to fly back for the court date, I was in the court room less than 15 minutes! Some poetic justice, in the date though, I feel. A few days later I returned to the States.

Christmas was looming, and I was keeping myself busy with new recipes, ice hockey, Christmas parties, the cinema and coffee dates with friends and my Aunt.

On the 29^th of December, Glen and I went down to the town hall and filed for our marriage licence, once in the building, it took longer to find the office than it did to get the licence. I had changed my mind about where I wanted to get married and opted for the DC area, instead, Virginia is where my heart is and had been for 22 years since my very first visit, it feels like home. I had contacted a Rev. Dan a few months before and he was prepared to do the ceremony for us as soon as we were ready. As soon as we got home from the town hall, I emailed him and said we wanted to get married as soon as possible, he responded within the hour “How about Thursday, call me” Oh my, Monday we were talking about getting a marriage licence, Tuesday we get it, Thursday we’re getting married, talk about a whirl wind. Rev. Dan suggested his house due to the weather and we had no venue. So at 1630 we turned up at his house with a friend in accidental last minute tow, she drove me to his house. I got married in a man’s house who I had never met, in Springfield….. How cool is that?

That night we went to the Union Jack in Balston, with some friends of ours. We went round to theirs for a few nibbles and drinks before we went, and we arrived, to a bottle of champagne, a wedding cake, and I photo of Glen and I, which, we love and always has pride of place in our home.

In the Union Jack we danced and drank, and ate….. Appetizers were being served, including Vodka cream – Yum yum… My tipple of choice and I tried to recreate the recipe this is what I came up with….

   Vodka Cream

1 tsp corn flour
1 Tbsp butter
250 ml cream
1/2 cup vodka
Salt and black pepper to taste

1. In a sauce pan over a low heat melt the butter, add the corn flour, slowly add the cream, stirring constantly, bring to a boil, to thicken.

2. Add the vodka and season to taste.

Vincent, my brave little dog

I know that I normally post about my kitchen antics.... But I felt the need to post about my dog. He had cryptoid testicles, which basically means that as a puppy they didn't descend and were sitting inside him, instead of outside, unfortunately having them removed was the only option, because they could become cancerous...... Today was that day.

We drove 2 and a ½  hours to get this done, I haven’t been overly impressed with the vet here in our local area and decided that my precious little man, despite his quirks, was too important to us to take him to a vet I don’t trust.

Watching him go under the aesthetic, was traumatic, convulsions (although having been told this was normal) left me feeling very anxious, and when he took that last deep breath, before going completely to sleep, made me look and feel to see if he was still breathing, for a second I thought he had died. For a moment there my heart was breaking. I remember yelling at my husband to get the vet… If he hadn’t been there right away I would have started giving him CPR, a thousand thoughts race through your mind in that moment…. Of course I was stressing for nothing but this is my baby
don’t, forget.

Let me tell you about a few of Vinny’s “antics.” My mother breeds Golden Retrievers, and because I was living with my mother at the time, and my inability to not become attached to the little puppies, I stayed well clear of Vinny’s litter, apart from the beginning, when I was there for the birth of the entire litter. Sat in my mother’s bathroom with an armful of towels, it was my job to dry and gently blow into the little puppies noses, sometimes giving them a vigorous rub to get them breathing. It was the 29^th April 2009, 0515, my husbands birthday, what a way to wake up on your birthday, with your future wife sticking a puppy in your face, that had been born literally moments before. This was the extent of my involvement with the puppies though… After that moment on, my puppy duties required of me only to make up feeds later and help clean the poop, admittedly only on occasion. This changed though, when the litter was about 5 weeks old, I had been at work all day and for whatever reason, it was, my mother and father had to go out and no one was at home to take the nearly house trained puppies outside to do their business. Oh my goodness what a disgusting mess 8 puppies can make, to make matters worse we had 30 minutes in which to clean the mess and have 8 little puppies clean and smelling nice for prospective owners. I was left cleaning poopy pups. 7 got cleaned, to be honest I had quite a good system going, all the pups went in the bath, and in a very professional and detached matter, I grabbed a puppy, stuck it under the tap in the sink shampoo’d, rinsed, towelled dry and moved onto the next 6 with NO inkling of ooooh I sooo want you feelings. Then came Vinny, last but certainly not least.

Why I fell completely in love with a dog who, chewed my hair, tried to pierce my ear again, and would growl at me all of the time I have no idea, but I did, I should have taken this as a sign of things to come, after all I am a seasoned dog owner, years of experience.
The best place to start is his GOOD qualities, this should take seconds…. He ermmmm plays well with others.









He looks really cute… Yup I think that’s about it……
Here’s a list of what he managed to get up to in the last 2 years 10 months and why we can’t leave the house without him being crated.

1. He ate a box of tissues…. $2.00
2. He ate an xbox headset…. $5.00  - $19.99
3. Jack Higgins books x4…… $6.95 each
4. La Gastrominque 1976 edition….. $50.00
5. Xbox controller…… $37.00
6. 10 pairs of my shoes and a pair of slippers….. $250.00 maybe more.
7. He ate 2 nail files $1.00
8. Tube of ibuprofen gel (made his poo shiny) $5.00
9. Husbands mess boots (shoe laces neatly removed and laid on the floor in straight lines) $100.10
10. First note book with blog ideas. $5.00 (plus emotional trauma)
11. Ran away and was gone for a total of 18 hours, found having a blast at vet….. Irreparable, trauma.
12. Husbands brand new jumper, never been worn (chewed off the zip) $30.00
13. $200-$300 worth of dog toys (turned into rags and bits within 5 minutes)
14. Numerous, cleaning cloths, mop ends, blankets and towels (no major issue just a pain)

It’s impossible not to love this!!!!

Thai Chicken Broth and Prawn, Coconut Curry

Christmas 2009 I received three GoodFood BBC cookbooks, from my step-daughters, what could be more perfect? These next two recipes came out of them. It was time to spice things up a bit - besides I had to try out my new books..... They are really nice books, the recipes are easy to understand and they have lovely colour pictures for each recipe. http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_4?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=good+food&sprefix=good%2Cstripbooks%2C243, if you are interested in buying any.



Thai Chicken Broth

1 litre hot chicken stock
1 tbsp Thai curry paste
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp sugar
Zest and juice of 1 lime
100g mushrooms, sliced
Bunch of scallions, whites and greens separated
200g cooked chicken

 1.      Put your stock into a large saucepan, stir in the curry paste, fish sauce, most of the zest and the lime juice. Bring to a boil, and add the mushrooms and the white bits of the scallions, put a lid on and simmer for a couple of minutes.

2.      Stir in the chicken and the green bits of the scallions, gently heat through.

Prawn Curry With Coconut

 4 tsp olive oil

1 tsp mustard seeds
1 small onion
1 garlic clove
¼ tsp of ground turmeric, mild chilli powder
½ tsp ground coriander
2 bay leaves
10 raw king prawns, peeled
200 ml coconut cream
1/2 lime
150 ml water

1. Heat your oil in a skillet, and tip in the mustard seeds, if you haven’t done this before they will pop, which is what you want to happen, add the onion and fry until it’s golden. Then add the garlic and fry for about a minute. Next put in your spices, stir cooking for a few seconds and then add the bay leaf.
2. Next pour in your water, you’ll want to bring it to a boil, for about a minute. Lower the heat, add the prawns and simmer for a few minutes until the prawns are cooked.
3. When the prawns are cooked add the coconut cream, heat the curry through, add a squeeze of lime juice, season and serve with rice.

creamy pesto chicken

Right so tying in with the chicken cordon bleu, here is another chicken recipe, Creamy Pesto Chicken….

 Suddenly, boring plain chicken has become so much more interesting!

 Creamy Pesto Chicken

4 chicken breasts

3 tbsp pesto
85g mascarpone
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (evoo)
100g fresh breadcrumbs

1. First preheat your oven to 200̊C. Using a sharp knife, cut a pocket in the side of each chicken breast. In a small bowl mix together the pesto and the mascarpone, then put a ¼ of the pesto mixture into the chicken breasts. Smooth over the opening to seal the chicken.
2. Brush about 1 tsp of evoo into each chicken breast and season well with salt and pepper. Put the breadcrumbs into a bowl and season. Put each chicken breast into the breadcrumbs to coat them. Then put them into a lightly oiled, baking dish.
3. Roast for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked and golden.

chicken cordon bleu

These days chicken breast is so cheap to buy, and I’ll often buy the family saver packs, split them down into separate freezer bags and then stick them in the freezer until such a point as I am ready to use them – a few years ago I wouldn’t have entertained the idea of buying plain chicken. More over I wouldn’t have had a clue about what to do with it, probably wouldn’t have been allowed either. Making it myself, would have meant spending more money, much better to buy pre-prepared rubbish, that you can’t really be sure what went in it right?

When my life became liberated, so did my food and my “experimenting,” with all these “new” ingredients. It paid off in a big way, with each success, my confidence in the kitchen grew, but also within me.

This next recipe, at the time seemed a little daunting and complicated to make, but I was ready and excited for the challenge. The first time round it was time consuming, but well worth the effort and to be honest in all fairness, half of the time I spend in the kitchen prepping and cooking is because I enjoy it, not because I need to be in there. I have an inner peace in the kitchen, I put my iPod on and cook away to my favourite music….. I do try not to sing though….. Hehehehe..

My kitchen is my little world, somewhere where I have found that I feel safe and happy, and no I don’t always get it right, baking is something I just can’t master at all, but I have the drive to keep trying. I now have something that I can talk about other than work or what was on T.V the night before – mind you I could also talk about the hundreds of books I have read or the masses of vodka I managed to down last night. “O-M-G - smiley face – LOL,” as my dear husband would say.

This is me good or bad, I enjoy it and for the first time in a REALLY long time I have found something I am good at, and proud of accomplishing.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

100g fresh bread crumbs
1 tsp each of rosemary, thyme and sage
4 chicken breasts, butterfly cut
4 rashers (slices) of bacon
100g grated cheese
1/3 cup of olive oil

1. Mix the breadcrumbs and all the herbs together.
2. Cut the bacon rashers in half and place inside the chicken breast, making sure they don’t over lap the ends.
3. Then layer the bacon with the grated cheese.
4. Flip the other half of the chicken breast back over, carefully roll the breast in olive oil and then in the breadcrumbs.
5. Bake in a lightly greased dish at 350̊F for 30-35 minutes.

Steak With Onion and Mushroom Sauce

Sometimes you'll find, that, you'll cook one thing and it will inspire you to cook something else. This recipe was inspired from the beef and mushroom pie recipe. As I was eating the pie, I was thinking it would be just as nice without the pastry served with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables, I wasn't wrong, what could be nicer than a steak with a rich mushroom sauce?

Steak With Onions And Mushroom Sauce

1 large onion, roughly chopped
garlic
150g mushrooms
large knob of butter
300 ml beef stock
1/2 whiskey tumbler port/sherry (200ml)

1 Tbsp cornflour
salt and pepper to taste
2 beef steaks

1. Gently fry the onions, mushrooms and garlic, in the butter, season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. Mix the port and the cornflour. Add the stock to the onions and mushrooms, then add the port mixture, bring to a boil, stirring until thickened.

3. Grill the beef, until cooked to desired doneness.

Serve with mashed potato and mixed vegetables.

Beef and Mushroom Pie

Picture to follow

LOVE beef, LOVE mushrooms, LOVE thick gravy, LOVE pie...... All these put together, is a perfect combination of utter indulgence, sublime for a frigid winter evening. Piping hot straight out of the oven, crisp buttery pastry, with tender steak bites and a rich boozy gravy, another comfort food? Quite possibly........ And traditionally British? Well a variation of one at any rate!

Beef And Mushroom Pie

300g Beef cut into bite sized pieces
1 onion, diced
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
250ml beef stock
1/2 whiskey tumbler of port
2 tsp cornflour
gravy granules to thicken
salt and pepper to taste
Short crust pastry

1. Roll out the pastry, grease the pie dish and use half the pastry to line the pie dish. (if making your own pastry chill for 30 minutes before use)

2. Gently fry the onion, mushrooms, garlic and beef.

3. Add the stock and add to the beef and mushrooms, mix the port and cornflour together, add to the beef and mushrooms, bring to a boil while continuously stirring, add the gravy granules to thicken if needed. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Put the mixture in the pie dish then cover with the rest of the pastry, brush with a little egg or milk.

5. Bake until golden brown on top.

A alternative spin on potato salad

We love salads, and I was looking for a “jazzy” potato salad. Something a little less “German,” don’t get me wrong, I love German food but for years my cooking was very German influenced. After all I have lived in Germany most of my 33 years, 25 if we want to be totally pedantic about it. So of course it’s going to have a lot of German influences in it. I was trying to get away from that though and start something new.

I found this “Warm Potato And Bacon Blue Cheese Salad,” in one of my cookbooks and if I’m honest it is just a jazzed up variation of a German Potato Salad.

 Warm Potato Salad With Bacon And Blue Cheese

500 grams new potatoes or salad potatoes, thickly sliced

2 tbsp Evoo

2 red onions, wedged

4 bacon strips, chopped

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

100 grams salad greens, torn

50 grams creamy blue cheese

1 tbsp mayonnaise

1. Preheat oven to 220°C/450°F. Place potatoes in a roasting tin, rub with a tablespoon of evoo and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 15 minutes, then add the onion and roast for another 15 minutes or until potatoes are golden and onion is soft. Remove from the oven and allow to, cool, slightly.

2. Meanwhile dry fry the bacon.

3. Whisk together the mayo, red wine vinegar and remaining evoo to make the dressing.

4. Put potatoes, onions, bacon and salad leaves in a bowl, pour over the dressing, then toss well. Crumble over the blue cheese.

crockpot beef stew

Crockpot’s are brilliant and I miss mine so much, I think I may have to invest in a new one soon. I had never owned one before, but we were given one in the States, which although I didn’t use all the time, proved invaluable for busy days when cooking was going to be tough to fit in. This Beef Stew, was my first Crockpot recipe, and after I made this in it, I crock potted all my stews, chilli’s and even Bolognese sauce. I love that you can throw everything in the one pot, add limited clean up and that you flick a switch, show up 8 hours later and HEY HO! It’s ready to eat….. If I am honest the best stews where made in my Crockpot.

After having a look on Amazon, I have found that you can buy them from as little as £16.00, obviously some are a lot more expensive, it depends on what brand you want and what you want them to do, I saw an all singing all dancing one, which, steamed, slow cooked, and was also a rice and porridge maker, but that was £68.00. Although it was and is totally lovely, I would probably not use it to it’s full potential – I buy boil in bag rice, so the rice maker bit wouldn’t get used – frozen vegetables, so the steamer bit is out, I am not naïve enough to think you can only steam vegetables, I am just left wondering if I would really steam anything else? Porridge, hmmm, maybe, but I don’t make it often enough to warrant a maker. So that’s the porridge bit out too. This machine was by no means the most expensive either, I settled on a Morphey Richards slow cooker 6.5litre, so very big and it was £27.00, I have put it in my wish list for later. I’ve managed without for 17 months a little while longer is not going to hurt!!

Beef Stew

2lbs beef, cubed

¼ cup flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 ½ cups beef broth

1tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 garlic clove

1 bay leaf

1tsp paprika

4 carrots, sliced

3 potatoes, sliced

1 onion, chopped

Put meat into the Crockpot, mix flour, salt and pepper, and stir to coat the meat, stir in the rest of the ingredients cover and cook…  

Spaghetti bolognese

I would class spaghetti bolognese as a classic recipe, popular everywhere! I could go into the origins of where it comes from and include the traditional recipe, however that isn't really what this blog is about, my mission, so to speak, is to blog about MY antics in the kitchen, besides you can wiki it, in fact here's a link, I hope! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_bolognese and get the information if you like... I like my bolognese simple, I sometimes add a little sour cream or creme fraiche and a tin of tomatoes, but it entirely depends on my mood and what I have to hand at the time. I'm slowly but surely, turning into the, little of this, little of that cook, learning as I go, that, things like 3 garlic cloves are great, 4 and you are doing that back of the throat gagging hiss noise (depending on what you are using it for). This of course is just an example and not to be taken literally. Although too much garlic does cause a back of the throat hiss noise - also known through experience. I hate this phrase, but I guess it's very much a case of 'learn by doing.' You learn by doing a recipe, that a little more or a little less is more suited to your palette. I am still learning what flavours go together, and what flavours 'cut into' each other - still really bad at it too.

Spaghetti Bolognese

1 tbsp evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
500g mince
1 large onion
200g mushrooms
500 ml beef stock
tbsp tomato puree
gravy granules to thicken
salt and pepper to taste

1. Add the evoo to a skillet and heat. Roughly chop the onion and then add the onions to the skillet, once the onions have started to soften add the mushrooms.

2. Remove the onions and mushrooms, then fry the mince, once the mince is done add the mushrooms and onions again, along with the tomato puree, stock and gravy granules, bring to a boil then gently simmer.

3. In a large pot, cook spaghetti according to package directions, once cooked drain and place the spaghetti on the plates, season the bolognese if need be and then spoon on top of the spaghetti....

You could sprinkle it with a little grated cheese, or add the cream, tinned tomatoes to the bolognese before you serve.... etc..

poaching fish

This recipe is another of my own, and also the other way that I like to cook fish, I have a serious issue with "crispy" fish, I can't stand the texture, but love the taste - rather unfortunate if you ask me. It's like, for example, if you really like peanuts but can't eat them because of a nut allergy, to me that's really unlucky, but at least you have a reason! I just start to gag because of the texture, how incredibly lame is that? Anyway by poaching the fish, you can pretty much bet your bottom dollar, that the fish will be perfectly cooked, and it only takes a few minutes...... I serve this with new potatoes and vegetables. The milk I turn into a white sauce, simply by adding a little flour to cold liquid and pouring it into the milk,

cook stirring continuously until it thickens and        

season to taste.                                                       

   Poached Fish

2 fish fillets of choice

milk

salt and pepper 

1 bay leaf

tsp Italian dried herbs

butter

1 tbsp cornflour

50 ml white wine

1. Place fish in a large skillet, cover half way with the milk, add salt and pepper to taste, the bay leaf, Italian herbs and a knob of butter. Cook until the fish is cooked, you can tell because it should easily flake with a fork...  You may have turn the fish over, to cook the other side.

2. Gently remove the fish, once it is cooked. Carefully wrap in toil foil and keep warm. Remove the bay leaf, from the fluid.

3. Add the white wine to the cornflour, and give it a good stir so that the flour has "dissolved" then slowly pour into the milk, gently bring to a boil, stirring continuously until the sauce thickens.

Serve with new boiled potatoes and vegetables of choice! 

Easy Peesy Wraps

You have to love wraps, unless you don't like tortilla's, then it's a little pointless. The combinations you can use to fill them are endless. Tuna, chicken, ham, sausage, shrimp..... and any kind of salad ingredient you like, I have personally used, ranch dressing, mayonnaise, and plain yogurt to dress them, I also tend to, but not always, toast my on my George Foreman, mostly because at times my rolling/wrapping skills have a lot to be desired. Admittedly, it's a little odd to toast your salad, but as I have said before, it's all about personal preference and nothing is wrong if you enjoy it.                      

Tuna Wraps  (makes 2)

2 handfuls of lettuce

1 tomato

1 egg

1 can of tuna

salt and pepper to taste

mayonnaise to smear over the tortillas

1. Chop the lettuce and the tomato into fine pieces, slice the egg, put the tuna into a bowl and season with a little salt and pepper.                                                                                                           

2. For each tortilla make two pieces of kitchen roll damp, and place the tortilla between the two pieces and place in a microwave for about 30 seconds, This will soften them making it easier to wrap.

3. Spread mayonnaise all over the wrap, from the centre outwards, to about a cm away from the edge of the wrap, place your filling ingredients on the tortilla along the right edge keeping on the mayonnaise, fold the right edge inwards then fold the bottom one up, tightly roll the wrap, once it's rolled tuck in the top.                                                                                                                       

4. If you wish, now is the time to grill your wrap on the George Foreman or similar style grill. 30 seconds is usually plenty long enough.                                                                                      

Easy Fish Dinner

We love fish, I think I have mentioned this before, I particularly like smoked fish, but I also enjoy fillets. Salmon, tilapia, cod and catfish to name but a few. I'm a little fussy about how it's cooked, preferring to bake it in tin foil or poaching it in a little milk on the hob. This particular recipe the fish is baked in tin foil, with a little garlic, dried Italian herbs, lemon and a little butter, but I've also cooked the same dish using a bay leaf instead of garlic, both are equally palatable. I suppose you could use both together if you wished. I serve the fish with new potatoes and mixed vegetables with the butter juices and a simple white sauce - but you could also serve it with a green salad and crusty garlic bread or some such. Simplicity at it's best.                                                                                                                        

Baked Salmon Steak Supper

2 Salmon Fillets

1 garlic clove, minced and divided

2 knobs of butter

1 teaspoon Italian mixed herbs

1/2 lemon, juice

salt and pepper to taste

1.Place the each of the salmon fillets on a separate piece of tinfoil, large enough to wrap it up, add a knob of butter, 1/2 clove of the garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of Italian mixed herbs, a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste to each one.                                                                                                                                                    

2. Wrap the fish in the toil foil, and bake for 20-30 minutes at about 170 C on a fan assisted until fish is pink and flaky.

3. Serve with your sides.

Vegetable Soup

This vegetable soup recipe has been in my family for years, certainly my Grandmother passed it on to my mother and my mother onto me, and I am pretty certain my Great Grandmother probably passed it onto my Grandmother. Originally it was a french vegetable soup, my mother adapted it to her tastes and I have done the same. My husband although not entirely adverse to having a vegetarian dish, prefers to have a little meat with his meals, so I throw in a handful of chunky bacon bits, or cut up frankfurter sausages. It kind of negates from being vegetable soup, but hey ho, if my husband is happy and it tastes good, why not right? I suppose the special thing for me in all this, despite the changes, this is a recipe from my past but it signifies my future. I realise that seems pathetic and maybe even incredibly melodramatic after all it's just soup...... But this "just soup," has been passed down for          generations and I will eventually pass it onto my children and grandchildren...                                                                    

Vegetable Soup

1 leek

1 carrot

1cm wide slice of celery root or a 1/4 fennel

1/2 a turnip

1 onion

2-3 potatoes

butter

500ml vegetable stock

salt and pepper to taste

 100ml sour cream

1. Wash, peel and chop all the vegetables, into bite sized pieces. Gently heat the butter in a large pan, then add all the vegetables and saute gently for about 5-10 minutes.                                             

2. Add the veg stock, bring to the boil then turn down the heat and simmer gently until the veggies are cook through.                                                                                                                                     

3. Drain and retain the liquid, mash the vegetables (mash a lot if you want a smooth soup, or leave it chunky entirely up to you) return the liquid, do it a little bit at a time, until you have the soup consistency you like, some people like a really thick soup, you can always add extra water if the 500ml isn't enough, but you can't take it out once it's in.                                                               

5. If you are adding any pre-cooked meat now is the time to do it, salt and pepper to taste and the sour cream, return to the heat and warm through, but do not boil.                                                            

The vegetables are just a guide line, as you can see from the photo I also added sweetcorn to this soup.