Grilled Sardine Croutes

Hello,

I've been buying our shopping from Abel and Cole of late and yes, I know this is poncy and middle class but everything is seasonal, grown mainly in my area and everything tastes nicer, even the baked beans! What it has done has made me consult the books more as I have to order a week in advance so if I buy sardines, I want to know what meal I can make out of them. Saturday's tea was sardines on toast with a bit of nicoise thrown in and it was nice, not yummy and a little dry but if I did it again I would use more oil and dressing. It's another Rick Stein receipe. This would make a really nice picnic lunch in summer.

4 x sardines - gutted and filleted
Olive oil
Pinch crushed chillies
4 slices of rustic bread
1 garlic clove
1 romaine lettuce (I couldn't get this from A & C so used nice lettuce!)
4 vine tomatoes, skinned and sliced
1 roasted red pepper
1 small red onion
2 hard boiled peeled eggs
4 anchovy fillets

Brush sardines with oil and cook on a very hot grill pan or frying pan
Toast bread - rub bread with the garlic
Drizzle olive oil on the bread and then just start to layer everythting up

Linguini with Mussells & chilli

Good evening,

Tonight's tea is one of my favourites, I LOVE it and find it one of the quickest, easiest teas...you could make this with fresh mussels which you steam with garlic and parsley but I just use a packet of cooked mussels from the supermarket. This is just my tea, I don't want it to be difficult and I knocked this up in 5 mins. The only issue I had was that I didn't have any herbs, I'd probably add flat leaf parsley but I didn't have any! Alternatives would be to add a tin of haricot or borlotti beans, you could also add some feta cheese which adds a lavly flavour and a little more saltiness.

Onion- chopped into half moons
Tin of chopped tomatoes
Packet of mussels
Smoked paprika powder
Dried flaked chilli
Black olives or green olives (pitted)
Linguine

Fry onions in olive oil
Add tomatoes and a pinch of sugar
Add mussels
Add teaspoon of paprika and pinch of chilli flakes to taste
Add olives
Simmer for 5 mins and add parsley
Add a slug of olive oil to the sauce
S&P
Cook linguine until aldente - drain then add pinch of rock salt and slug of olive oil and toss.

You can then either add sauce to pasta and toss through or just place on top
Liberally add grated Parmesan cheese

Tart Tatin

Another day, another post, another pudding that keeps him in doors happy for another 2-3 nights...

Tart Tatin has a posh name which puts you off trying to make it, but try as it's dead easy and a great pudding for dinner parties, high tea, Sunday lunch etc

If you wanted to be really posh you could make individual tarts using the same recipe. Serve with good vanilla ice cream, creme anglaise, custard, anything.

There was another recipe in the Guardian at the weekend for pear tatin which I'm going to try soon, I keep you posted! (boom boom)

This is a Rick Stein recipe from French Oddesy, I love this book and have cooked loads from it, yes even a meaty recipe or 2....

I also added some cinnamon which was yummy

250g puff pastry
75g butter
175g caster sugar
750g - about 5 firm apples

Peel, core and halve apples
Spread butter & sugar over the base of a heavy based pan then place apples on top flat side down
Cook over a medium heat for 20-25 mins- shake pan every now and again
Pre heat oven to 190/gas 5
Pour caramelised apples into a flan dish with the flat side up
Roll out pastry and cut a disc which is just larger than the dish. Place on top of the apples and tuck in the sides.
Cook in oven for 25 mins or until pastry is cooked.
Allow to cool slightly then place large plate over dish and flip out.

Pancakes part 2

Can I just confirm that Dean and I aren't swingers, well I'm not, Deano may be...who knows if he's swapping the keys during the day when Blix and I are out!

Today is pancake day so Deano made the pancakes and lavly they were. Not being a fan of sweet pancakes I made some creamy garlic mushrooms to go with mine but Blix chose to pile on the sugar and honey and stuff them in his mouth whole...I don't think they touched the sides!

No receipe but I googled ours and used Delia....aaah she's always there, the doyene of British cooking.

Pancakes for Swinging Lovers

Hi all,

Du jour la amour! (is that how you say it, I'm not saying excuse me where is the toilet or anything?)

It's Valentines day and whilst the romance may have been diluted in our house due to a certain 2 1/2 yr old it still lives on in our hearts and occasionally manifests itself with a gesture. Deano bought me a lovely present and made the best card (he's not normally that creative but his current misdemeanour has meant he has to be as he can't get to the shops.. Blixa's craft box has been raided!). I managed to find a picture of a tank which was nicknamed 'the Valentine' due to it being registered at the War office on 14th Feb, 1938 so I think that made him happy!

I made lovely heart shaped pancakes using those cookie cutters I mentioned I got for my birthday.... I prefer to serve pancakes with savoury stuff not sweet but that's up to you. The recipe is another Nigella and it's an American pancake mix which makes those thicker more spongey ones. The mix was made thicker by Blix who missed the food processor by about a mile when he was pouring the milk in....worked out ok though and meant the pancakes turned out a bit like drop scones...lovely. I simply poured the mixture in the cookie cutters in the pan.

225g plain flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

pinch of salt

2 lrg eggs

30g melted butter

300ml milk

butter for frying

Put everything in a blender and blitz!

Lazy Days

Hi all,

the lack of posts this week signifies that I've been a bit tired and lazy, Thursday was freezer fish and chips, Friday takeaway pizza and Saturday we were taken out for a meal to a pub called The Kestral nr Knaresborough...very nice.

I'm hoping to put my pinny on again soon!

Vegetarian Chilli

Hi all,

last and final post of the day. Our friend Julian visited on Sunday, mainly to lend Deano Call of Duty 4 and let him moan to him about how rubbish I was for taking him ice skating in the first place! If I hear 'Ice Skating at your age' once more......

This is one of those meals that you can cook and talk to your friends at the same time, it's easy to do and is quick.

Onion - cut into half moons

peppers - I used 1/2 red, green and yellow - cut into thin strips

Mushrooms (about 10) - cut in half

Packet of Quorn mince or you could use meaty mince - I read somewhere that authentic chilli is actually made from cubed meat not mince.

2 x tins chopped tomatoes or you could use the equivalent of real tomatoes skinned and seeded

Thyme & bay leaves

2 x cloves of garlic

Tomato puree

Smoked paprika powder

Dried, flaked chilli flakes

Tin of kidney beans - drained and washed

Fry onions and peppers until soft then add the mince

Add tomatoes and a bit of water

Simmer for about 5 mins and add about a tablespoon of tomato puree and the thyme (about 3 springs, taking the leaves off)

Add mushrooms & beans (you could add borlotti beans instead)

Add about a teaspoon of paprika powder and chilli to taste (you only need a few flakes at a time then taste until you are happy)

Salt and pepper to taste

Simmer for about 20 mins. If you are using meat then you could potentially simmer for hours as the cooking will only improve the flavour.

Serve with rice, tortilla, soured cream and cheese

Adios