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    Fish Pie

    27 June 2020 - By 

    We have sauce! Excellent fish pie, better that the previous attempts even without the topping of cheese.  The wonderful sauce spilling out from beneath the potato is joy after two prior failed attempts. The noilly prat, or rather the extra dry Martini that I used here, is a lovely addition. Though I note I wager it would be possible to use a dry sherry if that’s all that was available. I feel like it’s not the last word on the potatoes, regardless, they were damn good, but perhaps a little more dense than is perfect.  Possibly attributable to the desiree…

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    Cheat’s chicken shawarma

    27 June 2020 - By 

    Excellent, although not a single one these 10 minute meals is achievable in that time, and at least one (Cornershop noodles) is both time comparatively consuming and unpleasant.  But this one is particularly good, and although 10 minutes isn’t going to happen, it is not too bad on time. Mixed tahini with yoghurt and added preserved lemons, both additions really finish it off and I wouldn’t do without some variation of the same. From https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/may/14/its-about-time-10-meals-that-take-10-minutes-and-10-that-take-10-hours

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    Pork shoulder with citrus, maple and pomegranate sauce

    27 June 2020 - By 

    Also home made white bread. Not the original dish that we used, but a wonderful leftovers creation that made the best of slightly dry meat. Not totally certain why it end up a little dry, there was a period in the middle where I took the meat out for a period so I could use the oven for the bread you see here, and there were some problems with accidentally turning the oven off for a period afterwards… I wouldn’t have guessed that this would be the cause, but perhaps it was. Dry though it was, it was still tasty.…

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    Tortellini in brodo d'estiva

    27 June 2020 - By 

    Another 10 minute meal that fails to come in at the 10 minute mark, but it’s fast enough. Lovely and fresh tasting, would certainly benefit from using real stock rather than a cube, but needs must. From https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/06/10-best-10-minute-meals

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    Cornershop noodles

    27 June 2020 - By 

    Posts Honestly these are just terrible.  Poor instructions, too many ingredients that take far more than 10 minutes to prepare, with flavours that clash and compete for supremacy.  Good Chinese food can be wonderfully quick and simple to make, and tastes staggeringly good compared to this nonsense.  I’m frankly irritated that I even let this travesty play out in my wok.  Part way through I realised the folly that was being, played out, but followed the recipe to the letter regardless, fool that I am.  Sometimes you have to trust your gut, or else it will be the one suffering…

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    Sunday Soup

    17 June 2020 - By 

    By its nature, not a beautiful soup, one of the reasons I’ve left an image out.  But it is an extremely simple, wholesome and tasty vegetable soup that I wouldn’t hesitate to make again. Go a little easier on the flaked chilli perhaps. but it can take a fair dose. From A Modern Way To Cook – Anna Jones, pg. 250

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    Orange Panna Cotta

    15 June 2020 - By 

    Perfect panna cotta. Texture is smooth and dense but wobbly, taste is just caressed with orange, but still predominantly creamy. Just delightful. The most important thing to learn from this is that a bath of freshly boiled water is not the correct way to remove the cream from its ramekin…  The picture panna cotta was the most successful attempt, others suffering the indignity of being drowned in boiling water, or even in one case dropped wholly into a pot of tea.  Don’t ask.  Perhaps just patience and hand warmth, or at most water at… 60c… Maybe 70c? Also, gelatine leaves…

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    Slow Cooked Sweet n Sour

    15 June 2020 - By 

    This was by no means bad… But it’s not how I would make sweet and sour again. Not authentic, not quick, and a huge amount of prep. From 200 Slow Cooker Recipes – Sara Lewis, pg.84

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    Lamb Chops, Lemon & Mint

    15 June 2020 - By 

    Extremely simple, extremely nice. Modified the potatoes such that once the lamb was cooked and resting, I dumped the boiled ‘news’ into the pan with the oil and mint mix, crushed them slightly and let them crisp up. Frankly they were the star here, the delicious but slight stingy cut of lamb we were bestowed by the butcher playing a worthy second fiddle. From Kitchen Diaries – Nigel Slater, pg. 150

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    Mushroom and Lentil Braise

    15 June 2020 - By 

    If I was to do this again I would be certain to use a very full bodied wine, and probably a stronger stock. And at least in my slow cooker this really needs 8 hours before it becomes most pleasingly unctuous. Also I would perhaps be tempted to fry the field mushrooms before adding them to the pot, give them a bit of interest. Having said all that… I was by no means bad. Very wholesome, and tasty enough… But you feel there’s more that could be done here. From 200 Slow Cooker Recipes – Sara Lewis, pg.