vegetable curry with coconut cream

Back to school demands easy teas and this curry fits the bill pretty well. I'd love to say that the vegetables came out of the garden but, sadly, the supermarket could provide where we could not. This curry is deliciously light and fresh. Youngest boy said that it smelt 'lush' whilst middle boy merely stated that the nan bread made up for the lack of chicken. Suffice to say that neither cleaned the plate but what can one expect.

peppered steak with stir-fried spring greens

Adam Ant still has an abundance of charm and talent. To watch and listen to Stand and Deliver (see on you tube) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFNKxYFROHo

Perhaps this dish should be dedicated to the artful ant. In truth, it's a tenuous link - we were hungry and this is the best the cupboard could offer. It has nothing to do with said singer!

When the waves have been pretty good fun, the evening meal shouldn't take forever to prepare.

Ingredients:

served 5 (3 large plates, 2 smaller)

• 720g rump steak (half price justifies the amount)
• 1 head of spring greens (other cabbage, savoy maybe, would be just as good), thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, even more thinly sliced
• sunflower oil
• glug of dry sherry
• splash of soy sauce (probably light but I prefer dark)
• freshly ground black pepper and sea salt
• 1 birdseye chilli (youngest boy would omit this late entry), chopped

1. the steak needs to be oiled and peppered liberally and salted before griddling to taste
2. stirfry the carrots over a really high heat, in a little oil, then add the cabbage, then the garlic
3. add the sherry and then the soy sauce to taste

Meanwhile...

1. the steak has been cooked and briefly rested before slicing it reasonably thinly
2. sprinkle the chilli over the steak before serving
3. (if it was in the cupboard I would have...) drizzle with a little sesame oil

We ate with copious amounts of boiled rice.

the forgotten courgettes

Itrained for a couple of days so nobody picked the courgettes - now we have marrows! Expect no recipes for stuffed marrow.

absolutely perfect yorkshire puddings

Sunday mornings can present something of a problem with the day's meal times - up too late and breakfast slowly meanders ever close to lunch, knocking tea (dinner for some) further into the evening - shifting bed time for youngest boy into 'wobbly' time. Get up too early and Sunday will be broken. Miss breakfast and tempers are short. It is tricky. A chicken sits at the bottom of the fridge, ready to roast but I am thinking about the Yorkshire puddings. Perfect Yorkshire puds - fit to be eaten as starter, main and dessert.

On a different note - we'll be seeing Adam Ant tonight, now well into his 50s. Let's hope he can remember the words to Stand and Deliver.

Ingredients:

makes 12 individual yorkshires or one large one

• 4 oz plain flour
• a pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 pint of milk
• sunflower oil

1. crack the eggs into the flour and salt, in a basin, and beat with a fork
2. when the batter is reasonably smooth add the milk slowly beating all the time
3. when the fork looks fairly clean, switch to a balloon whisk and whisk briskly
4. set aside for half an hour or so
5. add a dessert spoon of oil to each 'cup' in a muffin tin and heat in a very hot oven until smoking hot
6. give the batter another whisk
7. use a ladle to fill each 'cup' about half way with batter - basically sharing the mixture between 12 puddings (alternatively add oil to a large tin and pour all the mixture in when hot)
8. cook for about 20 minutes trying to resist the urge to open the oven door to check
9. use a bunt knife to twist the finished puddings out and drain on a wire rack