sausage casserole

It's been a long time since this blog went into hibernation but I think it may be back now. Ruth has a new camera and the clocks have sprung forwards, heralding British Summertime and better lighting. The kids will still turn their noses up at perfectly lovely food, but hey, everyone will get fed and we'll have a little slice of heaven. Eldest boy has been in his room for 2 years now and looks tall and pale - a bit like a broad bean plant that has been germinated in a dark cupboard. Middle boy is out videoing for his rigorously dull YouTube channel whilst the youngest has whisked my tablet away for the afternoon.

I love sausage casserole, especially when it's cold outside. Anything that has little firm lentils and meaty sausages has to be a winner in my book.

ingredients:
(serves 5 with some left over - add more sausages to cook for more)

• red onion (chopped)
• 1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 leek (sliced) 
• 1 stick of celery (chopped small)
• 1 carrot (diced)
• 1 green pepper (diced) 
• olive oil (glug)
• butter (about the size of two thumbs)
• handful of black olives
• freshly ground pepper and salt
• 4 small cooking chorizo (chopped up)
• 10 plump sausages (5 venison, 5 Old English)
• 2 bay leaves
• thyme
• 1.5 pts chicken stock
• about a cup of green or puy lentils

1. sweat the onion, garlic, leek, celery. carrot and pepper in oil and butter. Lots of black pepper at this point creates just the right aroma to keep you hanging around in the kitchen
2. brown the sausages in a little oil
3. add the chorizo to the onions etc and warm through
4. add the lentils, bay leaves and thyme, just folding it all through, coating the lentils
5. pour in the stock and bring to a simmer - add salt but be careful if your stock is salty (also the olives will impart some saltiness)
6. tip the lentils etc into a reasonable sized casserole and gently place the sausages on the top
7. throw on the olives and add another knob of butter
8. cover and place in a medium oven for about an hour and a half, checking later on that the whole dish has enough liquid

I'm going to serve this with some kind of potatoes (maybe mash, maybe sauted) and buttery cabbage.

here again

hopefully this will be a lovely summer and I'll be able to post lots more lovely meals!

roast chicken and asparagus pie

The light is now good for photos and the weather has warmed up so I'm back on the blog again. There are vegetables in the garden and a few flowers are springing up. Thanks to the silver jubilee, there is bunting flapping about in the hedge, frightening the blackbirds.
The link - 4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie! Although I'm sure blackbird would be equally as good, this delicious pasty is made from the leftovers of 2 chickens (mostly leg meat). The asparagus came from a caravan in a lay-by. There seems to be a fleet of these vans parked around North Norfolk, possibly all owned by the same farm, serviced by Eastern European girls.

ingredients:

• left over roast chicken (diced)
• handful of asparagus
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 small red onion
• splash of cream
• milk
• splash of white wine
• butter
• table spoon of plain flour
• salt and pepper
• 1 slab of ready to roll puff pastry (500g?)
• 1 egg yolk
• fresh thyme

1. trim the asparagus and steam it in a glug of wine with a knob of butter and a bit of water. I gave it about 10 minutes (retain the liquor).
2. melt a largish knob of butter and soften the onion, finely chopped, and the chopped garlic.
3. add the flour to the onion pan and cook over a low heat for a couple of minutes.
4. add the liquor from the asparagus and stir. Gradually add milk and cream to loosen the sauce until it is a good consistency to bind the filling.
5. add the chicken to the sauce and warm through.
6. add the asparagus and fold gently into the mixture.
7. sprinkle some finely chopped thyme leaves - go easy because they can over power the more delicate flavours.
8. roll the pastry into a large square. Butter a baking tray and lay the pastry on it.
9. pile up the filling after brushing milk about an inch wide around the perimeter (I'm a maths teacher!) of the pastry.
10. fold the pastry over the top and crimp down with a fork, forming a seal.
11. prick some holes in the top and brush with the beaten egg yolk.
12. cook in a medium oven for about 20-25 minutes.

Oldest boy loved it, youngest boy hated it and the middle one had a fried egg instead! Strawberries (£2.50 from Olga) and ice-cream afterwards.

garden cooking

recipe by demand :)

lemon thyme steak marinade

This weekend shows few new recipes since all cooking has been performed across the road by neighbour, Justin. Much meat grilled over charcoal along with a delicious 'kind of' paella with lamb chops, home made sausage and chicken breasts. Delicious.

I did, however, make a very nice steak marinade:

• 600g rump steak
• juice of a smallish lemon
• 3 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed with about a tsp of sea salt
• about 1 tbs of fresh thyme leaves (Ruth picked mostly lemon thyme which worked very well)
• big glug, maybe 2 tbs? extra virgin olive oil

Marinated the meat in these ingredients for about 5 or 6 hours then barbecued. No photo since that's a bit difficult whilst eating out lol :)

El Cid Pizza

Dad spends 10 minutes for a memory stick to store important powerpoint for tomorrow's school assemby to no avail. Decides to go a bit leftfield and ask the kids - middle boy: "Oh, I think it's on the floor under the breakfast bar." Did he think of picking it up?

A few years ago there was a pizza restaurant called Pizza One Pancakes Too, on Tombland in Norwich. This is my version of their El Cid pizza. It's a little unusual but absolutely sublime. I added anchovies because they taste so good on pizza. Served with chips (which the restaurant failed to put on the menu in favour of salad).

Ingredients:
Serves one or two

• pizza dough (I used a packet mix for convenience), enough to make a 10" base
• 1 tin tuna
• a few anchovies
• 2 mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tbs mayonaise
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• salt and pepper
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 small red onion, finely sliced
• shake of dried oregano
• olive oil to drizzle
• 200g hard mozzarela cheese, grated

1. mix all the ingredients except the cheese, anchovies and mushrooms
2. oil a baking sheet lightly and place the rolled out base on it
3. spread the tuna mayonaise mixture over the base leaving a 1/2" border
4. top with cheese, then mushrooms and anchovies
5. sprinkle with a little more oregano and drizzle with oil
6. bake in a reasonably hot oven, according to base instructions

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.