Cheese Crumpets
Stephen was out tonight and I had planned to use up the smoked mackerel fillets we bought last time he was out (I couldn’t be bothered to eat them that time) but I just couldn’t be bothered – again. So, I foraged around and found some crumpets that were dangerously close to their sell-by date (don’t know how I let that happen!)
Toasted, toped with cheese which was melted under the grill and eaten with a cup of tea. They were good but the picture actually makes them look better than they were.
Am hungry again now though.
G
Brrr
It’s been lovely and bright and quite warm lately but today was cold, it even snowed briefly. After lots of tidying up in the garden we came inside and cooked a warming casserole. The afternoon was spent reading the papers and after an early shower I thought some hot chocolate would be just the thing to round off the weekend.
This is regarded as the best hot chocolate in the world evah, and I have to agree that it’s pretty good (so good that you can just spoon the chocolate out of the tin). I made it with all milk, heated on the stove then added a good couple of teaspoons of the pure chocolate flakes and whisked it until it was frothy. Would be really good with some whipped cream on top.
G
Guinness Marmite
Apparently, these limited edition jars are flying off the shelves and going for fortunes on eBay…we were lucky enough to find one today in Waitrose so snapped it up.
I don’t buy the marketer’s “love it or hate it” rubbish, I think it’s ok…I like it with cheese on toast and it adds depth to beef dishes but I don’t particularly like it on toast or in a sandwich. Stephen likes it though and so it was down to him to sample it when we got home. The verdict: “it’s ok, doesn’t taste that much different to normal Marmite though”.
Pheasant au Vin
Yesterday, we bought a pheasant at our local butcher with the intention of cooking it today. After considering a few pheasant-related recipes, we decided to make something up and do a “pheasant au vin”. I’m glad that we did because it was really, really good. Joined the pheasant, then marinated it in some red wine for a few hours. Then browned the pheasant pieces, fried lardons, shallots and garlic. Then added the wine in which the pheasant had been marinating, plus a little more wine, some sage and thyme and then enough beef stock to just cover all the ingredients. Brought it to boiling point, then put it into the oven for an hour. Served with leeky mash, cabbage and mange tout.
Chiang Mai Curry Noodles
I had a craving for some more Thai food last week, so I attempted to make “Chiang Mai Curry Noodles”. It didn’t go quite according to plan. I couldn’t get exactly the right noodles and I couldn’t get red curry paste because for some reason none of the shops had it at the time. I didn’t feel up to making my own curry paste, so I used green curry paste instead. The result was tasty, but not brilliant.
F
Raspberries
On Valentines Day, I had planned to make frozen berries with hot chocolate sauce but we were both too full to eat it. The raspberries have been in the freezer ever since so tonight, we had them with Green and Black’s vanilla ice-cream. The rasperries weren’t quite as frozen as they look in this picture but I could have done with defrosting them a little earlier.
G
Happy St Patrick’s Day!
Although neither of us are Irish, we never let a food holiday pass us by. Today, in true Irish spirit, we made beef in Guinness with colcannon. The casserole was good, if a little sweet but the colcannon was brilliant.
G
Fred’s Fried Breakfast
This morning, we were hungry and there the cupboards were bare so Stephen made an emergency dash to the deli and came back with a bagful of goodies. He had a fried egg, some black pudding, some sweet-cured bacon, two pork sausages, some fried vine tomatoes and some French bread.
It was all very tasty and a good start to a busy day.
G
Mixed Mushroom Pasta
Tonight, we made a mixed mushroom pasta dish by frying some shallots and garlic, adding the mixed mushrooms with some thyme and lemon juice then finishing with brandy and creme fraiche. It was ok but a bit bland. Would have been good with bacon. And cheese.
G
Lamb Chops with Roasted Vegetables
Tonight we had planned to make lamb kofta, but the lamb mince that we’d bought on Saturday had not lasted well so we bought some lamb chops at the last minute. We seasoned the lamb chops with salt and garlic and pan-fried them, then sprinkled them with parsely and a squeeze of lemon juice. We mixed the roasted vegetables with some couscous which went well together. The yoghurt and mint was a good accompaniment.
F
