Breakfast Teapot

There’s just something deeply satisfying about a breakfast tray with a teapot on it.

Charity Shopping

Been out doing a bit of charity shopping and picked up a couple of vinyls, a rather special cushion and a cute little T G Greens teapot. The teapot is a bit of a triple threat for me, not only am I a local boy, I was born and raised in Church Gresley, but my Nan worked as a cleaner at the T G Greens pottery for years and the piece it’s self is named after the mine my Grandad worked most of his adult life down.

Christmas Food

For me Christmas day is almost entirely about food and drink, even down to the late night leftover sandwich and glass of port. Merry Christmas.

This Week I’ve Mostly Been...

This week I’ve mostly been a complete and utter fatty, I should really know better by now.

When You Thought That You Looked Good In The Mirror...

When you thought that you looked good in the mirror, but you look like crap on the camera.

Fear Is The Only Logical Response

This is the war cry of a truly vicious creature, the dreaded attack squirrel. Tremble before it's glorious might and live in constant fear of invoking it's squirrely wrath.

It Always Happens When I'm On Leave

It turns out I've hardly used any of my annual leave this year, so I've booked the rest of December off. Apparently, as an adult, it's a generally accepted fact that the moment you take a break from work your immune system shuts down and you invariably become ill. I woke up this morning feeling headachy, slightly groggy and thoroughly congested so I dosed myself up with plenty of water, strong coffee, vitamin c and menthol. Now I'm taking some time out to do a bit of walking and enjoy the beautifully fresh winter morning. Also I came across these cute little guys up near an old tree stump.

Cooking My Meals In Advance Because I'm Lazy

That’s my dinners sorted for the next few days, jerk chicken, roasted seasoned veg and rice and peas.

It's Mince Pie Season

It's December so I finally feel justified in breaking out the mice pies, nom nom nom.

Gotta Love Leftovers!

Everyone knows that you can't have a roast turkey dinner without the obligatory leftover turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce sandwich.

Thanksgiving Dinner

As a Brit we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, however, this year I’ve decided that I’m going to use it as an excuse to put together a big old family roast dinner, though I’m actually going to wait until Saturday afternoon since we’ve all got the weekend off. I’ve been out, looking more than a bit weird buying all the Christmas staples a month early, and bought myself a fat assed turkey crown, a stack of pumpkins, cranberry sauce, bacon strips for days and a plethora of roughly seasonal vegetables, I have enough food to feed a small army. To try and make the meal a little more authentic, I’ve also spent the last few days looking at popular American Thanksgiving sides and trying to come up with my own take on a few of them, the results of which can be seen below.

Green Bean Casserole

You will need:
2 tbsp butter
1 large onion, chopped
200g mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp plain flour
300ml milk
500g green beans
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven the 150°C.
2. Melt the butter in a large, high sided frying pan over a medium heat.
3. Add in the onions and mushrooms and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, until the onions soften.
4. Add in the garlic and cook for another minute.
5. Add in the flour, stir thoroughly and cook for 2 or 3 minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste.
6. Slowly add in the milk, stirring continuously until smooth.
7. Add the beans to a casserole dish, pour over the onion mixture and bake in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes.


Old School Stuffing

You will need:
1 tsp butter
1 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
6 slices of dry thick cut bread, cut into chunks
2 fat pork sausages, skinned and cut into chunks
150ml chicken stock

Method:
1. Preheat to oven to 150°C.
2. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat.
3. Add in the onions and celery and cook until softened.
4. Add in the herbs, salt and pepper, cook for a further minute before removing from the heat.
5. Add the bread to a large bowl, pour over the onion and herb mixture, add in the remaining ingredients and mix well.
6. Line an oven proof dish with greaseproof paper, pour in the mixture and spread out evenly.
7. Bake in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes.


Brussel Sprouts

You will need:
1 tbsp butter, melted
500g sprouts, halved
A pinch of salt and pepper

Method:
1. Preheat to oven to 150°C.
2. Toss the sprouts in the melted butter to get an even coating.
3. Line an oven proof dish with greaseproof paper, tip in the sprouts, spread out evenly and season with salt and pepper.
4. Bake in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes.

There are a few other common sides, but I don’t think most of them need a recipe. I think it would just be patronising trying to tell someone how to bake a sweet potato, wrap bacon around a sausage or mash the humble spud.

Simple Beef Goulash

It's getting late in the year, the nights are long and dark and the met office is forecasting a prolonged cold snap. Can you think of a better time for cooking stews and soups? No, me neither and this flavour bomb from eastern europe is one of the richest, most warming and outright comforting stews there is.

You will need:
2 tbsp vegetable (rapeseed) oil
700g stewing steak, cut into chunks
2 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp hot paprika
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 onions, thinly sliced lengthways
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 green peppers, thinly sliced lengthways
1 tin chopped tomatoes
500ml water

Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 140°C.
2. Add half the oil to a cast iron casserole dish (or any other hob resistant casserole dish) and warm over a medium/high heat.
3. Mix the paprika, flour, caraway, salt and pepper in a bowl, add in the beef and toss to coat.
4. Add the beef to the casserole dish and cook until golden brown and nicely crusted. Do this in batches so you don't overload the dish. Once browned remove the beef from the dish and set aside in a bowl.
5. De-glaze the dish with a small amount of water, scraping the bottom to get any tough bits and pour over the beef.
6. Pour the remaining oil in to the dish, add in the onions and cook until softened and starting to brown.
7. Stir in the tomato puree and the remaining flour mix and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring very regularly.
8. Add in the peppers, return the beef to the dish, including the juices from the bottom of the bowl, pour over the tinned tomatoes and add enough just enough water to cover.
9. Cover with the lid and cook in the oven for at least 2 hours, the longer the better, occasionally checking the water level and adding more if it looks dry.

Notes:
This is a such a rich, flavoursome and versatile dish that it can be served over rice or pasta, alongside mashed potatoes, with dumplings or even just in a bowl with hunks of buttered bread.

Who Doesn't Love Pizza?

It’s Monday night, it was my first day back at work after a week off and I'm in desperate need of a pick me up, so there’s literally no better time for homemade pizza.

For the base you will need:
1 tbsp dried baking yeast
200ml warm water
250g bread flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 tsp caster sugar

Method:
1. In a small bowl dissolve yeast in warm water and allow to stand for about 10 minutes, until the yeast has turned the water creamy.
2. In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients with the yeast mixture and stir well to combine. Continue to mix until a stiff dough has formed.
3. Cover with a towel or cling film and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
4. Turn out the dough onto a well floured surface, form into a round ball, roll out into a pizza base shape and allow to stand for about 10 minutes.

For the sauce you will need:
1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, grated
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 carton (500g) of passata
1 tsp italian herb mix

Method:
1. Add the oil to a small sauce pan over a medium heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic and allow to cook for about 1 minute.
3. Stir through the tomato puree and cook for a further minute.
4. Add the passata and herbs, bring to the boil and allow to simmer, stirring regularly, until reduced by half.
5. Turn off the heat and allow the sauce to cool before using.

Notes:
Ladle out the sauce onto the pizza base and spread with the back of the spoon, cover with your choice of toppings and bake in a 200°C preheated oven until the crust is golden brown and crispy.

It’s that time of year again…

Happy V day.

Week Off

After an awesome week off going back to the depressing reality of working long hours at, what can be, a very demanding job for an undeniably low wage seems absolutely surreal, I almost can’t believe that I’m doing it to myself.

Halloween Meal

I managed to get myself volunteered to cook a Halloween meal so I'm cooking pot roast pork with roasted root veg, baked leeks, pumpkin and potato mash and onion sauce.

Autumnal Cooking

So it turns out that I've basically spent the day cooking, not that it's a bad thing, I actually quite enjoy cooking. I made a thoroughly weather/time of year appropriate rustic root veg, chicken and noodle soup with a side of buttered toast. The basic recipe can be found here "Chicken "Noodle" Soup", I added some hefty chunks of parsnip and swede to make it extra hearty and warming for the time of year.

Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Oaty Cookies

I'm putting my time off to good use, homemade cinnamon raisin oaty cookies.

Monday Morning Selfie

There's something deeply satisfying about watching TV on a Monday morning, when you'd normally be working, even if there's absolutely nothing worth watching.

Simple Pumpkin Pie

Another autumnal sweet treat with a few warming spice notes thrown in. This is probably better known as an American classic, traditionally served around Halloween and Thanksgiving, but I've tried to cater it more for my personal tastes by reducing the sugar and ramping up those spices.

You will need:
500g ready made shortcrust pastry (I suck at making pastry so nearly always use ready made)
2 large eggs
75g soft brown sugar
75g granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 can (425g) pumpkin puree
1 can (410g) evaporated milk

Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
2. Roll out the pastry and use it to line the base of a 9 inch flan tin.
3. Line the pastry with baking paper, fill with baking beans, I don't have baking beans so I used uncooked rice, and bake blind for about 15 minutes until just cooked.
4. In a large bowl lightly beat the eggs together.
5. Mix the sugar and spices, in a small bowl, until thoroughly incorporated. I find pre-mixing the sugar and spices helps prevent the spices from clumping in the eggs.
6. Add the sugar mixture and pumpkin puree to the eggs and stir until well mixed.
7. Gradually stir the evaporated milk into the pumpkin mixture, until the desired colour or consistency is reached, I used about 2/3 of a can.
8. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C.
9. Pour the filling mixture into the pastry base, return to the oven and bake for a further 35 to 40 minutes.

Notes:
Another great accompaniment to a freshly brewed coffee and a crisp cold evening.