Mexican Smackerel Spicy Rice

•  A couple of pieces of Mexican Smoked Mackerel (Tesco)
• 3 Shallots
• 1/3 Pepper
• 1 Red Chilli
• Handful of Mange Tout
• Long-grain & Wild Rice
• Chipotle Chilli Flakes
• Cajun Seasoning
• Soy Sauce

Cook up the rice according to the pack.

Tear the mackerel into small bits and put aside.

~12 mins before the rice is ready, fry up the veg in a wok. Add the chilli flakes after a few mins. A minute before the rice is done, add a bit more oil to the wok.

When the rice is cooked, add it to the wok, sprinkle in a bit of cajun seasoning and a good few splashes of soy sauce. Fry up for a few mins. Add the mackerel, mix well & serve

Creamy Baked Chicken

A variant on a Marsala, perhaps.

Three chicken thighs, bones, skin & all
1/2 Red pepper
Shallot
A few button mushrooms
1/2 glass white wine (1/2 miniature bottle)
1/2 Chicken stock cube made up to 1/4 pint
Cream (1/4 lrg pot)
Garlic Italian seasoning
Olive oil
Lea & Perrins

In a frying pan heat the oil, and brown the chicken. Chop the shallots finely and the peppers into small bits. Add to the frying pan for 5 mins or so as the chicken is finishing off, with a generous sprinkling of  Italian garlic seasoning
Spoon out the pepper & shallot into a small baking dish. Put the chicken on top. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Half a few mushrooms and tuck them in around the chicken.
Pour the deglazed pan into the dish over the chicken. Top up with chicken stock so that the chicken is almost covered. Cover the dish in foil and bake for 3/4 hour @ 180C

After, spoon out most (2/3) of the liquid, and bring to the boil. Return the chicken to the oven. (I put chips in here).
Add cream to boiling liquid, and a good dash of Lea & Perrins, and cook down hard until thickening.
Once the chicken is nicely browned (another 15-20 mins), take out of oven & plate up the meat. Add the remaining liquid & veg to the sauce in the pan, and cook down hard again, until thickened a bit.

Serve, and pour the sauce over the chicken.

Would go well with Broccoli, but I just had chips this time

Yorkshire Pudding / Popovers

This is a work in Progress as I've not got them quite right yet.

70g Flour
Pinch Salt
120 ml milk
1 egg (large)

Makes 10 in 10-15 mins (depending on oven temp)

Sausage Pasta

3 Sausages (Good ones. Never eat bad sausages)
12 Mini Plum Tomatoes (or cherry)
12 Black Olives
2 forkfulls of capers
Tomato Puree
Mirin or White Wine
Cajun Seasoning
Mozzarella (1/3 ball)
Rocket

Pasta

Skin the sausages, and break up in frying pan with a wooden spoon. Fry up for a little until browning. Add a good squeeze of tomato puree and mix in. Add a splash of mirin (or white wine), and simmer for a few mins.
Half the Tomatoes and Olives and add along with the caper. Turn down to a medium heat and simmer for 10 mins.
The add a good sprinkle of cajun seasoning, mix well.


Meanwhile Cook the pasta according the to the pack.

Add the cooked pasta to the rest, and serve, tearing the mozzarella over the lot, and sprinkling a little rocket over the lot.

Serves 1

Cajun Chilli

This was delicious.

400g ground pork
1 med onion
1 rib celery
1 bell pepper (I used green)
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/2 tin tomatoes
1 pack (200g) passata
1 sm can refried beans
1 chicken stock cube made up in ~200ml boiling water
1 teaspoon salt & smoked pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspsoom sodium bicarb (baking soda, if you will)
Olive oil

Heat oil in pan and brown the meat. Chop the vegetables and add. Cook until the onions are goings soft (10-15 mins). Add everything else except the bicarb.
Bring to a simmer and cook for an hour with the lid on the pan, stirring every 15 mins or so.
Add the bicarb, and cook for another 10 mins or more. Thicken with cornflour if necessary

Makes 2 servings.

Pancakes

Simple I know, but there are lot of variations on this recipe out there on the net. This one works for me.

50g Plain Flour
1 large Egg
150ml Milk
Pinch of Salt
Butter for frying

Makes 4-5 (despite the usual claim of 8!)

Measure out the flour & salt into a pyrex jug and form a well. Add the egg(s). Beat the egg using a fork until mixed, and slowly incorporate the flour. Beat until smooth. Add the milk a little (20ml) at a time, and beat again until smooth. Eventually you won't need to keep beating.
(If doing 3 or more batches together, you'll probably need a mixing bowl rather than jug)

Heat a little butter on a frying pan (a good frying pan is the key to good pancakes - or at least easy pancakes. Special "crepe" pans are wonderful). Let it melt, but not brown.
Pour in enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook until firm on the base.
Turn with a spatula or flip if adventurous. Second side will take less time to cook than the first. Add a bit more butter every 5-6 pancakes.

Serve... however.

----
UPDATE:

Good housekeeping recipe is;
125g flour
300ml milk
1 egg
pinch salt.


Also works for toad.

Mashed Baked Potatoes

1 1/2 Baking Potatoes per person
Double Cream

Pierce the skins of the potatoes and microwave  for 10 mins. Let cool a bit and put them in the oven at 180 for half an hour.
Take them out, cut them in half, and spoon out the insides leaving the skins intact. Mash up with a fork until smooth, and add a little cream (only a couple of tablespoons) and mix in. Spoon the creamy mash back into the potato skins, and return to the oven for 10-15 mins until the tops are beginning to brown.