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.

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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.

Prawn Enchiladas

1 pack of raw tiger or other large prawns
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 red onion
~12 cherry tomatoes
3 Tortilla wraps (large)
1/2 lime.
Manchego cheese
Spicy Italian seasoning
Cajun Seasoning
Lea & Perrins

Chop the peppers into triangles, ~1 1/2 cms a side, place on a foiled baking tray covered with a glug of olive oil, and add another glug over the peppers. Shake around a bit until covered, and place under a medium grill until starting to char.
Quarter the tomatoes, and once the peppers are done, place them in the baking tray, sprinkle with salt, and grill until charred.
Halve the onion, and slice finely. Fry up slowly in oil until turning translucent. Add the peppers, and season generously with the cajun, and sparingly with the Italian seasoning, and a splash of Lea & Perrins. Cook for another minute, and add the prawns and cook until pink.
Turn off the heat, add the tomatoes and the juice of 1/2 a lime. Mix well.
Spoon the mixture out into three wraps in a large pyrex dish. Wrap up loosely and grate the Manchego over them all, until covered well. Place the whole lot under the grill until the cheese is starting to brown.

Pepper Lasagne

4 Bell Peppers (1 red, yellow, orange & green)
1 Large Onion
1/2 - 1 large tub picked peppers from the deli counter (slightly piquant with feta)
2 Tins Chopped Tomatoes
Lea & Perrins
1 chicken stock cube

1 1/2 pints milk
~200g mature cheddar, grated
Mozzarella
3 heaped spoons sauce flour
olive oil
butter

Garlic Italian Seasoning
Ground Nutmeg

Preheat oven @ 150C
First, the Peppers / Tomato sauce;
Chop onion into small pieces, fry until almost translucent. Add the peppers chopped into long, fine strips. Fry for a little while over a low heat.
Give a good sprinkle of the garlic Italian seasoning and cook for another 2 mins or so.
Add the tomatoes, a good splash of lea & perrins and the stock cube crumbled straight into the pan. Cook for a few minutes, and add the pickled peppers. Simmer on a low heat until nice and saucy.

Then, the cheese sauce.
Melt a small block of butter in a good glug of olive oil. Once melted, add the flour, stir in and cook for a few minutes, stirring so as not to let it stick / burn.
Add the milk, slowly, stirring or whisking as you go. Add a little nutmeg, and some garlic Italian. Once all in cook until it's starting to bubble around the edge, but not boiling. Add the cheese by the handful; it should melt straight pretty much straight away.
Cook until nice & thick - might need some cornflour.

Build the Lasagne - layer peppers, then pasta, then cheese sauce, then peppers, then pasta, then cheese sauce.
You'll need a very large pyrex dish for this.
Slice the Mozzarella and lay on top.

Cook for 40 mins in the oven, or until the top is browned nicely.

Serves 6

Butternut Squash & Nut Risotto

1 small butternut squash (from the garden)

1 med-lrg onion

1 parsnip (only partially used)

2 cloves garlic

Handful of cashews

1/2 handful of pine nuts

1 cup arborrio or other risotto rice

Sage

Olive oil

Parmesan

Double Cream

White Wine

2 Chicken stock cubes made up in 1 pint boiling water

Put the oven on at 180 and prepare the risotto;

Chop the onion into small squares and fry in a little olive oil until transparent. Add the rice and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the wine, cook until staring to go gloopy, then add the stock little by little, waiting until the mix is gloopy again before adding more. Should take 20-30 mins, and you will probably need water towards the end as the stock runs out.

Meanwhile

Chop the squash up into small (1cm) squares.

Roughly chop the garlic into small pieces.

Put a good glug of olive oil into a oven dish, and add the squash and garlic. Give a good sprinkling of the sage, and another glug of olive oil. Mix well, then put in the oven until the squash is starting to char (about 1/2 an hour).

Put the cashews and pine nuts on a baking tray, and pop them in the oven until the pine nuts are browning and the cashews are just staring to turn. (10 mins maybe?)

Peel the parsnip. Spray a little olive oil on another baking tray, and then "peel" off long thin strips using a potato peeler, onto the baking tray. Spray a little more olive oil over the top, and put in the oven again, until the ends are browning and they are crispy (less than 10 mins, probably).

Once the risotto is cooked, turn off the heat, and add a little grated parmesan. Stir in gently. Then add about 1/4 small carton of double cream and stir in gently again. Should be quite a runny gloop by now.

Serve with the risotto base, covered with a mix of the squash & nuts, and the parsnip strips scattered over the top.

Serves 2

Cinnamon Chicken

2 Chicken Breasts, Cut into 3 pieces each.

1/2 tin chopped tomatoes

4 half roast tomatoes in chilli oil (sacla)

6 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped.

2 sm or 1 lrg onions, finely chopped

2 carrots, roughly chopped

1 red pepper, chopped into 2cm squares

2 cloves garlic, sliced

20 green olives, halved

3 teaspoons of acacia honey

1 4" cinnamon stick

2 cloves

1 teaspoon chiplote chillies (dried, chopped)

1 teaspoon turmeric

Mixed Herbs

1 pint chicken stock made from 2 stock cubes

oil for frying

Fry onion slowly in a wide bottom pan until starting to go transparent. Add peppers, carrots & garlic and fry for a minute or so more.

Remove from pan. Add more oil, and brown chicken on all sides

Return vegetables to pan, and add the tomatoes (all) and olives.

Cook up for a minute, form a well, and fry the spices for half a minute.

Spoon over the honey.

Mix them all up, and add in a bit of the stock.

Put a lid on the pan, and cook for an hour or more. Top up with the rest of the stock (and more water if needed) to stop if running dry.

When getting nice and saucy and the chicken is staring to disintergrate, remove the lid and cook down until the sauce has thickened.

Serve with rice, and green beans & mange-tout.

Serves 2-3