Not done anything for ages hopefully get going soon

Leftovers

If your fridge is anything like mine, you always have leftovers a bit of this, a bit of that.  Whatever leftovers you have in the fridge USE THEM up, DO NOT THROW ANY FOOD OUT, now that makes me mad!!!!
Of course it personal taste, in my fridge today I had 2 pork sausages, 1/2 a smoked sausage, 1 red onion,1/2 a yellow pepper, chunk of cheddar cheese 4 mushrooms,1/2 a can of baked beans and some homemade tomato soup (approx100ml);
Chopped up the onion, mushroom and pepper, to a large frying pan, added a couple of good glugs of garlic infused oil (store cupboard ingredient), cooked off the veg cut up the pork sausage,added to the veg cooked until brown, then added the smoked sausage,and added one of my faviourite ingredients, SMOKED PAPRIKA, FAB! FAB!FAB! gives a great flavour to any dish and I mean any dish, once the sausages are cooking nicely I added the baked beans and the tomato soup, ( I also had some red wine sitting in the cupboard so added a wee glug, nice), simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Whilst this is cooking gently, cook some pasta ( pasta a staple store cupboard ingredient) follow packet intstructions once cooked, drain, add to saucey mix, stir through, grate the chunk of cheese over the top, bang under the grill, cook until cheese is bubbling and golden, then EAT

Living on a Budget

Hello again
I am going to try and introduce money saving recipes for those living on a budget, you can still have good food without spending £22 on a leg of lamb, the recipes I will put up are made from scratch but you can bulk cook and freeze which is also good if you have a busy lifestyle

Quorn & Avacado Salad

Helloooo I'm back
not been blogging much lately but I will be making time to add yummy recipes to this little blog,using seasonal produce and simple recipes, here is one hope you like it:)

Rhubarb Tart

Pastry

225g/8oz butter/margarine

55g/2oz caster sugar

2 eggs

340g/12oz plain white flour

Filling

750g/1½lb rhubarb sliced about 1cm/½in thick

250g/9oz - 400g/14oz sugar

½ teaspoon Ground ginger

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Golden Caster sugar for sprinkling

Method;

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. First make the pastry. Cream the butter and sugar together by hand or in a food mixer
3. Add the eggs and beat for several minutes. Reduce speed and mix in the flour.
4. Turn out onto a piece of floured greaseproof paper, flatten into a round wrap and chill  in the fridge for at least 1 hour
5. To make the tart, roll out the pastry 3mm/1/8in thick approximately and use about 2/3rds of it to line a 21.5cm/8¾in square x 2.5cm/1in deep with fluted edge tin.
6. Lay the rhubarb in the pastry base and sprinkle with the sugar.
7. Cover with a lid of pastry, seal edges brush with the egg wash and bake in the preheated oven until the rhubarb is tender, approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour, once cooked to golden brown, sprinkle with golden caster sugar

New cakes and recipes appearing soon!!!

Have been trying out some new shortbread recipes and am about to try out some butternut squash brownies, once I have experimented a little bit more, the recipe and pictures will go up:)x

Lets get sorted for Christmas: woohoo

I love christmas time, all the family round, feasting and being merry.  Cooking christmas lunch, mmmmm, let me see, what to make, a smoked salmon terrine(made with scottish salmon of course), Roast Turkey with all the trimming's and possibly some homemade cheesecake's, to make them a little special add some booze, a Lemoncello Cheesecake ( I know it's not very Scottish, but my lil' sis lives in Italy, so we are thinking of her and maybe a wee Drambuie cheesecake as well, and some brussel sprouts from my own personnel veggie man.  I will be taking lots of pic's and possibly will put some festive pictures on

Just got another lot of vegetables from my own personal vegetable man, which included the very last of his tomatoes and raspberries, which I may add I promptly froze, so as to utilise at a further date.

What’s in a stew/casserole??

When you think of a casserole or stew, do you think of chunks of meat in a rich gravy, meat and fish seem to dominate at all meal times, I think we need a little shake up and start to use vegetables a whole lot more. You may think I am a vegetarian by the recipes I have spoken about on this Blog, as all I seem to talk about are veggies, I want to encourage anyone out there who is not very sure of how or why when it comes to vegetables and to use them in wholesome and creative ways, for example the beetroot brownies, I hope that encouraged many of you to go out and try something that little bit different. As vegetables have no saturated fat this can in turn lead to a healthier diet for many, and lets face it in today’s society that is something everyone is striving for, being fitter and slimmer. It’s not just vegetables that I am talking about, throw in some legumes, I see puzzled faces reading this, what are legumes, to you and I legumes are pulses, you know lentils, split peas, all the things you probably make your lovely home made soups with, and adding these to the  anyone to use as much produce as possible that is in season, it is cheaper and tastes a whole lot better, even the celebrity chefs are getting on board, take Hugh for example (Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall) on his television programme, River Cottage, he embarks on leaving out his meat eating days behind him and sets out on a vegetarian adventure, for the whole summer, it will be interesting to see if he accomplishes it.

 I would love for you to try this  Root Vegetable and Lentil Casserole, this heart warming dish, with chunks of carrots, parsnips and potatoes flavoured with curry and thickened with red lentils,  hashearty flavours from the vegetables and then a warm sensation from the curry and that aromatic flavour of the fresh coriander and garlic , perfect for the dark chilly winter nights ahead, served with slab of wholemeal bread, drizzled with plain yoghurt to cut through the soft spiciness’, and washed down with a glass of red wine( or a cup of tea if you prefer).  So go ahead try this out and find out how joyful cooking with vegetables can be, I think you will be surprised at just how versatile this commodity is and you may even utilise much more in the future.   Enjoy!!!

Root Vegetable and Lentil Casserole serves 4

2 tablesp Sunflower or vegetable oil

1, onion, chopped

2, garlic cloves, crushed    

700g, potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks,

4, carrots, thickly sliced

2, parsnips, thickly sliced

2 tbsp, Curry paste,                      

1 litre/Vegetable stock,               

100g, Red lentils,                         

Small bunch, Fresh coriander, roughly chopped,

What Next.

Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion and garlic over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally.

Tip in the potatoes, carrots and parsnips, turn up the heat and cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring, until the vegetables are golden, add lentils and cook for a further couple of minutes.

Stir in the curry paste or powder, pour in the stock and then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the lentils and vegetables are tender and the sauce has thickened.

Stir in most of the coriander, season and heat for a minute.

Top with the rest of the coriander.