The Very Merry Month of May

I have a trip planned to France and London in May; holidays for me are like buses, none for ages then they all come along at the same time, causing chaos.   May is also home to husband's birthday, a concert, 5 school holidays, 6 birthday parties, the school disco and parent's day.   Top that with friends donning the Bermuda shorts to fling caution to the wind/snow/thunder and lightning by dragging out the dusty BBQ and you've got a pretty hectic month.   It's got nothing on June though..........

None of this is complaining, you understand; au contraire, I am veree 'appy, mademoiselles.   It's just a wee bit "aaaargh" and a wee bit "when-do-I-do-the-laundry".   

But since it's still only April, we shall sit back and smell the roses/smoked brioche puffs/mince and tatties.   I have a few days until the madness and fun begins.

I was remiss in my homely duties today because shopping, despite being on the list was forgotten; instead, I went to yoga....wonderful, tiring.....then met Shona for coffee and lunch....lovely.... and straight to the school to draw and paint circus decorations....strange.   I made macaroni cheese when I got home, explaining to Kelly along the way what 'necessity is the mother of invention' means; she asked why the cheese sauce tasted even more delicious och, she's a flatterer that 'un than normal although I did get "um...it needs some more pepper, mum"...there's always a critic....and I explained that I only had a little drop of milk left so I used cream for the rest of the white sauce before adding the cheddar cheese.   Hence my use of the phrase regarding mothers and necessities.

This week, we've had................

Chicken and Olive Stew with dumplings

Curried Parsnip Soup with Quick Pan Bread

Spaghetti Sugo (Spag Bog by any other name)

Lucy's favourite!

 

 Happy kids

Potato and Butternut Squash Soup

Lemon Roast Chicken stuffed with Savoury Rice

Plus roasted carrots, potatoes, onions, butternut squash, 

steamed broccolli and green beans and baby boiled tatties.

I shall make a new shopping list up tonight, do the trip tomorrow and add it this week, along with one or two recipes.   Have a wonderful week, bloggy peeps.

Happy St. Andrews Day, My Lovely Friends!!

Happy St. Andrews Day!

Ah, to take a breath without falling about in a wretched cacophony of coughing; to walk upstairs without collapsing at the top, legs stuck out over the last stair for the kids to find as they turn the corner towards me, they're shrieks of "MUMMY'S DEAD!!!" no longer ringing in my ear as I try to get up and tell them that I'm only really half dead....they'll still get their tea.

The big reveal is tomorrow. I shall put one toe, then another over my doorstep and venture into the big, bad, cold world to attend my yoga class. I think I understand, albeit slightly, what agoraphobics feel like; you get into a settled, uneasy routine at home and staying in makes you want to stay in and self fulfilling prophecies are born. In saying that, I can't wait to get out...I feel I'm escaping. The girls at yoga don't realise what a big treat tomorrow will be for me; there will be me, in a downdog, smiling like a crazy girl, whilst they look on, puzzled and grimacing, the same expression I usually wear.

Last Friday, approx. 10 days ago, just before I got ill, we had friends over for dinner. I made chicken with slightly spiced rice and a Mughlai cream sauce with toasted almonds. I served it with paratha. Beforehand, I'd put out some spicy onions and the lovely mango chutney dip I made at my party. These were served with pappadums and followed by onion bhajis.

For dessert, I made Nigella's Lemon Trifle Cake Thingy. My lemon cake was made in small tins and soaked with twice the amount of syrup as normal. A slice was plated and topped with raspberries, then topped with cream whipped with, amongst other things, Amaretto and lemon juice. Delightful.

Dessert without the cream as I was too greedy, once it was applied....to face!

The recipes will follow tomorrow as I have badges to sew onto a Cubs jumper and my sewing is like my singing voice.......

One of the drawings I was asked to do for Christmas gifts....just so you know I've not been entirely idle....

Thank goodness it's Thursday

The kids are on holiday from today which is great news; I desperately need to sleep in tomorrow. I'm also glad that I get to spend five whole days with them but all I can focus on at the moment is sleeping in. Of course, sleeping in for a mum means getting up at 8am rather than 7am but during that crucial hour, the kids will wake me up and ask me a 1000 questions, all starting with the word 'mummy...?'.

I remember desperately waiting to hear that wee word spoken by my little bitty babies and the first time they all said it, I cried with happiness. These days, I have moments when the word 'mummy' is like hearing a knife dragged across a metal pan. I think that comes with the territory of having three children all saying it at the one time. Motherhood has taught me however that you should be careful what you wish for and, loving my children as I do and also being entirely aware that our time together as mum and little 'un is extremely limited, then an abundance of patience has been gifted to me and I usually..hah.. react with a "yes, sweetheart?".

We had roast lamb last night. Tis not the season but I was in the mood and the kids usually like a nice roast however last night, as last time, it led to a discussion on vegetarianism and the pros and cons of eating animals. I am very forthright with the kids about meat, where it comes from and the importance of eating that only from animals who have been well treated however, recently I have felt myself increasingly questioning my staunch carnivore status.

Kelly would like to be a vegetarian and I already explained to her the merits of eating meat, albeit limited in our diet. She gets to choose at the age of 11 but methinks we might try a little experiment before then. But then, the thought of not having my bacon roll at the weekend brings me out in a cold sweat. And I make a mean lamb bhoona.

The lamb was pierced and slivers of garlic and shoots of rosemary were stuffed within. I drizzled over some olive oil and sea salt, covered it in foil and cooked at a high heat for 20 minutes. I then turned the heat down to 160 degrees Celsius and cooked for 5-6 hours until the meat practically melted away. Normally, I'd add some liquid, e.g. wine to this to create a tasty, steamy atmosphere within the foil and a delicious gravy but I didn't this time shh, don't tell anyone but I forgot.

I served it with roasted root vegetables drizzled with olive oil, honey, sea salt, all roasted at a high heat for 30 minutes until the edges start to go black. I also roasted potatoes by par boiling small, whole, peeled potatoes, draining and tossing in flour and a pinch of salt then placing into a dish with hot oil in it. The hot oil was placed in the oven at least 15 minutes before the potatoes are ready to be cooked. This leads to a lovely, crispy potato. Maris Piper is my tattie of choice!

I thinly sliced a parsnip and deep fried it to make parsnip crisps. Broccoli and green beans were steamed and tossed in a little butter; it was all served with the stock from the lamb, added with a little red wine and some gravy granules to thicken. I had to stop Lucy after her fourth helping of lamb....that girl must have hollow legs....and there was plenty of lamb leftover for tonight's curry.

I cut half of the remaining cooked lamb into cubes and added to some leftover curry sauce from last week's batch. I was planning on Moroccan lamb but there is enough left for that too. I then added a tin of plum tomatoes and four large, fresh tomatoes, quartered. I simmered for one hour and served it with plain boiled rice, cucumber and lime flavoured yoghurt and spiced pancakes made with gram flour. The curry was gorgeous but I wasn't too enthralled with the bread but then, my taste buds are odd at the moment as illness tries to consume me. I'm fighting the little bug-gers.

As I sit here typing, enjoying my cup of tea, I am aware that it is 7pm and I still have a wall to paint before heading out with Anne for a little glass of Viogner at the Burnbrae. She is picking me up just before 9pm and I'm really looking forward to it but here I sit, still except for the typing of course...duh.. and happy.

Curry Fest

Saturday, I made enough curry, pakora and bread to choke a horse, if he were so inclined to eat Indian food.

The great thing about pakora which is basically any vegetable or meat dipped in a spicy batter and fried, is that it is almost as good reheated in the oven and it freezes beautifully. Any Glaswegian will tell you this; most of us have came back from the pub or club having picked up pakora as a scooby snack on the way home and fell asleep before being able to consume it. Being frugal, we'd then freeze it the next day for future imbibing. It's a right of passage.

Most of us have also participated in ordering enough Indian food...including pakora of course... to feed a small army when there are only two of you and end up reheating and living off the remains for weeks to come.

I shall be having a 40th birthday party soon no WAY I hear you all cry...no way are you 40! I know, I know, I'm some kind of baby faced freak...meh and whereas I'm still contemplating the venue, I know for a fact that the fayre will be Indian, the starter spicy and the drinks cold.

Pakora
I used the spice mix that Pauline gave me but have sourced all the ingredients (except the dry mango...I'm attempting to dry some) to make my own mixes. The spice mix should be easy enough to find in one form or another although they may vary a little. The 'pakora masala' I uses is MDH which stands for Mahashian Di Hatti Ltd and is made in India.

The sauce was made by adding tomato sauce, lemon juice, coriander (cilantro) salt and pepper to some plain yogurt.

I made two batters, one for the basic mix with red onions and spinach, the other a bit thinner to coat thinly sliced potatoes and halved mushrooms. This worked really well and tasted delicious. I think we now have enough pakora for the next three months, if we wanted to eat some every week!

Ingredients
2 chopped red onions
1 packet spinach, blanched and drained, water removed by pressing firmly whilst sitting in a sieve
200g gram flour
50g plain flour
25g spices*
5g salt
half teaspoon baking soda

Mix all the dry ingredients together and then add water to make a thick batter. Add onions and spinach and mix thoroughly. Add an inch or two of oil to a pan and place spoonfuls of pakora into hot oil. Turn once brown and cook other side.

*spices-MDH spice mix or similar or else add the following: teaspoon each of ground coriander, cumin, salt. Half a teaspoon dried chili or chili powder...or to taste. A good pinch of fenugreek leaves, bishop's weed and mace, if you can get it. Half a teaspoon each of ginger powder, ground cinnamon and a good grating of nutmeg. One clove and a few cardamom seeds, ground with a pestle and mortar along with a grinding of black pepper. Finally, some dry mango, although this may not be easy to find and you could easily do without it.

Helen's Indian Curry (Basically a slightly different version than Pete's from Jamie Oliver's Book but Pete got it from me (I think). Pete is Scottish, he no doubt came to one of my parties. Rip off merchant. :O) Only joking Pete, don't sue!

I usually make this with lamb; to replace with chicken, use 16 chicken thighs, most of the skins removed. Keep some on for flavour. I browned the chicken(8 pieces) and then added half the sauce from the oven-see below.

Use the sauce as a base for any curry, with meat or veg.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
285ml/1/2 pint chicken stock
1.5kg/3 1/2lb leg of lamb**if using, I prefer to roast it slowly with garlic and rosemary for 3-4 hours, let it cool and then chop meat into large chunks before adding to sauce to simmer for a further hour. Soooo tender.
1 handful of chopped mint and/or coriander
285ml/1/2 pint natural yoghurt
salt and freshly ground black pepper
lime juice from 1-2 limes

Hot and Fragrant Rub Mix – (taken from Jamie Oliver's book)

2 tablespoons fennel seeds
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1/2 tablespoon fenugreek seeds
1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 clove
1/2 a cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Curry Paste Ingredients -

3 inches fresh ginger, peeled
2 large red onions, peeled
10 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 fresh chillies, with seeds
1 bunch of fresh coriander

Preheat your oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.

Lightly toast the fragrant rub mix; I place it all in a dry frying pan and shake every 30 seconds or so but you can place in the oven or under the grill. Grind with a pestle and mortar. Chop the curry paste ingredients roughly and, along with the ground rub mix, place into a food processor and puree.

In a large casserole pan (I use a pot and transfer this to an oven dish though), fry the curry paste mixture in the butter until it goes golden, stirring regularly. The smell is wonderful!

Add the tomatoes and the stock. Bring to the boil, cover with kitchen foil (if using a pot, remember and place it in an ovenproof container first) and place in the oven for one and a half hours to intensify the flavour. Remove the foil and continue to simmer on the stove until it thickens (put back into used pot, if that's the way you're doing it). This is your basic curry sauce.

Fry the lamb (or chicken etc) in a little olive oil until golden, then add to the curry sauce and simmer for around 1 hour or until tender. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and/or mint and stir in the yoghurt (if you want, to taste or serve raita instead). Season to taste and add a very good squeeze of lime juice and a handful of chopped coriander leaves. Enjoy!

This is a good curry, very easy and tasty. If you like your curry a little sweeter, add a teaspoon of sugar before putting into oven.

I split the sauce into two. One half was used for 8 pieces of browned thigh meat (with bones) and the other half had a good dollop or two of cream and a little sugar added. I covered the other 8 chicken thighs, skinned in a marinade of yoghurt, salt, pepper, curry powder, lime juice and coriander. I left them for at least an hour but if you were better prepared, then overnight. I baked them in the oven for approx. 15-20 minutes, until cooked through; I had to put them back after 15 so it depends on your oven. I then added these to the creamy curry sauce.

Instead of paratha, I made a basic chapati style bread but used gram flour with a little plain flour, salt and a spoonful of oil and butter. I made a batter with water and kneaded until soft, split into 8 and rolled out using a misshapen roller; I don't recommend this but couldn't find my proper rolling pin. How can you lose a rolling pin?? I placed the bread into a hot pan until bubbles starting to form, turned and cooked the other side. I then brushed a little oil on and turned, repeating this process another 3 times.

Rice was boiled and served alongside the rest of the meal. Raita is simply yogurt with a squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper and a handful of chopped coriander leaves or chopped cucumber...both if you feel like it.

Will you look at the time?

That's one thing about the summer holidays; time starts to merge and before you know it, it's 10pm, rather than the usual, strict limits of school days. I'm not complaining; it's lovely in fact. I got up late today for the first time in ages. I mean, really late...for a mum. I got a cup of tea in bed and read a bit of a book before coming downstairs to the smell of pancakes, made by Brian to be greeted by happy children, instead of the usual wail of "what's for breakfast? I'm STARVIIIIIING!!!!"

For lunch, we had soup. I made watercress and spinach soup for Brian and I and tomato soup for the kids. I offered them each a £100 to try the green sludge soup but to no avail. In the photograph below is Fraser's response to being offered £100.

The answer was clearly no. Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, I think Lucy said. "Not for a £1,000,000!" Kelly replied. Even I was dubious. I used two full packets of the leaves, thinking of all the goodness but it did begin to look like pond water. I adjusted it a bit and actually, despite the appearance, it was lovely.

The kids were still in their pjs come lunchtime, as you can clearly see from the photo; I know, I'm a terrible mother...not to them obviously, they think it's wonderful....and in holiday time, that's all that counts.

We had a really tasty meal of lamb chops cooked with sticky bbq sauce. I decided to use my own recipe and serve it with rice instead of mashed potatoes...a good choice. The bbq sauce was really delicious and I have loads left.

Lamb Chops with Sticky BBQ Sauce, Boiled Rice,Yoghurt Raita,Roasted Baby Plum Tomatoes, quick Caramelised Onions and warm Pitta Bread.
4-8 lamb chops (we had 6-3 each and a bit much)
For the BBQ Sauce:
olive oil, tablespoon
1 finely chopped shallot
1 finely chopped, fat garlic clove
Half red chilli, seeded and finely chopped (huge fat chilli so use more if preferred)
Approx. 2oz dark muscovado sugar (it's worth buying this, great for caramelising)
Approx. 2oz soy sauce
Approx. 10 fl.oz. tomato ketchup
For the raita:
Low fat yoghurt
chopped cucumber to taste
Squeeze lemon juice
salt and white pepper
Sprinkling parsley and coriander, fresh (don't buy 'specially though)
For the onions:
1 onion, thinly sliced
Olive oil
Salt
Teaspoon muscovado sugar
For the tomatoes:
Handful baby plum tomatoes, halved or quartered
Teaspoon olive oil
Half teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper
Sprinkling parsley

Basmati rice or rice of choice

Pitta Bread

Make the BBQ sauce first. Heat the olive oil in pan over a medium heat, add shallot, chilli and garlic, stir and leave for a few minutes. Add the sugar, soy and tomato ketchup...I admit to using different amounts of tomato ketchup each time but I usually put in about two huge squeezefuls. Stir and taste...add more tomato ketchup if you prefer. The sauce should still look quite dark and only a little red...that's how I like it but using the full amount of sauce will taste just as great if a little milder. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Stir and then place in a bowl.

Put oven on medium/high for plum tomatoes. Put on rice and cook as per instructions. Place plum tomatoes in an ovenproof dish and pour over a mix of all the tomato ingredients. Place in oven for around ten minutes. Once ready, leave in oven so they stay hot but turn oven off.

Make raita by adding all the ingredients to the yoghurt and mix.

Onions: heat oil in small pan over a medium heat. Add onions and cook until brown. Add salt, stir and then add sugar. Stir, leave on low heat until required. Once soft though, turn off.

Chops: place oil in pan over a medium heat...add chops and fry for around 4 minutes until brown. Pour bbq sauce on to uncooked side of chops and turn over. Add some more bbq sauce to browned side and cook for another 3-5 minutes, depending on how you like them.

Place pitta bread in toaster until warmed and slice in two.

Plate up, sniff with pleasure and eat 'til stuffed!

The kids turned their noses up at my lamb chops, the little...cherubs...so they had leftover chicken cooked in a stock of chicken and tomato puree served with rice and cucumber slices, as requested. A bit bizarre, possibly but they were so happy with the presentation...kids are so easy sometimes...and ate it all up.


I was going to bake but ran out of steam. It happens.

Roast Chicken Stuffed with Rice

Ah, lazy days and Sundays...we chilled out today, read the papers, had some bacon rolls and made some bread. I halved my dough and made some rolls as well as bread but they didn't turn out that great...good enough though to be eaten with butter and jam whilst warm and I've chopped up the rest to make croutons and breadcrumbs for the patties and soup later this week.

We had our roast chicken tonight, with the rice stuffing, roasted parsnips, carrots and potatoes with steamed broccoli and green beans. Everything was then covered in gravy of course, made with the juices from the roasting pan. I served it all with the home made bread and lashings of sugar free lemonade.

Roast Chicken Stuffed with Rice
1 large free range chicken
Knob of softened butter
For the stuffing:
60g butter
2 onions
2 garlic cloves
200g basmati rice
500ml chicken stock
4 tablespoons chopped parsley

Blend or chop very finely the onion and garlic. Melt the butter in a pan and fry onion and garlic mix until soft and starting to colour. Add the rice and give everything a stir. Add the stock, bring to the boil, clamp on a lid and simmer really gently for 15 minutes. Preheat oven at this point to 220 degrees C /gas mark 7. Once rice is cooked and all water absorbed, mix in parsley and season with pepper (salt if required but I doubt it).

Spoon the rice into the chicken cavity and secure with cocktail sticks. Rub the chicken with the butter, sprinkle with salt and whatever herbs you have to hand...I used dried thyme...and place in oven for approx. 1.5 hours. 30-40 minutes before the chicken is ready, throw in the root veg and potatoes, depending on how well you like them cooked.

When ready (juices run clear) place on plate, cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes. Steam the broccoli and green beans and serve.

Food for thought.

I realised immediately that my resolve for not drinking too much would be put to the test by who turned up and how good the band were. I'm not for a minute attributing blame for my gin habit to those friends who buy double measures (you know who you are) but it can and does add to the quantity consumed; add a good band with excellent covers and you never know what could happen.

As it turned out, the band were good, including a particularly well versed Pink Floyd rendition (although the Frankie Goes to Hollywood cover kind of threw me off track, despite taking me right back to my youth) and a Kasabian number. The people were not the kind to force feed anyone and in fact, in that particular crowd, I'm probably the imbiber. This was no bacchanal evening however and a few gin and tonics with a glass of wine thrown in met our needs.

I was unsure beforehand of course and took the precaution of having scooby snacks ready in the fridge, lots of bottled water and a low fat, tasty dinner just an hour before going out. Cannae take that hangover, girls.

I opted for a undyed smoked haddock fillet and having quantities left of pesto sans pine nuts, I decided to try it with the fish. Pesto goes amazingly well with lemon sole and that is in fact one of my favourite dishes: lemon sole with pesto, crispy courgettes, spinach and sauce verde. More on that later! I placed the fish on foil, smothered it with the pesto and squeezed a little lemon juice atop alongside a few thin slices.

I packaged up the foil and placed it onto a tin, ready for the oven. I then chopped up a selection of tomatoes, spring onions and red pepper, mixed it all with a little pesto, added some fresh thyme, salt and pepper and placed in the tin alongside the wrapped fish.

The fish and salad veg was placed into a hot oven, bottom shelf as the chicken was cooking for the kids and Brian on the top shelf, for 10 minutes. I served it on a bed of mixed leaves including watercress and spinach as well as some rice and green beans.

T'was yummy!

The kids and Brian had roasted lemon and thyme chicken, roasted pearl potatoes, thrown into the chicken 30 minutes before the end. Once the chicken was cooked, it was plated and wrapped in foil to rest. The heat was turned up on the oven and the potatoes put back in-they start to caremalise at this stage because of the lemon juice and chicken gravy still inside the dish. That was served with rice and green beans.So, today, I awoke with only a very mild sore head, thanks to the water, toast and butter and sleep I had last night. It was all go today with parties, walking and the likes so the traditional rolls and bacon were consumed with some frozen yoghurt and berries as an afternoon snack. I felt in the need for some stodge but needed to get it from somewhere other than the chippy! So I made my own version of fried fish and chips....calamari. The recipe for this is as follows and it really was perfect, not too high in fat and I'm full and happy.

Salt and Pepper Calamari with Mixed Rice
A handful of calamari, washed and dried. Calamari is incredibly cheap, the amount I used costing around 70 pence.
Sesame oil
Flour
salt and pepper
Chilli flakes
Vegetable oil for frying
Cooked Rice (I used yesterday's leftovers)
Chopped peppers, cucumber and spring onion and whatever else takes your fancy.
Green Beans

Drizzle over the calamari a small amount of sesame oil, salt and pepper, and mix. Roll in the following mixture: two tablespoons flour, lots of freshly ground black pepper, a good pinch of sea salt, chilli flakes to taste.

Pour oil in pan to cover bottom. Get really hot and add the calamari in batches...don't crowd the pan. The secret to tender, tasty calamari is to treat it like meat: you either cook it very quickly over a high heat or stew it slowly for a long time over a low heat. Cook quickly until the outside turns brown and then turn over. This should only take a few minutes. Place on kitchen towel to dry.

Mix chopped veg into the rice, sprinkle over some soy sauce and place the calamari on top. Eat with chopsticks and enjoy. Hangover, begone!

Sun and Simple Pleasures

What a wonderful weekend. The sun continues to shine, the kids continue to glow and, despite a small slump yesterday morning when I realised I had tasks ahead of me before I could enjoy any of the sunshine (and on my own too as husband took another Saturday off to go Aikido-ing. No, it's no mistake, last week was treasure hunting, this week is Aikido-ing-I did say it was ok, but we say these things sometimes when we don't really mean them) it has been grand. I worked through the slump with the help of the kids as they did their best effort at tidying a bedroom, i.e. they sat on the floor and looked puzzled. But still, they did a little and with my help, we made a dent, big enough for a sleepover to happen.

The rest of the day was spent in a hazy blur as we wandered the long way through the haze to the park. We stopped of at Ann's to pick up her laddie and she forced me...yes, FORCED me...to have two gin and tonics. I left half of the 2nd one as I had responsibilities ahead of me and Ann pours a mean drink.

The kids parked it up for a good hour and then we went home for sausage and mash. I'll not insult anyone with how to cook such a dish but my mash does contain a good pinch of salt, a splash of full fat milk if I have any, sometimes even cream and a stick of butter! Sometimes, there is no point without the proper, fatty ingredients. A little of what you fancy does you good. I of course did not partake and instead had a nice cold salad.

Today was spent gathering lots and lots of children, boys at that, dropping them in the swimming pool and then feeding them burgers and ice cream. Everyone needs afternoons like that. On the way home, we saw the Air Cadets and stopped off for a wee shot in their plane. They happily obliged.

As if all that wasn't enough, Auntie Susan appeared and took the twins away for a birthday treat and Kelly and I made our way slowly towards the park, her on her bike, me in my mules that haven't seen the light of day for nigh a year. The walk took an hour. So, of course, my poor feet died. Goodbye, dear feet, you did me well.

For dinner, we had sugar-spiced salmon and rice. The rice was a last minute decision and it went well together. It was a subtle, pleasant summer dish and the hot but sweet mustard sauce....the easiest I've ever made...added a nice tang. I did not take a photograph as I salivated my way to the dinner table. I had a salad at lunch and ate at 6.30pm, really rather late for me.

Sugar Spiced Salmon with Chinese Hot Mustard
(This recipe is from Nigella Lawson's 'How to Eat'...as if I didn't know how to do THAT.)

A fillet of salmon per person.
Combine the following ingredients in a little bowl:
Quarter teaspoon per fillet of ground ginger, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne, sugar and salt, Colman's Mustard Powder.

Heat the griddle or frying pan (I added a tiny bit of sesame oil and rubbed it round with kitchen towel, but do what you prefer). Coat the salmon in the spices, both sides by pouring the spices onto a plate and pressing the salmon into it. Cook for 2-3 minutes each side...you'll see it turning opaque. I always put it in a very hot oven for another few minutes after this as I do not want to eat this type of salmon with raw bits in the middle.

The Hot Mustard is prepared simply by adding 1.5 teaspoons mustard powder and sugar then add a teaspoon of warm water from the tap. Stir thoroughly and Bobby's your Uncle, you have yourself a sauce, my friend.

Weekly Shopping List 29th May-5th June 2009

It's that time of year, folks, the time when the sun starts to shine, the shorts come out and Helen realises that she needs to shed a few of those extra pounds. So, tis diet time. I'm loathe to call it a diet though as I can't and won't (I won't, I won't! Ok, yes I will) stick to a ridiculous plan designed to make my belly ache and my face droop. Of course, losing weight is simply about cutting down and exercising more, and less about making home-made chips late in the evening (not me!) and possibly...possibly reducing that pesky wine intake (sorry, girls).

This weeks list takes the above into consideration:

Pasta Fest
Penne with 2 cheese sauce and home-made garlic bread
Fusilli with Helen's tomato sauce, basil and Parmesan

Ginger and Lemon Roast Chicken with couscous and salad

Sugar Spiced Salmon with fresh vegetables (Helen & Brian)
Salmon Fishcakes (Kids)

Chinese Chicken and Rice with broccoli

Prawns with Garlic and Chilli (Helen)
Sausage and Mash (Brian and kids)

Chicken and Rice Soup, Sandwiches and Salad

Home-made Fish and Chips
(Helen's without batter and sweet potato oven wedges for all).

Lunches will be antipasti, sandwiches and soup for all. Breakfast will be a mix of cereal, toast, pancakes, crepes and waffles with scrambled eggs.

Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing will be the the only baking this week; to achieve a goal, you must first limit the temptation. Do I need to cancel the pub on Thursday? (Hears the chortling around Glasgow).

Helen's Meatballs!

What can be better than a huge, steaming dish of spaghetti and meatballs? Rice and meatballs? This dish goes well with both but since there is always lots left over, the remainder gets used to add to cooked fettuccine, placed in a foil package or individual packages, covered with mozzarella and baked for 10 minutes or so. This is actually my favourite way to serve meatballs and there is something about the mozzarella sticking to the foil, all gooey and hot that makes it taste even better. As with most sauces, this tastes even better the next day so you can prepare this in advance although the kids might complain!

The kids love helping with this dish but you have to watch over them whilst they scrub their little hands both before and afterwards as their tiny fingers are ideal for rolling the little meatballs whilst raw. They also love plopping them into the sauce but make sure they are wearing aprons.

The Meatballs
500g minced beef
1 egg
1 grated tablespoon Parmesan cheese
3 grated tablespoons cheddar cheese
1 minced garlic clove
2 teaspoons mixed dried herbs
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon salt

The Tomato Sauce
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
20g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
700g (1 bottle) tomato passata-if only cartons available at 500g, use two.
350g chicken/vegetable stock
Small tablespoon caster sugar
125ml full fat milk (use semi if you prefer)

Put all meatball ingredients into a bowl and mix, adding black pepper to taste. Get the kids to sit round the table and shape little balls, about a teaspoon per meatball. You'll get loads, around 40-60, depending on the size of the teaspoon! Cover the meatballs and put in fridge; this makes them less likely to break up when it is time to cook them.

The tomato sauce is almost the same as for the lasagna. Put onion and garlic into processor and blitz to a pulp. Heat the butter and oil in a pan over a low heat and cook onion mixture for around 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it, you do not want it to go brown or burn. Stir every now and then.

Add passata and stock, sprinkle in sugar and a good pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. If you wish, you can add a dash of wine but I tend not to do that for this dish. Let the sauce bubble away for 10 minutes and then add the milk. Stir and let it come back to the boil.

Take the meatballs out of the fridge and drop them one at a time into the sauce. Do not stir to begin with even if you can see the top of some of the meatballs. Shake the pan a little and wait a few minutes. Then, give a gentle stir with a wooden spoon, turn the sauce down a little...you still want it boiling though, a heavy simmer if you like, and partially cover pan with a lid. After 20 minutes, it will be ready. Taste and add some seasoning if you need it.

Serve with spaghetti, rice or fettuccine. With spaghetti, add a good grating of Parmesan. With fettuccine, add the mozzarella and bake in foil. Delicious!

This recipe has been adapted from a Nigella recipe in her book 'Feast'.

What Soup?

Yesterday I spent £46.28 on the weekly shopping bill. Brian and I will be going out for dinner tonight so there will be a few less meals to think about. But first, last week....

I have been cutting down on what I eat the last few weeks as I'd like to lose a bit of weight; I've lost four pounds so far. When 'dieting' before, I found that the cost of fresh, healthy and low fat food could sometimes be high but in fact, with a bit of organisation, dieting or in my case, changing some of my eating habits can be cost effective: lose pounds and save pounds!

The best discovery I've made so far to eating healthy but feeling full and being able to eat when you want without spending a lot of money is...wait for it....SOUP! Every day this past week I've made soup which I've had for my lunch with bread and occasionally for dinner. A large pot of soup costs approx. £1.00. Seriously. Here is an average ingredient and cost list for a pot of soup:
Knorr Chicken stock cube approx cost. 16 pence (Using home-made stock £0.00 pence)
Lentils approx cost. 18 pence for 100g (£3.78 x 2 kg)
Carrots x 2 approx cost. 20 pence
Onion, large approx cost. 16 pence
Turnip,small, half approx cost. 30 pence
Leftover chicken/ham approx cost. 0 pence

Some soups are more expensive than others of course but I've used a lot of leftover ingredients which have already been costed for the week so a lot of items haven't cost much at all. This week I had the following soups:
Chicken & Rice
Watercress & Spinach
Lentil
Tomato and Basil

Chicken & Rice
Home-made stock was used for this but a Knorr chicken stock cube is great. Chicken carcass was boiled with a bay leave, half a carrot, half onion and a few black peppercorns and leftover herbs. This was then simmered for a few hours, drained and left to get cold. Any 'scum' or fat that had risen to the top was scraped off and then I re-simmered it to concentrate the flavour.

I threw a carrot and quarter of leftover turnip into the blender. I chopped an onion and all of this was added to stock. Boil and then simmer. Any leftover veg can be used as the base for this soup (except green veg!). If you like to blend your soup then make sure you do this before adding the rice and chicken; I've made this mistake and it isn't good. I then added a cup (approx. 100g) of basmati rice, washed. I cooked the soup for approx. 15 minutes on a simmer and then added the chopped up leftover chicken. After a few minutes, the soup was ready. Brian, wee'est 'un and I loved it; the other two are not huge soup fans.

Watercress & Spinach
I do have a nice recipe for this but on this occasion, I added leftover leaves which I'd used for salad to the leftover pot of chicken and rice soup with an added cup of chicken stock (Knorr this time). It was delicious and very healthy not to mention ready in 2 minutes. For adults only!

Lentil
Knorr Chicken stock cube, lentils washed and added to stock, brought to the boil and simmered whilst preparing rest of vegetables. Two carrots and half turnip were washed and chopped small and added to pot alongside a chopped onion. Once it was almost ready, leftover ham was added to the pot. Again, Brian, wee 'un and I loved it.

Tomato & Basil
There are many recipes for tomato soup; this one is a very quick version. A chicken or vegetable stock cube is dissolved in a small cup of hot water and added to approx. 350g passata (sieved tomatoes, Asda sells jars at approx. 90p for 700g and smaller cartons) and bring to the boil, immediately turning down to a simmer. An onion is blended so that it is almost mushy but finely chopping would do and added to the passata. You could add a chopped garlic clove at this point too. The tomato soup is simmered for five minutes and then I add a teaspoon of sugar and a good pinch of salt (sea salt somehow works better) and a very good grinding of black pepper. I also add a fine grating nutmeg but don't buy it just for this. It is important to taste this soup and make sure it is to your liking...add more salt if you feel it is too bitter and more pepper for spice. At the end I add a handful of chopped basil leaves and give it a quick blend with the hand blender. I then serve with a few chooped leaves sprinkled on top. There is virtually no calories in this and if you add a chopped up chili then you have spicy tomato soup.