Spring cleaning...updated

Another beautiful Spring day today and we are - very appropriately - Spring cleaning.  There is lots of sorting out to be done as we'll have some building work done in the house soon and we might as well use this opportunity to rationalise what we have.  There are a few items that are perfectly good still but are no longer used by us such as our bread maker.  It's been gathering dust for a good couple of years because I switched to kneading and baking bread without the machine.  I am pleased to say it's going to find a new home this afternoon, thanks to the magic of the internet and Freecycle.  If you haven't heard of Freecycle before, it's basically a local website where people advertise stuff for free that they no longer have use for.  Great idea!  Someone is coming to collect the bread maker later on which means more room in our kitchen for us and a new toy for someone else to play with.

As we are busy, dinner will most likely be a basic and quick affair...something like sausages, baked potatoes and coleslaw.  I cook sausages in the oven on a wire rack above a lined tray - that way, any fat can just drain off.  There's also a lot less splatter than when doing them under the grill - 25 minutes in a medium hot oven and yummy sausages are cooked and ready :-) For the coleslaw I simply finely slice either red or white cabbage, grate some carrot and add a couple of teaspoons of mayonnaise as well as a good amount of salt and pepper.  Much nicer than shop-bought and a lot less fatty.  And finally, for the jacket potatoes, I always put a metal skewer through the potatoes as I find they cook faster that way with the metal transferring the heat through the potato.  A little trick Mr Happy Larder told me :-)  I'll add a food photo later...

So, dinner is planned...now we just have to sort through all those boxes of stuff...phew! 

Update...here is the dinner photo...

Warming up...

It's quite a lot warmer outside today but I'm still feeling a bit rubbish, so dog walking was a rather slow affair this morning.  Keith the dog had a lovely time nonetheless with lots of running around with other dogs, splashing in the stream and playing ball.  If I find a way of bottling his energy, I will sell it and become rich :-)

Keith pretending to be a statue...

Sometimes he is actually quite sensible (for an 18 month old dog anyway) and settles down nicely...even if it is almost inside the fireplace...

I can't believe that we had that fire going only a few evenings ago but we still get a lot of cold nights and frost in the morning.  Which also means that I still crave comforting food - potatoes, casseroles...that sort of thing.  A lovely but easy and comforting dish I made a little while ago but haven't blogged about until now is this pork tenderloin in a mustard & cream sauce.  It's tasty but doesn't take a lot of time to make and it's great served with potatoes, rice and I guess even pasta would work. 

Pork in mustard cream sauce...

All you have to do is slice the tenderloin into about 1 - 2cm thick slices, season with salt & pepper and spread some mustard on the slices.  Fry gently in a little oil, turning occasionally and adding diced onion and sliced mushrooms (optional) to the pan.  If the meat sticks to the pan a bit too much, just add a splash of water.  Pour in some double cream and adjust the seasoning, adding more mustard to the sauce if needed.  Just keep tasting until it's right for you.  Done!  We had ours with sauteed potatoes and steamed vegetables. I must make this again soon...

Comfort food...

Pork casserole

I guess everyone has a dish or two that they can rely on to lift the spirit - proper comfort food that warms body and soul.  Well, the dish that comes to mind for me is a homemade casserole!  Already when bubbling away on the stove or in the oven, the aroma filling the house makes me smile.  Even Keith, the dog gets excited (although he also does when I empty the kitchen bin, so we won't take his opinion too seriously).

What I love about this particular meal is that it is easy and requires minimum input - just a bit of chopping, some quick frying and then some time in the oven.  You can use pretty much anything you have in the fridge and larder and it's perfect for using up leftover veg.  We had a pork one with peppers, onions, garlic, tomato and a hint of chilli as well as seasoning.  You could use chicken instead of the pork or make a vegetarian option by adding mushrooms, baby corn, etc.  Served on rice (as we did), mashed potato or in a baked spud - really versatile, really easy, really tasty! :-)  What is your ultimate comfort food?