Sweet potato bake

Sweet potato bake

I've recently started doing hot yoga classes - sweaty stuff.  Doing exercises in a room heated to 37 C sure makes for a hungry tummy afterwards.  Yesterday, I prepared my dinner before going out to the class which was great because when I got back all I needed to do was put the dish in the oven and wait for 30 minutes. 

I made a sweet potato bake - slices of sweet potato with chorizo and vegetables in a creamy sauce, baked in the oven and served with homemade garlic bread (see the recipe here) and some salad.  You could also use "normal" potatoes for this dish or a mixture of both and serve it as a side dish rather than a main meal..  Simply chuck in any leftover vegetables, bits of ham or whatever you fancy or turn it into a vegetarian dish by leaving the chorizo (or any other meat) out.  Easy & tasty - my kind of meal!

Of white blossoms and white asparagus

The last few days have just flown by and my mum's visit has come to an end - she's now on her way to London to spend time with my brother and his family.  Keith the dog is wondering where the latest member of his pack has disappeared to :-)  We had a lovely time together and just before she had to leave today, we went for another walk, taking pictures of the beautiful blossoms in the park (my mum uses her photos to make really lovely greeting cards).

I've really enjoyed serving homemade cakes, bread and dinners.  One of the dishes we had was actually one that is very popular in Germany at this time of year: white asparagus, new potatoes and cold cuts (usually ham).  My mum brought local asparagus from the market with her.  I can't remember the last time I had this - it's so tasty and very quick to prepare. 

A great idea for cooking the asparagus:  peel the asparagus and use the peel and some salt water to make a broth in which to then cook the asparagus. It intensifies the flavour.  The asparagus itself needs to be cooked for approximately 10 minutes (longer than the green thinner variety available in the UK).  Serve with boiled new potatoes, ham and a creamy mustard sauce (click here for the sauce recipe) - yummy and for me a real taste of home.




 

Something a bit different...Baba Ganoush

Baba ganoush

Writing about the houmous recipe the other day reminded me of another beautiful little dip/sandwich filling that I love: baba ganoush.  This yummy aubergine (eggplant) dish has a lovely smoky flavour and is great with flatbreads like roti (see the recipe here), as a dip with crudites or in a sandwich.  Makes a nice change.

We are hoping for some sunshine today to show off the best of the Welsh coast to my mum.  Fingers crossed ;-)

Wishing you a lovely weekend - I'll be back next week with some more tasty recipe ideas!

Houmous, hummus, humous?

1952 edition

Mr Happy Larder is on his way to London to collect my mum from the airport whilst I finish making the last preparations.  The house is clean and tidy, there's food ready for when they arrive.  And whilst I am happy and excited, I also know how lucky we are and feel for the people of Oklahoma who have suffered so badly as a result of the tornado - it never ceases to shock me how Nature can be so beautiful and yet so cruel at the same time.

As I was tidying up, I found yet another old cookbook.  This one is a 1952 edition of Duncan Hines' " Adventures in Good Cooking" - it's brilliant and has fabulous recipes as well as lots of little captions which make for very entertaining reading.  Here's a quote that I am sure would not appear in a cookbook nowadays: "A word to dinner givers.  Please have ashtrays larger than thimbles.".  That really made me laugh :-)  I will see if I can find some easy recipes in there that will appeal...

One that definitely appeals to me is this easy version of houmous.  I always used to eat the shopbought version, thinking it would be impossible to make it at home and get it to taste right.  Well, I was wrong - it's super easy and the homemade version tastes delicious.  No need for additives or similar - just a handful of simple ingredients.  This is perfect in salad stuffed pitta bread pockets, as a dip for crudites,...

A good start to the day

The start of another week after a relaxing weekend.  We took Keith the dog for his walks and watched a fabulous game of rugby on TV where Wales beat England.  Brilliant!  Being neither Welsh nor English I could just watch it for the fun of it :-)

I love weekends!  Coffee, reading newspapers and relaxing over breakfast is just too lovely for words (even if it doesn't happen like that very often).  Before going out walking this Sunday, I wanted to make a breakfast that would really set us up.  A little while ago I watched a cookery programme on TV which featured these little treasures and I have wanted to try these ever since: "croque madame muffins" - although I'd describe them as "egg cups".  How cute are these?  And not only that, they are absolutely delicious and easy to make but look impressive enough to serve to guests.  

I love how you can adapt these to your taste - I included ham and spinach in ours to make a kind of eggs florentine version but you could easily leave these out.  If you are a vegetarian, then these are also great - no need to have the ham in them if you don't want to.  

I'd really recommend you'd give these a go!

Food for a busy day

Happy International Women's Day!  I wonder if there is a men's day as well...if not, I think there should be! :-)  A friend of mine is organising a fundraising event for Oxfam nearby, so I will go over there at lunchtime with a batch of jam doughnut muffins.  I hope it will be really successful as she has put a lot of work into it.

I've started having a good sort out at home.  Unbelievable just how much stuff we have :-(  It's not all our fault though because we basically inherited a house full of stuff and then had to move the contents of my flat into it.  Bursting at the seams comes to mind and I can just see some stuff ending up on Freecycle where you give things away for free.  What a great invention that website is - if you haven't come across Freecycle before, why not have a look if there is one in your area?

So, it's busy busy at the moment and food will have to be quick today.  I will have one of my favourite things: red lentil stew.  Well, this can be a soup or a stew really and you can have it on its own, on top of rice or with roti flatbreads.  I use red lentils for this as they don't need soaking beforehand which makes it a lot quicker.  I love the warming curry flavours in this and the bits of sweetcorn and I usually top it with a dollop of plain yogurt (although the stew is not overly spicy - I just find it adds an extra dimension to it).  I can't wait to tuck in... :-)
Have a wonderful weekend!

Sunny suppers

The sun came out at the weekend and for the first time in what seems like months, I was able to do a bit of gardening.  Just a little weeding and mowing the lawn but oh, how lovely it was to be back out there!  I find it so calming and feeling the sun on my skin was beautiful.  I also had a look at my seed collection as I am itching to get started again with sowing vegetable seeds.  The nights are still frosty, so a bit more patience is needed...

Then yesterday I drew the winner of the giveaway and that made for a great start to the week - I just wish I had been able to give something to everyone, especially to those who go through the trouble of sending such lovely comments so regularly.  Well, there is always the next time and I am already plotting what goodies will go into the next giveaway.  I've got a couple of good ideas... :-)

Despite the recent sunshine, my body is still craving comfort food.  Light summer dishes are not on my menu just yet...again, more patience required.  As you have probably gathered by now, I love doing recipes in the oven and one of my favourites is potato gratin.  We have a great big bay tree in the garden, so I use the leaves from it in this supper dish although I dare say it would be just as nice without.

What a great dish!  It can be a side dish or turned into a meal in itself and it never ever disappoints :-)

Mhm, I can imagine it now, all creamy with lots of potato and vegetables and maybe even some ham thrown in for good measure - yum! As usual, I have amended the quantities of cream and cheese and have added more vegetables to make it slightly healthier without loosing its creamy luxurious taste.  I hope you will like this one as much as we do!

Easy midweek meal

Gosh - where has this morning gone?  I meant to write my post first thing as usual but then got side-tracked by dropping off cakes at the community centre, taking the dog for his long walk, household chores... Anyway, here I am :-)  And no deep questions today, promised!  That was a bit morbid for a Monday, wasn't it? :-)  Something altogether more cheerful is today's recipe:

Chorizo chicken...

I stumbled across this Nigella Lawson one the other day and I think you might like this: chorizo chicken.   I have adapted it slightly to be less fatty but I think this is a brilliant tray bake sort of meal that can be put together in no time and tastes delicious.  What can be easier than chucking a lot of raw ingredients into a roasting tin with some seasoning and roasting it all in the oven?

From the garden into the pan (hopefully)...

Roasted vegetable pasta with chorizo & feta

Good morning!  Brrrr - it's cold today!  But the sky is blue and I think it is going to be another beautiful sunny day.  I did a little bit of tidying in the garden yesterday and am getting excited about planning my vegetable garden for this year.  When I say vegetable garden, I mean my one raised bed and containers - small but I think just right for a beginner like me.  I grew dwarf peppers last year (indoors) but this time, I am going for the larger ones.  And I will definitely grow more cherry tomatoes - I love those!  Both would go perfectly in today's recipe...roasted vegetable pasta.

This dish is a great "fridge cleaner" - you can use up leftover vegetables, slightly bruised tomatoes,...

For this version, I used chorizo sausage and feta cheese together with roasted vegetables but anything goes really.  I roasted peppers, red onion, garlic and cherry tomatoes in the oven with a good drizzle of olive oil, salt & pepper and some Italian herbs for about 20 minutes at 180c (fan oven).  Whilst they were sizzling, I cooked some dry pasta according to the packet instructions and set that aside.  Once the vegetables were done, a few bits of chorizo sausage went into my wok (no need for any oil) and fried for a couple of minutes before I mixed in the cooked pasta and vegetables, heating everything through.  And just before serving I added a bit of crumbled feta cheese.  Quick and easy and ever so tasty!

I love how you can just amend it to whatever you like and have to hand - you may not have feta but want to grate some hard cheese over the top.  Or maybe you want to keep it vegetarian and leave out the sausage, giving extra flavour by adding a couple of spoons of pesto.  I think this makes a lovely lunch or quick dinner for during the week.

Fish Fight...

Did you know that half the fish caught in the North Sea is thrown back dead?  That's over 1.7 million tons of fish per year - discarded!  Strict fishing quotas, consumer choices,...the list of reasons is long. When you have a moment and want to find out a little more, please have a look at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Fish Fight campaign - Hugh is of River Cottage fame and an avid campaigner on the subject.  What an eye-opener!

Fish gratin...

I love eating fish but now that I am more aware of what is going on, I am trying to make more ethical choices.  I guess the more consumers are happy to try other types of fish, the more these will become available.  And it's not about never eating cod, tuna or salmon again - that would just create another problem - for me, it's about variety and about us, the consumer, influencing legislation so that it makes sense, for us and the environment.

And because fish is a fabulous food I can't not give you this quick & simple recipe to try: fish gratin.  The recipe originally asked for smoked haddock but why not try another type of white fish such as coley?  Or use a mixture of fish, giving some new varieties a chance together with some old favourites?  Here, the fish is placed on a bed of spinach but as I didn't have enough, I also used some finely sliced gem lettuce...it worked a treat!  I have never cooked lettuce before but it certainly wasn't the last time.  I have also amended the amount of cream and cheese used as there was no way I would have been able to taste the fish - the star of the show - under all that fat.

I hope you'll enjoy this one!

Don't need much thyme for this...

It feels as if it hasn't really got light here the last few days.  It's making me rather lethargic and slow - I am hoping that my morning coffee will be giving me a bit of a lift.  If I didn't know better, I'd say it is November.  So, maybe this cheery little number will bring a bit of colour into the day...? 

The last couple of posts have included more time-consuming recipes, so I thought a quick & easy one is needed today.  After all, it is the middle of the working week and a straightforward meal is probably what most people are after.  So, how about thyme chicken? 

This dish is one that always comes out slightly differently and depends very much on what I have to hand.  Mr Happy Larder made this for me when we first met - definitely a keeper (both the man & the recipe ;-)).  We usually have this on rice as in the picture but it's also ideal as a filling for a pie.  And you can turn the dish vegetarian by replacing the chicken with mushrooms.  It's tasty, it's filling and it's quick - marvelous!

Pasta perfect...

We were away for the weekend, visiting family - it was lovely to spend time together and very relaxing.  I had made my niece a birthday cake which will feature in one of my next posts but for today I'll write about something my previous posts already touched on: Valentine's Day!

I know people who love it, I know plenty of people who hate it...I guess I am somewhere in the middle.  It's lovely to do something nice and thoughtful for someone but being bombarded with lots of overpriced, fixed menus in restaurants is not my idea of fun or romance.  Maybe making something from scratch is a great way of showing someone you care - not everyone will have the time or inclination for this on 14th February but maybe another day...?

Homemade ravioli...

When this photo was taken a couple of weeks ago, I had never made my own pasta before.  But - in my ever persistent quest to find recipes for this blog - I simply had to give it a go.  I should mention that Mr Happy Larder makes fabulous pasta and his homemade lasagne is to die for (I will sneak a picture & the recipe in when he's not looking ;-)).

So I made ravioli and whilst this recipe does not fall into the category "quick", it still ticks all the boxes for "much easier than I thought it would be".  Plus: you don't need any expensive equipment for this either - just a rolling pin (and if you don't have one of those, then a large empty bottle will also do the trick).  So, here it goes: homemade ravioli with a mushroom filling...and there is a delicious sauce for which you will also find the recipe below.  Enjoy! 

Mexican wave...

Do you love Mexican food?  I simply adore it...or at least the stuff that is served over here under that name.  Unfortunately, I have never been to Mexico but I imagine that it would be an amazing trip with lots of brilliant foods to try in different regions of the country.  Whenever I watch a cookery programme and it features Mexican food, I am sure I can taste it just watching it, so one day we are going to have to visit!  And until that dream trip becomes reality, I am just going to have to cook my own take on Mexican food.

I promised you another recipe and here it is: a fajita bake...corn tortillas stuffed with vegetables and chicken in a spicy sauce (or not so spicy, depending on how you like it) with a crunchy topping...how does that sound?  Some guacamole (or my version of it) on the side and cooling yoghurt (or sour cream) on top, this makes a great meal for during the week or would also work as an informal dinner for friends. And if you need to turn it vegetarian. it couldn't be easier!

Please click below to find out how to make this - I hope I have whet your appetite...

Pass the Parcel...

It was my eldest niece's birthday at the weekend - I can't believe she is 13 already!  Time flies... It reminded me of birthday parties and the social side of eating.  I love to eat in company.  There is something quite lovely about sharing a meal with others, passing bowls of tasty food around and chatting over dessert and coffee.  Maybe it's because I grew up in a big family. :-)

Dinner parties are an ideal opportunity to share food with others and I think today's recipe would be fab for this: samosas.  How about a big platter of these with dips when people mingle?  Or a couple of samosas each as a starter? These little parcels are great - you can fill them with pretty much anything and - using ready-made filo pastry - they are quick and straightforward to create.  I had never used filo pastry before, thinking it would be incredibly hard to work with but the opposite was the case with this ready-made version.  

The samosas I made had a curry filling and we served them with my sweet chilli sauce (find the recipe here) and also some homemade chutney (which will feature in another post soon).  

I also froze a couple to see how that would work and am happy to report back that not only do they freeze extremely well, they are also just as tasty as freshly made.  You can eat them cold or heated in the oven.  And I guess you could even take a couple out of the freezer in the morning before going to work and by lunchtime, they'd be defrosted and ready to be eaten.  Perfect!

I hope you have a good start to your week!

Real (wo)men do eat quiche

Quiche made from leftovers...Leek & Feta Cheese

When do you normally do your food shopping?  Several times a week?  Just before the weekend?  If the latter is the case like it usually is for me, then by today you are probably beginning to run low on a few things in the fridge, the cheese is slowly coming to its end and making meals sometimes has to get quite creative until the next shop.  This is where my friend, the quiche, steps in - the perfect solution to avoiding food waste.

I love making quiche - it's just such a good way to use up leftovers and with a bit of salad or vegetables on the side, it's a great meal. And anything goes - whether it's broccoli & Stilton, leek & feta cheese, mixed peppers, ham or a bit of everything...have a look what's in your fridge and that's what it'll be :-)

I hope that this one will appeal to everyone in the family -  I do also have a recipe for a more meaty quiche with a mince beef filling, so watch this space - another post & photos will follow soon.  Because, after all, real men (and women) do eat quiche!

PS:  I have added a note to the Swiss Roll recipe following a reader's comment. Thank you to pigsmightfly!

The Spice of Life

It's still quite early here - I am starting my day with a cup of tea, the dog asleep by my feet.

I actually managed to snap a photo of Keith the dog in the sunshine yesterday. He simply loves running through the heather in the park - just for the fun of it and I swear I can see him smile doing it :-)  He definitely appreciates the small things - a bit of sunshine, flowers in bloom...quite a good philosophy, don't you think?

Chicken curry

One of the things that makes me smile is having a nice meal that is quickly prepared and tasty.  Do you like curry?  I love it but all too often I find that it can be quite greasy.  This version may not be authentic by Indian standards but has all the lovely spices with only a minimum of oil and just a dash of cream to finish off - it is really quite delicious, even if I say so myself :-)  And the nice thing is that you can use leftover roast chicken for this or make it vegetarian by using up all those forgotten vegetables in the fridge.  Maybe a cold beer on the side...

What makes you smile?

Shortcut to Supper

It's Monday and for a lot of people the working week starts, although I guess for most the work has never really stopped over the weekend either. And with so many tasks to juggle, on some days food just has to be quick, doesn't it?  Cooking everything from scratch is a wonderful thing and I try and do it most of the time, however, sometimes a shortcut is needed to feed us pronto.  One of these shortcuts is using ready-made ciabatta bread, found in the bread aisle of your supermarket.  It's the basis for this quick meal: ciabatta pizza, an easy lunch or dinner when we are hungry but don't have much time.  And it's great for guests with kids too as it is so versatile - everyone can have the topping they like and it's put together in minutes.  The result: lots of happy faces around the table.

I forgot to take a picture when we had this a couple of days ago but as it is a frequent favourite, I will upload one soon.  In the meantime, just imagine bread - crunchy on the outside but soft in the middle - topped with everything you love on a pizza and covered in bubbling cheese...mhm...;-)  Can you picture it?

Of snow and spice...and all things nice

Snow gentleman

I met this gentleman on the right during this morning's dog walk- he did make me smile, looking all official with his tie.  Someone obviously had a lot of fun there...I really enjoy walking in the snow when it's for pleasure and Keith the dog was also very happy that it hadn't melted - he loves chasing snowballs.

Where's my snowball?

With it still being so wintery here, I feel another soup recipe is in order - and this is one comes with a twist.  It brings the humble potato to life with a hint of curry and coconut milk.  You can even use leftover mash for this recipe to make it an extra speedy lunch.  The addition of crunchy vegetables gives the dish extra texture and the spice is lovely and warming on a winter's day...although this can be enjoyed at any time of the year.   It could also easily be adapted by adding thin strips of cooked chicken or cooked king prawns at the end of cooking if you don't want it to be vegetarian.

Potato soup...

Easy supper for friends

When you have friends coming for dinner but not enough time to prepare a complicated meal, how about a simple dish of tarragon chicken with mangetout and rice?  It's tasty, quick and satisfying and with the creamy sauce feels quite luxurious...why not give it a try?  Followed by a simple fruit salad it'll be a meal that can easily be prepared ahead, leaving you to enjoy the evening with your guests rather than slaving over the stove.

Tarragon chicken...

Souper Trouper

I found a few mushrooms and a rather sad looking bunch of celery at the back of the fridge and what better thing to do than to turn these into some soup for lunch? Just a handful of ingredients made a really satisfying meal.

Mushroom soup - a warm hug in a bowl

Food waste is a big problem and by whizzing up some soup, you can breath new life into those leftover bits of veg that could otherwise so easily end up being thrown away. Definitely a feel-good meal on many levels!