It's a bit strange, but Nigel Slater is one of those famous chefs that I don't actually know much about. We have one of his cookbooks that Mr C's mum bought him once as a birthday present, but we've not yet made anything from it. I'm not sure why though.My mother in Law recently lent me a copy of Slater's autobiography, Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger as she initially thought my mum would like it. It turned out that my mum had already read it, so I thought I ought to give it a go.Toast isn't really an autobiography in the traditional ... read more
Moroccan chicken
Looking back it's been a while since I posted about some of the food that we've been eating - possibly because we've been so busy that after work known favourites have been cooked for simplicity rather than trying something new.This Moroccan chicken recipe is certainly one that we've done several times before, but it's so simple and tasty that we keep coming back to it. The mix of all the various spices gives it a great depth of flavour - that possibly doesn't come over in that slightly grey looking photo! The recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken things, but we ... read more
Cooking with herbs and spices
Only a couple of years or so ago I think the only thing on my spice "shelf" was a little jar of mixed herbs. It's grown quite a bit since then. It's strange, but to me the sight of a well stocked herb and spices shelf is the sign of a good cook, yet I"m not sure that I fit into that category yet.Mr C is the one that has to take most of the credit for helping to expand my taste horizons and consequently my cooking abilities. When we met he was a curry lover, yet I struggled to handle a korma. Chilli was something that I used to back away from frightened.Over time though I ... read more
Italian-style beef stew
Last night's dinner was a perfect meal for a cold winter evening - with a slight Mediterranean edge.Italian-style beef stew is a recipe that we've used a few times before from another book that we have in the 101 range: 101 Meals for Two. As I really don't like them I leave out the olives, but the mix of beef, yellow pepper and rosemary combined with the feta that we sprinkle on top makes it irresistible. I served it last night with some simple mashed potato (sadly not made as expertly as 21st Century Housewife makes hers) but tasty all the same.Sunday ... read more
Chaos
Ae we really only ten days into 2009? Last weekend I remember feeling so organised for going into the new year; now I'm not too sure. So much seems to have happened in these last ten days that I'm not even sure where to start. Sorry there are no photos to accompany my words - I've just not had time to take my camera out of my handbag all week.I went back to work on Monday and was expecting a quiet week before starting all the regular meetings etc next week. Someone else obviously thought differently. I feel like I've been on a treadmill that's been getting faster and faster ... read more
Bacon and Tomato Cobbler
A freezing cold day on which we both went back to work called for a good home cooked meal this evening, and I think that's exactly what we had. Once again I called upon one of my favourite, every day, cook books; 101 Cheap Eats. This book, and its partner 101 Simple Suppers, is a key part of after work cooking in our house. Both provide some fantastic simple and tasty recipes that are generally easy enough to do after a day at work and provide us with a good hearty meal.Tonight's dinner was bacon and tomato cobbler. Incredibly simple, especially using my Kenwood to make ... read more
Finding fenugreek
Mr C and I decided to do another dish from the M&S curry bible that I bought him for Christmas this weekend after the success of the butter chicken. He chose the lamb with cinnamon-scented fenugreek sauce. This just left us with one, rather major question: what is fenugreek and where can you buy it in St Albans.Wikipedia's fenugreek entry helped us to answer the first question. It seems that you can get either fenugreek leaves, which are used as a herb, or fenugreek seeds, which are a spice. For something that I'd never heard of before it seems to have a huge ... read more
Yummy food
It's been a few days of fantastic food here.Firstly, we've been enjoying the contents of the food platter that my sister and her boyfriend gave us for Christmas. The chocolate truffles are particularly good (if you're reading please send me the recipe H!) and the chutney went perfectly with some ham for lunch on Sunday. I then got my hands very messy helping Mr C to make the tandoori chicken part of a butter chicken recipe that was in a book I gave him for Christmas. I have to say that it was one of the most delicious curries I've ever eaten and tasted amazingly fresh, with a ... read more
Toad in the Hole
I had a strange craving at lunchtime today for Toad in the Hole - so that's what I had to make us for dinner tonight. Shockingly, it something I've not made before and I was there looking through all my cook books for a recipe. Even more embarrassing is that I couldn't find one in any of my books!The Internet saved the day and I found this Delia recipe for Toad in the Hole with Roasted Onion Gravy. (Slight error in the recipe though as it tells you that the gravy part includes one teaspoon of golden caster sugar, yet following the instructions you don't ... read more
Delia’s Frugal Food
At a time when the Credit Crunch is making quite a few of us tighten our belts and the press are full of the doom and gloom of the UK heading towards another recession, many people are looking back to how we coped in the past - both during the days of rationing and also how we coped through past recessions.I see that Delia Smith is no different, and according to this article she's even being green in recycling one of her oldest published cook books; Delia's Frugal Food. Now I have to admit that I haven't seen a copy of this yet, it hasn't even been published as a ... read more