Mustard rump steak with black eyed beans

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Per person

Rinse 75g black eyed beans. Put in a bowl and just cover with cold water and quarter tsp salt in the fridge overnight.

In a small bowl mix 1 tbsp whole grain mustard with 1 tbsp olive oil and a quarter tsp garlic salt and rub well into a thick portion of rump steak then leave overnight in the fridge.

Next day:

Preheat a slow cooker on high for 10 minutes with the lid on.

Scrub half a small butternut squash. Cut off the hard root. Remove the butternut squash seeds and slice the butternut  squash into 8 wedge pieces. Drizzle with olive oil.

Rinse the black eyed beans.

Put the steak in the slow cooker, then the butternut squash then the black eyed beans. Add 2tbsp tomato puree, 2tbsp water and cook on high for 3.5 hours.

Serve with some pan juices, quartered cherry tomatoes and rocket leaves as a garnish.
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Slowcooked dry cured beef stew

Fish cakes with minted mushy peas

Peel 8 medium new potatoes and dice into small pieces.

Peel 1 medium onion and 3 garlic cloves. Chop the rough bits off and finely dice.

Place all veg into a large saucepan.

Cover with water to completely submerge. Add a lid and turn the heat to high. Bring to boil. Remove lid and boil for 20 minutes until the veg is soft then drain the water from the pan. (A steamer can be used for 15 minutes cooking time).

Add 1 tsp coriander, 1 tbsp olive oil and half tsp salt to the potatoes. Place into a blender or use a hand blender or potato masher until smooth. Mix in 1 tbsp. butter and half tsp double cream.

Skin 2 fish fillets or ask the fishmonger to do this for you and use scissors to cut the fish into rough half inch cubes. 

Add the fish to the potatoes, 1 lightly beaten egg and 1 tbsp. plain flour.

Heat 2tbsp oil in a frying pan on high heat.

Measure 2 tbsp plain flour onto a plate. Shape the fish mix into even sized rounds to make fish cakes.

Dip each cake into the flour to coat on one side and when the oil is hot fry the fish cakes for 4 minutes in the middle of the pan.  

Reduce the heat to medium / high and open a 300g can of mushy peas.

Spoon the the remainder of the flour on top of the fish cakes then carefully turn the cakes. Spoon the mushy peas around the fish cakes and flatten out. Sprinkle on 1 tsp dried mint onto the mushy peas.

Drizzle a dash of worcestershire sauce on each fish cake and fry for another 4 minutes maintaining the medium heat. Serve together. Makes a snack for 2 or meal for 1.
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Marrow / chorizo / manchego crispy bake

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Serves 2.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add 1 chopped onion and cook on low heat for 5 minutes.

Meantime wash a marrow with a clean kitchen sponge and pat dry with kitchen paper. Cut the marrow in half lengthways. Fridge the other half for another day.

Use a vegetable peeler to peel the halved marrow and cut into thin strips, then cut each strip into 2 pieces.s

Remove the seeds from the marrow pulp. Cut the marrow lengthways into 4 long pieces then chop each piece into 2” pieces. Sprinkle freshly ground back pepper and salt over the pieces and a dash of lemon juice.

Add both the marrow pulp and peel strips to the cooking pan and cook another 5 minutes turning once.

Add 2 crushed cloves of garlic, 75g chopped chorizo, 2 tbsp froxen peas, 1 chopped large flat mushroom, 1 tsp smoked paprika, half tsp cayenne pepper, half tsp dried basil, oregano and thyme. Cook 1 minute.

Add 254g can of peeled plum tomatoes and 1 roasted red pepper from a jar and snip both roughly with sharp scissors. Add 1 tsp each brown and red lentils. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in a handful of chopped parsley.

Preheat the oven to 200 C 180 fan for 10 minutes.

Spoon the marrow / tomato mixture into a baking dish and even up with a spatula. Adjust seasoning to your taste with additional salt and white pepper.

Use a quarter bagette to prepare breadcumbs in a kitchen gadget, (day old bagette makes better crumbs). Spread the crumbs evenly over the marrow / tomato mixture.

Dot 100g grated manchego cheese as a final layer and grind some fresh black pepper on top.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the crumbs are golden and crisp with the cheese melted on top.

Delicious served hot as is or cold with a salad.

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Cajun chicken with seasonal greens

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Per person:

Use a meat tenderiser to pummel one large chicken breast each side to flatten. This will both tenderise the chicken and it will take less cooking time. Sprinkle freshly ground sea salt on one side of the chicken breast. Turn over and spread 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning evenly over the breaat. Sprinkle with turmeric powder.

Top and tail 2 long stringless runner beans. Rinse and cut each into 4 pieces.

Top and tail 6 sugarsnap peas. Rinse and pat dry.

Remove the large leaves from a pointed cabbage until you get to smaller leaves then rinse 2 leaves to use in this meal. Leave them whole.

Heat 2tbsp oil in a frying pan on highest heat. After a minute slide the chicken breast into the oil sea salted side down into the middle of the pan and leave for 4 minutes.

Turn the breast over. Add 1 tsp butter. Place the sugar snap peas, stringless beans and then fold the whole cabbage leaves in half and lay the greens around the edges of the pan. Add a lid and  cook for 2 minutes. Halve 6 cherry tomatoes and add to the pan. Turn the greens once and cook for a further 4 minutes.

Serve on a bed of freshly rinsed and dried spinach leaves and juices from the pan.

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Slow cooked tomato sauce (use in 2 meal recipes)

Stringless green beans in rich tomato sauce with roasted veg (above)

Using simple ingredients anyone can prepare and just leave my tomato sauce to develop into a full bodied tomato sauce to use over a couple of days or one meal for 4 people.

The stringless green beans with roasted veg takes 30 minutes cooking time in the oven.
The pasta dish takes 15 minutes with minimum preparation..

Prepare the tomato sauce (enough for 4 people):

Finely dice 1white onion, 2 scrubbed diced new potatoes, 1 celery branch and 1 carrot and sweat over medium hob heat in 1 tbsp olive oil in a deep frying pan for 7 minutes.

Sprinkle on freshly ground black pepper, and seasalt.

Dice 3 stringless beans and add to the pan cooking for 1 minute. Add 1 tsp garlic powder and 1 large can of plum peeled tomatoes and a sprinkling of white pepper. 1 tbsp sugar and a dash of lemon juice.. Use a pair of scissors to snip the tomatoes into random pieces.

Half fill the empty tomato can with cold water and swirl around to lift the juice and pop into the fry pan stirring in,

Add 3 anchovies and 2 chopped sundried tomatoes, 2 tbsp frozen garden peas, bring to the boil, lower the heat to simmer.

Peel 6 garlic cloves trimming any hard stalks off and pop the whole cloves randomly into the sauce.

Simmer the sauce for 90 minutes. Allow to cool and fridge overnight.
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For Stringless green beans in rich tomato sauce with roasted veg
Per person:
Rinse, top and tail 2 stringless green beans cut into thinly sliced long strips and cut each strip into 4 pieces and place in the bottom of a baking dish. Put a generous layer of the slow cooked rich tomato sauce over the beans.
Rinse and cut 1 fun size apple into slices and place around the outside of the baking dish.
Rinse and cube a quarter butternutsquash, a quarter small sweet potato, a quarter white onion and 2 new jersey potatoes.
Place the veg into a second baking dish.
Peel 4 garlic cloves. Add to the baking dish with the veg.
Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper, sea salt, garlic powder, dried oregano and basil.
Drizzle with olive oil and 1 tsp balsamic vinegar.
Bake in a preheated oven 180 fan, 200C for 30 minutes.
Serve with the veg topping the greens / tomato sauce.


Ribbon and spiral pasta in slow cooked rich tomato sauce

Per person:

When you are ready for your meal add 50g each of spinach ribbon pasta and spiral pasta to a pan of boiling salted water with 1 tsp oil added for 15 minutes. Reheat quarter of  the tomato sauce (per person) at the same time on medium heat.

Drain the pasta mix and add to the sauce mixing with 2 serving spoons. Serve dotted with torn pieces of mozzarella cheese and a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper

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Slow cooked dry cured beef stew

The beauty of a slow cooker is the minimum fuss required to make delicious meals and tenderise cheaper cuts with all in one pot locked in flavour which can be cooked overnight whilst you sleep or timed when you go out so the meal is hot and ready when you return with no further preparation (good for when you just want to serve up, sit down and watch the footy or the tennis).

The same effect can be achieved with a regular oven on the lowest setting in one deep baking tray. I cooked this meal overnight for 8 hours. I like using a larger cut of meat so I can whip up a second meal or have some leftover meat in a simple salad.

Serves 2:

Set your slow cooker to low temperature and add the lid.

Layer in the cooker:

500g dry cured British beef roasting joint

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper and half tsp seasalt

1 tbsp plain flour

8 scrubbed new Jersey potatoes cut in halves

2 stringless green beans, quartered

2 topped, tailed and scrubbed carrots cut into 2 down the middle

1 onion peeled and quartered

4 whole garlic cloves peeled

1 large peeled flat mushroom, stalk side down. (Cut the stalk into 4 pieces and also add that to the pot)

1tsp ground white pepper and dried thyme

Quarter pint beef stock

Leave to cook for 8 hours and serve a generous portion of beef with the vegetables. Fridge any leftover meat for a second meal, pulled beef sandwich or in a salad.
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Cod pie with butter bean root mash

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Peel one medium sweet potato, 2 new potatoes and a 1” round of turnip and dice into small pieces.

Peel 1 medium onion and 3 garlic cloves. Chop the rough bits off and slice.

Place all veg into a large saucepan.

Cover with water to completely submerge. Add a lid and turn the heat to high. Bring to boil. Remove lid and boil for 20 minutes until the veg is soft then drain the water from the pan. (A steamer can be used for 15 minutes cooking time).

Drain the thick liquid from a 454g tin of butter beans and rinse the beans with running water.

Add the butter beans, 3 tbsp olive oil and half tsp salt to the root mix. Place all ingredients into a blender or use a hand blender or potato masher until smooth. If the mix is too dry, add a dollop of butter, cream or a splash of veg / chicken stock.

Top and tail 3 stringless beans, rinse and cut in half lengthways, then cut into 3 pieces and put evenly into a 9” baking dish. Spread the butter bean / mash evenly into the dish and use a fork to run lines over the top.

Skin 2 fresh cod (plain or smoked) fish fillets or ask the fishmonger to do this for you and cut the fish into one inch cubes then place evenly over the mash. Dot with 50g butter cut into small pieces. Sprinkle 1 tbsp dried dill evenly over the fish.

Roughly tear half an Italien full fat mozarella ball and dot over the fish. Sprinkle over freshly ground black pepper.

Bake for 20 minutes in a 180 fan / 200C oven.

Serves 2.

If you serve 1 the remainder of the pie can be use next day for an instant soup by adding 1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock heated through for 10 minutes on medium heat.

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Fish cakes with minted mushy peas

Heat 2tbsp oil in a frying pan on high heat.

Measure 2 tbsp plain flour onto a plate. Shape the fish mash mix into even sized rounds to make fish cakes.

Dip each cake into the flour to coat on one side and when the oil is hot fry the fish cakes for 4 minutes in the middle of the pan.  

Reduce the heat to medium / high and open a 300g can of mushy peas.

Spoon the top of the fish cakes with the remainder of the flour and carefully turn the cakes. Spoon the mushy peas around the fish cakes and flatten out. Sprinkle on 1 tsp dried mint onto the mushy peas.

Drizzle a dash of tabasco sauce on each fish cake and fry for another 4 minutes maintaining the medium heat for delicious. Serve together. Makes a snack for 2 or meal for 1.
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Italian-style stuffed aubergines

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