Salmon fillets with asparagus and tomatoes.

This is a really simple meal that is very quick to make (around 20 minutes) and is a healthy option. All of the amounts are totally up to personal taste but the photos below show the quantities that I use for two people.

The ingredients are very simple:

Salmon fillets (fresh is best but frozen works in a pinch)
Asparagus tips
Cherry tomatoes (you can use vine tomatoes but I find small cherry tomatoes juicier)
Olive oil

Pre-heat the oven to 180 C.
Put a little oil in a frying pan and place in the salmon, skin side down. We only want to sear the skin so no longer than 5 minutes. Meanwhile, coat the asparagus tips and the tomatoes in olive oil and place them in a baking tray. When seared, place the salmon skin side down on the asparagus and put in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

When cooked, the salmon will appear pale pink in colour. Serve the salmon on top of the asparagus with the tomatoes to the side. As a personal preference, I pour parsley sauce over the fish and serve with a glass of white wine.

This is one of my favourite meals. I hope it becomes one of yours.

Braised beef in red wine.

A little red meat for those that aren't too keen on pork or ham. This one takes a little time to cook so it is best to plan ahead. The list of ingredients given below should be enough to feed six people, although you can modify the amounts to either increase or decrease the numbers.

25g / 1oz plain white flour, Salt & pepper

900g / 2lb stewing beef or venison, cubed

4 tbsp olive oil

350g / 12oz button onions

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

350g / 12oz carrots, sliced

300ml / 1/2 pint red dry red wine

150ml / 1/4 pint beef or chicken stock

400g / 14oz canned chopped tomatoes with herbs in juice

Pared rind of 1 lemon

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

Freshly cooked rice to serve

Pre-heat the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4. Put the pepper and the flour in a polythene bag (without holes) add the meat and shake well untill all of the meat is coated in the mixture. In a large flameproof casserole dish, heat the oil and fry the coated meat for 5 - 10 minutes until it is browned on all sides, remember to stir constantly. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside. (We use a slotted spoon as we want the juices and oil to remain in the dish). The photo below shows the meat being browned.

Add the button onions (I couldn't find button onions so I sliced an ordinary onion instead) add the garlic and carrots to the casserole dish and fry for around 5 minutes until they begin to soften, then return the meat to the dish.

Pour the wine into the dish, stirring in any glazed pieces from the bottom of the dish, then add the stock, the tomatoes and juice, lemon rind, bay leaf, parsley, basil, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to the boil then cover the casserole. The meat with the added red wine and stock can be seen here.

Place the casserole in the pre-heated oven and cook for about 2 hours until the meat is tender, then serve hot with rice, shown below.

The wine I used to cook with is Hardys Crest Cabernet Shiraz and there was enough left for a glass each with the meal. However, if you prepare for 6, you will need to open at least another bottle.

Pork and Ginger Noodles.

Sorry for the delay in getting this on, things have been a little busy of late. This recipe is really simple to make and can be ready in about 15 minutes. The amounts quoted below are enough to serve 4 (but not in my house).

First off, let me introduce you to the ingredients:

450g pork fillet, cut into thin strips

2 tbsp sunflower oil

2.5cm root ginger, grated

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1/2 savoy cabbage, shredded

300ml vegetable stock

1tbsp soy sauce

100g frozen peas

2 x 150g packets of straight to wok noodles

2 tbsp chopped coriander (optional)

For the noodles, I used Amoy straight-to-wok. I should have used the thin ones, the thicker ones were a little too much for the pork.

Stir fry the pork in the oil until just cooked (about 4 minutes). Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the cabbage and continue to stir fry until the pork and cabbage are well combined. The photos below show the cabbage added to the pork, and the peas and noodles added to the stir fry.

Pour the soy suace and the vegetable stock over the pork stir fry then add the peas and noodles. Stir well and then simmer for 5 minutes until the cabbage is cooked but crunchy. Scatter with the coriander if desired. This can then be eaten as is or served with a green salad or cooked green veg.

The final photo is the finished meal.

Quick Chicken Tikka Masala.

This recipe is from the book 'The Collection' by James Martin and was suprisingly simple to make yet really tasty. For those that do not like spicy food, all I can say is that this meal is very creamy with a slight hint of spice overlain by citrus. The recipe given below will provide enough for 4 people.


I love the way the ingredients are so colourful, it is visually stimulating even before you get the scents mingling together. (on a side note, I used fresh ginger root for the first time with this meal and I have to say it smelled even better than I expected)

So, the ingredients:

1 inch piece of fresh root ginger, finely chopped

1 tsp ground turmeric

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander leaves

Juice of 2 limes

2 tbsp vegetable oil

salt and pepper, to taste

4 chicken breasts, skinned and sliced into strips (I cut these further into large cubes)

1 onion, finely chopped

300ml double cream

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Mix the ginger, garlic, chilli, turmeric, half of the coriander, 1 tbsp of oil, the lime juice and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken and stir well to ensure that all of the pieces are coated in the mixture. Place everything in the fridge for 10 - 15 minutes.

The above photo shows the chicken marinade just before going in the fridge.

Sweat the onions in a large pan with the remaining oil (this is where my sautee pan comes in useful). To sweat onions means to cook them until they are just softening and look gleaming and a little damp. Add the chicken and all the marinade ingredients to the pan and cook on a medium to high heat for 4 - 5 minutes.

Add the double cream and simmer until the meat is cooked through (probably 3 - 4 minutes). Season and add the lemon juice to taste, adding the remaining coriander.

Serve with a naan bread and/or rice.

Finally, here is a photo of the prepared meal.

Honey mustard pasta with sausage and ham.

Ok, let's start with an easy one. This is a really simple meal that serves two (can be doubled easily) and is ready in about 20 minutes.

The ingredients, as seen above are very easy to get hold of. They are:

Penne pasta (I use A handful per person)

Mattesons smoked pork sausage

Sliced ham

Knorr 'Chicken tonight' Honey mustard sauce.

To save a little time later on, the first thing I do is to slice the sausage and cut the slices in half. I then cut approx 8 slices of ham into rough strips with a pair of scissors. The cut meat can be seen below.



At this point, the pasta is placed in a saucepan with enough water to cover the pasta and a little cooking oil to stop the pasta sticking to the pan. The pasta is then brought to the boil, then the heat is reduced to let simmer for about 15 minutes. the texture of the pasta at this point should be slightly firm to the bite or 'al dente'. Drain the pasta and mix in the prepared meat, stirring through. Add the sauce and mix together thoroughly, place back on the heat and warm through for around 5 minutes, remembering to stir frequently. The best accompaniment for this is french bread with a balsamic dip or simple butter.

This is how the completed meal appears. I hope you enjoy it.

Tools of the trade.

First thing I think we ought to mention is cooking equipment, by which I mean pots and pans.

Well, these are some of mine. We have ceramic hobs at home, so we decided to upgrade our pots and pans to these. The pots and jug are by a company called STELLAR and the large pan at the front is a James Martin sautee pan.

All of these pots and pans have the thickened, heat retaining pads on the base, meaning that as soon as the pan is up to the required temperature, you must turn the heat down, otherwise everything will burn to the pan. That said, once you get used to them, they are a real pleasure to cook with. I use stainless steel implements with no fear of scratching the non-stick surface since none of the pans are non-stick. That said however, they are all very simple to keep clean on the condition that you do not burn food and clean up as soon as you have finished with them.

OK, now that you have seen the table (indicating that I believe that appearance is all important) and my pots and pans (indicating that I am addicted to shiny things) the posts on here from now on will tend to concentrate on menus and recipes, meals that I cook (along with accompanying pictures) and thoughts on how the food turned out, how it tasted and whether I felt it need a little something extra.

Please feel free to use the recipes I post here, since food should be a shared experience. All that I ask if you do try them is please let me know how they went.

All good meals need a setting.

Rather than start off with a menu or a photo of a meal, I thought I would share with you our table all ready for christmas dinner. In the middle of the table is a small tree that has bare branches that can be decorated as we see fit. Setting the table for christmas is my job and it is something that I enjoy almost as much as cooking. You get a feeling of satisfaction when you can stand back and appreciate the beauty of the piece.