Dauphinoise potatoes

Ingredients
2 kilo of potatoes sliced thinly
Salt and pepper
500ml of double cream
3 cloves of garlic

Method
Slice the potatoes and layer in a large dish.
Grate the garlic over the potatoes and mix in.
Cover with salt and pepper.
Cover with double cream.
Cover dish with foil and bake for about an hour at 150 C. Take off the foil and bake uncovered for 20 mins or until the potatoes are tender right through.

Mushroom and chive tagliatelle

I picked up a recipe leaflet today at Asda and thought it looked extremely tasty. I bought the ingredients whilst there and cooked it tonight. Absolutely delicious!

10g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion sliced
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
500g chestnut mushrooms sliced
150g baby button mushrooms
150ml white wine or cider
200ml low fat creme fraiche
3 tablespoons fresh chives chopped
350g tagliatelle
Salt and black pepper

If using dried pasta then get that on straightaway. If fresh pasta is used cook that in the final two minutes of the recipe.

Melt the oil and butter and add the onion and garlic. Cook until soft. Add the mushrooms and white wine and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the creme fraiche and half of the chives. Season to taste and heat through. Mix the cooked pasta with the sauce and serve immediately. Garnish with black pepper and a few long chives.

I added a good grating of parmesan cheese on top.

Autumn vegetable soup

My friend Charlie's recipe for Autumn vegetable soup

This will make 2 decent sized portions

120g pumpkin
120g carrots
120g celeriac
medium onion
1 stock cube, made up with 3/4 pint water
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon
black pepper (or S&P to taste)

Chop everything...pop in a pan with the stock.....bring to boil then simmer for 30- 35 minutes.....whizz in a blender and reheat.

Courgette/marrow and spinach soup with cream cheese

These quantities are approximate because to be honest I rarely measure anything.

I used:

2 very large courgettes (small marrows)
Large bunch of spinach
2 medium potatoes
1 large clove of garlic
2 medium onions
sml bunch of herbs-mint, origano, parsley
2 veg stock cubes
2 cups of water
level desert spoon of salt
Black pepper
Large knob of margarine

Asda be good to yourself cream cheese with garlic and herb

Melt margarine in a pan, add the washed and diced courgettes, peeled and chopped onions, peeled and diced potatoes, spinach and crushed garlic. Add the salt at this stage.
Allow the veg to sweat down very slowly on a low heat.
Add the bunch of herbs
Add 2 cups of water and stock cubes
Cook for about 20-30 mins on a low heat
Blitz in a blender and return to pan.

Pour soup into a bowl and then add a teaspoon of cream cheese and allow to melt into the soup. Soup could be frozen before the addition of the cream cheese and added when reheated.

Macaroni Cheese made with Campbells soup

This is a recipe I have made for many years. I probably first made it when I was about 18 or 19 and now both my daughters make it.


To serve 4
8oz of macaroni
One tin of Campbells Tomato soup
One onion chopped
3-4 oz of strongish cheese (cheddar, red leicester or even the cheap ones from Asda or Sainsbury)

Method

Cook the macaroni in plenty of salted boiling water. Chop the onion and fry in a pan with a teaspoon of oil. Add the soup. Stir continuously until heated through. Add all of the cheese and stir in until melted. If the sauce is very thick then just add a splash of milk. When macaroni is cooked, strain and add to the sauce. Stir round.

You can sprinkle breadcrumbs and cheese on top and pop under a hot grill for 5 minutes if you want to.

Mushrooms with cheese

Mushrooms with cheese

Large field mushrooms
Cheese

Clean the mushrooms put small chunks of cheese around the stalk. Pop into a baking tin and bake in oven for about 10-15 mins until mushrooms are cooked and cheese is all bubbly and melted. These are great on the barbecue too.

Garlic Monkey Bread

I make this when we have a barbecue because everyone can just dig in. It's also good for informal family meals to accompany chilli, or spaghetti bolognese.

Before


After

For the dough you will need:
4 cups of strong plain flour
1 sachet of easyblend yeast
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 teaspoons of sugar
2 cloves of garlic crushed

To coat the dough
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 bunch of parsley chopped finely
6 oz of butter or margarine

To make the dough put the ingredients into a bread maker. Mix on the dough setting. When ready take out. Leave to one side for a few minutes whilst you melt the butter/margarine in a pan along with the garlic and parsley. When melted put to one side to allow to cool a little. You will now need a greased baking tin.

Divide the dough up into lots of little dough balls and roll around in the garlic butter and just place into the tin. Continue with the rest and just pile into the tin. This is a great activity for kids to get involved in. When you have used up all the dough then pour the rest of the garlic butter over the monkey bread. Leave to one side for about 10 mins to rise a little.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes in a preheated oven 180C

For a variation you could sprinkle on some grated cheese and have garlic and cheese monkey bread.

Tapas - Eggs with Peppers

I love Tapas and am always looking for easy recipes. This one I have made lots of times and it goes well with a salad. Great for vegetarians too.

2 red peppers deseeded and halved
6 hard boiled eggs (please use free range) shelled and sliced
2 tablespoons of white wine or cider vinegar
5 tablespoons of olive oil
1 small onion finely chopped
2 teaspoons of finely chopped fresh dill
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Add the peppers to a pan of boiling water and blanch for about 5-10 minutes.
Drain well and run under a cold tap to cool quickly. Pat dry with kitchen paper and then cut into very thin strips
Arrange the slices of egg onto a serving plate and sprinkle over the pepper strips. I like to make a lattice effect but it's up to you.
Whisk the vinegar, oil, chopped onion, chopped dill and sugar together in a bowl and then season with salt and pepper. Pour over the eggs and peppers and serve.

This is a light and refreshing salad and ideal for a barbecue or summer eating.

Yorkshire Puddings

200g of plain flour
3-4 eggs (depends on the size of egg)
pinch of salt and pepper
About 1/4 pint of milk (you need the mixture to end up like thick cream)
oil

Heat oven to 220C

Yorkshire puddings rise really well if there is plenty of egg in the mixture, coupled with a hot oven and preheating of the Yorkshire pudding tins.

Beat the eggs and milk together. Add the flour a bit at a time. Beat well and add salt and pepper.
Put oil into Yorkshire pudding tins and heat until very hot. Pour in the batter and cook for about 10-15 mins.

Toad in the Hole is a great favourite in our house. Make the above mixture but pour into a large baking tin with some partially cooked sausages. A bit of chopped onion added to the batter makes this even tastier.

My daughter who is vegetarian enjoys Yorkshire puddings filled with grated cheese. If you add the cheese just as they come out of the oven they the cheese melts beautifully.

My youngest daughter enjoys Yorkshire puddings with golden syrup poured over. Makes a great pudding.

Low Fat Humous

This is really easy to make and is less calories than the normal version of Humous. My daughter who is a vegetarian loves this.

1 Can of Chickpeas
1 tablespoon of fromage
lemon juice to taste
salt and pepper

Blitz all ingredients in a food processor. You could add some peppers, chillis, garlic etc to taste.
Use for dipping vegetable sticks into.