Pastitsio, Greek Pasta Bake

After 14 years of driving to the South of France every summer, due to my eldest daughter's access and equipment needs, last week we treated our younger two now adult children to a last minute package holiday.  My son likes history and Greek mythology, my middle daughter likes sun and sea, and we all like food, so we settled on Rhodes.  They tried their best to eat most of the popular Greek dishes, but the one of the dishes they didn't try was Pastitsio, a layered lasagne like pasta bake, so I introduced them to it.

Serves 4-6

500g long pasta tubes, pastitsio no.2 aka bucatini, or penne
2 tbsp olive or sunflower oil
1 large onion, finely diced
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 courgette grated, or a bag of baby spinach leaves (optional)
500g beef or pork mince, or a mixture of both
150ml red wine
500g passata
1 tsp dried mint

1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cinnamon

1 bay leaf
2 eggs

500g greek style yoghurt

1/4 tsp nutmeg
100g grated halloumi, cheddar, or parmesan

Gently fry the onion in 1 tbsp olive oil in a saucepan. 

When the onion starts to look translucent add the courgette if using.  Fry for 5-10 minutes until soft.  Add the garlic and mince, breaking the mince up as you cook it.  When broken up and with very few raw pink bits, add the passata, rinse the carton out with the wine and add this, and the herbs & spices, apart from the nutmeg.  Cover and bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer, stirring from time to time, whilst you cook the pasta.

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.  

Just before the pasta cooking time is up, check the pasta sauce. It should be slightly thick, like single cream. If still too watery, take the lid off and continue to simmer whilst you drain the pasta.

Drain the pasta, tip into a large high sided baking dish, and stir through 1 tbsp olive oil. 

Turn the oven on to 180C.  

Beat the eggs into the yoghurt together with a pinch of salt and nutmeg.

Pour the meat sauce evenly over the pasta (if being traditional the pasta should be lined up all the same direction in the baking dish, but I have yet to bother to do this), then evenly cover this with the yoghurt and egg mixture.  Top with the grated cheese.

Bake for 45-60 minutes at 180C in the middle of the oven or until golden brown and bubbling. You may wish to turn the grill of for a couple of minutes to brown the top, but keep a close eye on it - the cheese burns quickly! 

Serve with a big green salad.

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Pigs in Blankets Sausage Rolls

I made Pigs in Blankets Swirls a few weeks ago, but thought I'd try making more traditionally shaped sausage rolls for an extended family gathering the day after Boxing Day

Makes 8/16

320g pack ready rolled puff pastry
8 slices of streaky bacon
8 sausages or 500g sausage meat 

If using sausages, remove the casings by cutting them off with scissors. 

Lay the pastry out on the greaseproof paper it comes with, with one of the longest sides towards you.  With a rolling pin, roll the pastry out towards and away from you to make it a little wider.  

Cut the pastry in half lengthways from left to right to make two long strips.

Lay short lengths of bacon along the middle of the pastry strips.  After cutting the first few slices of bacon in half, I worked out I needed to cut them in three to cover the middle of the pastry.

Divide the sausagemeat in half and spread each half evenly over the bacon, along the middle of each pastry strip, right up to the edges.  If using sausages, just lay four skinned sausages along the bacon on each pastry strip.

Fold the longside of the pastry over to the over and crimp it closed with a fork.  Lightly score each pastry roll into 4, or 8 if you want mini sausage rolls. 

Once scored, cut with sharp scissors.  Drag the greaseproof paper onto a baking tray and arrange the cut sausage rolls with a bit of space between them.

Bake at 180C for 40 minutes until golden brown, turning half way though the cooking time.  Best eaten hot.  Can be reheated at 180C for 7 minutes in an air fryer.

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Egg Foo Yung/Chow Mein

Egg Fu Yung is a Chinese style omelette, popular in American and British Chinese restaurants, usually served with a soy based gravy. 

Chow mein is a Chinese dish of stir-fried noodles with leftover vegetables, meat or tofu, also popular in America and the UK.

I thought I'd combine both Egg Fu Yung and Chow Mein to use up some leftover cooked chicken, and some eggs that needed using.  This recipe would work well with leftover turkey after Christmas.

Serves 4

3 layers medium egg noodles

4 eggs

300g cooked chicken, turkey, pork, beef, or prawns

1 onion, peeled & thickly sliced

1 garlic clove, peeled & sliced

100g frozen peas

1 chicken stock cube

500ml recently boiled water

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp turmeric (optional)

1/2 tsp paprika (optional)

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp cornflour

Vegetable oil for frying 

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions.  Leave to cool in a pan of cold water.

Heat one tablespoon of oil in a wok over a medium high heat.  

Beat the eggs, and fry in the wok like a omelette for a few minutes so you have a side plate sized disk of cooked egg. Flip the egg over carefully to ensure the egg is cooked through.  Slide the egg onto a plate, chop into bite sized pieces, and wipe the wok out with a piece of kitchen paper.

Heat another tablespoon of oil in the wok over a medium high heat.

Stir fry the onion for 1-2 minutes until it starts to soften or go golden brown.  Add the peas and garlic.

Crumble in the stock cube and melt in the oil and heat.  Add 500ml of hot water, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, turmeric and paprika.  Stir well.

Mix the cornflour with two tablespoons of cold water.  When the 'gravy' is boiling, pour in the cornflour mixture whilst stirring to thicken it.

Drain the noodles and add to the gravy together with the meat or prawns, and chopped egg.  Mix well and serve.

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Vietnamese Noodle Soup (Pho)

A little bit of leftover roast pork inspired me to make Pho (apparently pronounced 'fuh', like 'huh' but with an f)

It can be made with chicken, beef, pork, or tofu.  A lot of online recipes suggest homemade stock, and whilst authentic I made it with good quality stock cubes.  Even using stock cubes, the broth still requires a lot of spices.  I note that ready made pho broth is available in UK supermarkets, but no vegetarian option as far as I can see.

Serves 4

1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 shallots or 1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
1 lemongrass stalk, halved and squashed
2.5cm piece ginger, sliced
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick or 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp coriander seeds or ground coriander
¼ tsp Chinese five spice
8 black peppercorns
1 tsp caster sugar (optional)
1 tbsp fish sauce
1.5 litres good quality chicken (for chicken or pork pho), beef (for beef pho), or vegetable stock

4 rice noodle nests (I used wheat noodles as I didn't have any other noodles)

A handful of sliced cooked pork, chicken, or beef.  For vegetarians/vegans -a 200g block of sliced tofu, or 
1 large carrot, shredded or peeled into ribbon with a vegetable peeler
8 pak choi or Chinese Leaf leaves, cut into 2cm strips
Large bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
Small bunch of mint, chopped

4 spring onions, finely sliced 
1 red chilli, thinly sliced, or ¼ tsp dried per bowl
1 kaffir lime leaf, thinly sliced (optional)
1 lime, cut into 4 wedges

In a saucepan big enough to take 1.5 litres, fry the onion and garlic in the vegetable oil over a medium high heat for about 5 minutes until lightly brown and caramelised.

Add the stock and the rest of the flavourings.  Cover and bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

Whilst the noodles are cooking according to the instructions on the packet, chop/shred all the remaining vegetables and herbs.

When the noodles are cooked, drain and divide between four large bowls.  Divide and arrange the pak choi, carrot, meat/tofu/mushrooms (the mushroom slices can be browned in a non stick frying pan over a high heat to give a little more depth of flavour) on top of the noodles, followed by the coriander, mint, spring onions, chilli, and kaffir lime leaf if using.

Pour the hot stock over the four bowls when the 15 minutes is up, and serve immediately with a quarter of lime to squeeze over.

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Feijoada, Brazilian Pork & Bean Stew

Last night was the first slow cooker meal of the autumn/winter, prompted by a glut of beans.

It was such a treat to come home from tidying the allotment during the tail end of Storm Amy in southern England to dinner already cooked.

Serves a hearty 4

8 pork belly strips (I had 4, as my butcher cut me 4 massive one!)
4 cooking chorizo (I used 8 mini chorizo, or use 200g cured chorizo cut into 8)
1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
A pinch of hot chilli flakes
2 cans beans (black, borlotti, pinto, cannellini), or 250g dried beans, soaked and cooked

If using dried beans, soak and cook these before hand.  Keep the cooking water.

Brown the pork belly and the whole chorizo in the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium high heat, and place in the slow cooker in a single layer on the bottom of the slow cooker that is warming up.

Turn the heat down under the frying pan and gently fry the onion and garlic until soft and translucent.  You can brown the chorizo now if it didn’t fit in the frying pan with the pork belly. Add a little more olive oil if required. Spread over the pork belly in the slow cooker when soft.

Heat the liquid from the cans of beans or the equivalent of two cans of cooking water (about 400ml) in the frying pan, together with the vinegar, chilli flakes, and bay leaves.  When boiling pour over the pork belly and onion mixture. The liquid should just cover the pork belly at the bottom of the slow cooker (don’t worry about covering the odd piece of chorizo or onions).  If it doesn’t cover the pork, add little more boiling water from the kettle but go easy.  Slow cooker dishes can be quite watery as they do not reduce like casseroles in the oven or on the hob.

After 5 hours on High, stir in the canned/cooked beans.  Leave for another hour on High to heat the beans through.

Serve with white rice and a Kale Chimichurri.

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Chinese Congee (Rice Porridge/Soup)

Rice porridge may sound unappealing, but this simple Asian dish is great comfort food and can be taken in a soup flask as a packed lunch. 

Congee is the Mandarin name, Jook in Cantonese, Chok in Thailand, and Cháo in Vietnamese. I regularly had it for breakfast backpacking in Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong Kong.

The classic congee is just rice simmered in water or stock until it breaks down essentially to mush, and flavoured with ginger and soy.

Shredded chicken, minced pork, or egg can be added to the classic congee for protein, but I like to make a plant based version with vegetable stock, tofu, and colourful vegetables.

Serves 2

1 litre vegetable stock

1 cup cooked rice, white rice is traditional but I prefer brown rice

1 tbsp finely grated ginger

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

200g firm tofu, grated

1 large carrot, grated

1 pak choi, thinly sliced 

2 spring onions, finely chopped

Seasonings - chilli oil, sesame oil, chilli flakes, soy sauce, and/or fish sauce to serve

Add the rice, garlic, and ginger to a pan.  Pour over the stock and bring to the boil.

Boil for 5-10 minutes uncovered until the rice is a runny porridge consistence. 

Stir in the tofu, carrot, and pak choi to heat up.

Serve when congee comes back to the boil.  Sprinkle each serving with a chopped spring onion, and season with what ever you have to hand and to your own taste.

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Cheats Nduja (Spicy Italian Pork Paté)

Unusually, I came across a recipe for a vegan nduja and made a meat version, as quite often I find myself making vegan versions of meat recipes.  We're not vegans, but meat has become a weekend treat. So as today is Saturday I made this Nduja pasta sauce.

Nduja is a fiery spreadable salami made with Calabrian chilli peppers.  There weren't any Calabria chills in Asda in Eastleigh in Hampshire, so I used the remnants of some Chipotle paste I had plus some hot chilli flakes.  I think I will stick to hot chilli flakes in future as they are easier to find.

Serves 6 with 500g dried pasta

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

500g higher welfare pork mince

2 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 large garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tsp red wine vinegar

100g roasted red peppers, keeping the liquid

1-2 tsp chilli powder or flakes, to taste (it is supposed to be fiery!)

In a frying pan, fry the pork mince in the olive oil over a medium high heat until browned.

Stir in the paprika, fennel seeds, and garlic and cook for another couple of minutes.

Add the red wine vinegar, stir around and then the peppers.  Stir then turn off the heat to cool for a 10+ minutes.

When cool enough run through a food processor, adding the reserved roasted pepper liquid if required, to make a spreadable paste.

Serve over pasta (a mug of pasta water helps make the 'nduja into more of a sauce), on toast or canapés.

Keep in the fridge for 3 days, or freeze in portions.

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River Cottage Tupperware Chorizo

In an attempt to reduce the (kids) amount of ultra processed food consumed in this house, I made some River Cottage Tupperware Chorizo Mince last week, and have frozen it in 100g portions to use in calzone, risotto, pasta, cheese toasties etc.

500g minced pork
1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
1 tsp hot smoked paprika
1 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp fennel seeds
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
50ml red wine
Freshly ground black pepper

Mix and squish the chorizo ingredients together thoroughly. Seal in a tupperware container and ideally leave for 24 hours or more (it will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge) for the flavours to develop.

When ready, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a non stick frying pan over a medium high heat.  When hot, add about half the minced meat in little blobs around the pan taking care not to overcrowd the pan otherwise it will start to steam rather than fry.  After a minute or so, break the lumps up with a wooden spoon and stir fry.  Once the first batch is beginning to look cooked, push to one side of the pan and sprinkle in some more blobs.  Repeat until all the mince is in pan and fry until golden brown.  If the meat does start to sweat, keep cooking until this evaporates off.

Leave to cool and freeze in 100g portions.

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Slow Cooker Pork Belly & Beans

Cooking pork belly and beans in a slow cooker is a great midweek, or lazy weekend main meal.

I usually cook Boston Baked Beans but thought I'd try a few different flavours, based on BBC Good Food's Braised Pork Belly with Borlotti Beans

Serves 4

400g cubed pork belly, or 4 pork belly strips (skin removed)

1 large onion, peeled and diced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

1 large stick of celery, diced

1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp fennel seeds

Small sprig of rosemary

1 tin chopped tomatoes

2 cans beans (borlotti, cannellini, pinto beans) and their liquid 

200ml white wine

Recently boiled water

1 chicken stock cube, crumbled

2 tbsp plain flour, or gluten free alternative (I used chickpea flour)

Turn the slow cooker on to warm up.

Fry the cubed pork in the vegetable oil over a medium high heat in a high sided frying pan.

Once it starts to brown, push to one side and add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic.  Stir, and fry for a couple of minutes then stir the tomato paste, fennel and rosemary.

Scrape the contents of the frying pan into the slow cooker, together with the beans and their liquid.  Bring  the wine and crumbled stock cube to the boil in the frying pan then pour over the pork and beans in the slow cooker.  Mix, and top up with recently boiled water so everything is just covered with liquid.

Cook on high for 6-8 hours.  30 minutes before you want to serve, mix a little of the cooking liquor into the flour to form a loose paste.  Stir the flour paste into the stew, squishing any lumps if you see any.  Cover, and stir once before serving.

We served it with roast potatoes and cauliflower, but it works well with mashed potato, rice, pasta...

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Yakisoba, Japanese Stir Fried Noodles

Yakisoba is a Japanese stir fry noodles dish with pork and vegetables, and it’s seasoned with a sweet & savoury sauce similar to Worcestershire sauce.  We made a vegetarian version swapping pork for tofu.

Serves 4

4 layers medium egg noodles

1 onion, peeled and finely sliced

1 large carrot, peeled & grated

1 bunch spring onions, chopped into 1 cm lengths (optional)

4 large mushrooms (optional)

4 large cabbage leaves, shredded

500g pork belly, sliced into bitesized pieces, leftover roast pork, or tofu

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed (optional) 

2cm ginger, finely grated (optional)

5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp sugar

Start by mixing all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and leave to one side.

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions then leave in cold water until ready to fry.

Prepare all the other ingredients.

Start by frying the pork (if using) in the sunflower oil in a wok or large frying pan until no longer pink.  Tip on to a plate, wipe out the pan and heat another 2 tbsp sunflower oil.

Swirl it around the coat the sides of the wok.  Then in quick succession add the garlic and ginger, stir once, the add carrot, cabbage, mushrooms, then spring onions.  Splash in a few tablespoons of the noodle cooking water and cover the pan, leaving the vegetables to steam and soften for a few minutes.

When the vegetables are cooked to your liking (we like them crunchy, kids like them soft) mix in the cooked noodles and cooked pork and reheat. Once hot, stir through the sauce and serve.

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Leftover Roast (Pork, Turkey, Chicken, Nut Roast) Fajitas

Wraps are a big favourite in our family, and fajitas turned out to be a handy way to use up our leftover roast pork from Christmas Day.  Big Boy is now vegetarian, and had his with reheated nutroast crumbled in, although I did have a back up can of black beans as a Plan B vegetarian option.

Serves  4

Large onion, peeled and thinly sliced

Red pepper, deseeded and cut into strips

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp chilli

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1 lime or lemon, juiced

8 wraps
Lettuce leaves, washed & torn

One small handful of roast per person

Sour cream or Greek Yoghurt (optional)

2 avocados, destoned & sliced

Fresh chilli, deseed and thinly sliced (optional)

Fry the onion and red pepper over a gently heat until both are soft and slightly brown.  Add the garlic, spices, lime juice, and leftover roast and fry to reheat the roast.

When ready, assemble your fajita as desired. 

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Thai Minced Pork & Green Beans

I first had this dish in a student flat in Edinburgh in 1989.  My brother's then girlfriend's friend had returned from several months in Phuket studying the geology, much to the envy of her other geology student friend's trip to the mud flats of Aberdeen.

She did write the recipe down for me, but nearly 30 years and several house moves later, I can no longer find it.  It had an obscene amount of birds eye chillis and garlic in, but over time and with kids to feed I this been dumbed down a bit.  This is my most recent take/recollection.  My kids love it so much, my 12 year old has added it to her birthday food list.

Serves 4

1 tbsp sunflower oil
500g minced pork
500g green beans, cut into 1cm lengths
1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1/8-1/4 tsp very hot chilli flakes
5 kaffir lime leaves, shredded (or the zest of a small lime)
450ml boiling water
1 chicken stock cube, crumbled
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp cornflour

Heat the oil a large saucepan or sauté pan and stir fry the minced pork, breaking up any large lumps.

Add the beans, garlic, and chilli.  Stir fry for another minute then add all the other ingredients apart from the cornflour.  Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes depending on how much crunch you like your beans to have.

When the beans are to your liking, add a little water to the cornflour to make it the consistency of single cream and pour into the pork and beans.  Stir over a high heat until the sauce has thickened slightly.

Serve with Thai or basmati rice.

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Hoisin Noodles with Pork &/or Vegetables

I have a large jar of hoisin sauce in the fridge, leftover from bbq ribs.  As I also had 3 small cooked pork chops leftover from this weekend, I thought I'd marry the two up.  It could of course be made without meat, with more vegetables and/or tofu.

Serves 4

4 layers of noodles
200g cooked pork or firm tofu (optional)
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large carrot, grated
4 cabbage leaves, shredded (if not using meat or tofu)
1 small bunch of spring onions, finely chopped
1cm root ginger, grated

Sauce Ingredients
1 large garlic clove grated
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 tbsp sherry
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.  When cooked rinse in cold water until cool and leave standing in water until needed.  Prepare all the other ingredients whilst the noodles are cooking.

In a large frying pan or wok, large enough to be able to mix all the noodles and other ingredients easily, heat the oil over a high heat.  When smoking add the ginger and garlic, stir, and then add the onion and cabbage if using.  Stir quickly for a minute or so then add the pork/tofu and spiring onions and stir fry for a few more minutes.

Turn down to a medium heat. Add the noodles straight from the pan to the frying pan.  The dripping water off them is good!  Mix everything together in the pan and cover if possible to heat the noodles through.  If you hear sizzling, add a little more noodle water.  Mix together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

When the noodles are warmed through stir in the sauce and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately.

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Pork Lasagne

Having used pork one day because it turned out I had no minced beef, pork lasagne is now middle daughter's (Sprout) preferred lasagne.  There is just something about pork. It is light and aromatic...

Serves a greedy 4

Ragú
500g pork mince
1 large onion, peeled and finely diced
1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 large stick of celery, finely diced
1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 glass of white wine
1 carton of passata or chopped tomatoes
Pepper & salt

White Sauce
750ml milk
2 heated tbsp plain flour
Large knob of butter  or 1 tbsp olive oil
1 large bay leaf
A pinch of nutmeg
Pepper & salt

Large handful of mature cheddar
12-16 lasagne sheets

Start by making the the ragu.  Soften the onion, carrot, & celery in the olive oil for about 5 minutes over a medium heat.  Add the rest of the ingredients, breaking up the lumps of mince.  Cover and bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer with the lid on whilst you make the white sauce.

In a separate saucepan add all the sauce ingredients over a medium heat. Incorporate everything by whisking gently every minute or so.  As soon as you feel the sauce thickening on the bottom of the pan, change from the whisk to a wooden spoon and dislodge all the thickening sauce from the bottom of the pan.  Turn the heat down to low and stir pretty constantly still you have a smooth sauce.  Season to taste then turn off the heat.  Season the ragú to taste and turn the heat off that too, taking the pan lid off to let some of heat out.

In my experience, layering the lasagne takes a degree of skill/experience.  We like quite a lot of pasta so I aim for 3 layers of 4 sheets, but it is still guesswork trying to divide a pan's worth of ragú and white sauce into 4/5.

Start with a layer of ragú in your lasagne dish,  I've worked out that 2 small ladles is roughly 1/4 of sauce.  Then 2 ladles of white sauce, and a layer of pasta sheets.  Repeat two more times.  Ideally finish with a layer of pasta sheets covered in a thick layer white sauce, but often don't have enough white sauce left so just pile more white sauce on top of your last meat layer, topped with the cheese.

Bake at 180C for 30-40 minutes until lightly browned on top and bubbling.  Serve with a green salad.  Garlic bread should not be needed with all the extra pasta.

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Jamie Oliver's Toad in the Hole

The kids announced they liked the Toad in the Hole served up at school last week so I resolved to make it for them.

The only one other time I made it (Delia's Toad in the Hole) it wasn't exactly a success, but 3 years on maybe things have changed.

It did, on the whole, go down better than the first time.  But due to the 'pudding' rising so spectacularly, I had to open the oven earlier than advised in the recipe to lower the oven dish to stop it burning on the top oven element.  I don't know whether this was the reason the pudding stuck to the bottom  of my terracotta baking dish.  Not enough oil certainly wasn't an issue.  So one child didn't eat the burnt bits, and all three found the gravy too vinegary.

Jamie Oliver's Toad in the Hole

Ingredients
sunflower oil
8 large quality higher-welfare sausages
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 large red onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 knobs of unsalted butter
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 level tablespoon vegetable stock powder or 1 organic vegetable stock cube

Batter
285 ml milk
115 g plain flour
3 large free-range eggs

Method

1. Mix the batter ingredients together with a pinch of sea salt, and put to one side. I like the batter to go huge so the key thing is to have an appropriately-sized baking tin – the thinner the better – as we need to get the oil smoking hot.
2. Put 1cm of sunflower oil into a baking tin, then place on the middle shelf of your oven at its highest setting (240–250ºC/475ºF/gas 9). Place a larger tray underneath it to catch any oil that overflows from the tin while cooking. 
3. When the oil is very hot, add the sausages – keep an eye on them and allow them to colour until lightly golden.
4. At this point, take the tin out of the oven, being very careful, and pour the batter over the sausages. Throw a couple of sprigs of rosemary into the batter.
5. It will bubble and possibly even spit a little, so carefully put the tin back in the oven, and close the door. Don't open it for at least 20 minutes, as Yorkshire puddings can be a bit temperamental when rising. Remove from the oven when golden and crisp.
6. For the onion gravy, peel and finely slice the onions and garlic, then simply fry off in the butter on a medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until they go sweet and translucent. You could add a little thyme or rosemary here, if you like. Add the balsamic vinegar and allow it to cook down by half.
7. At this point, I do cheat a little and add a stock cube or powder. You can get some good ones in the supermarkets now that aren't full of rubbish. Sprinkle this in and add a little water. Allow to simmer and you'll have a really tasty onion gravy.
8. Serve at the table with the Toad in the Hole, mashed potatoes, greens and baked beans or maybe a green salad if you're feeling a little guilty!

A Mum's Notes
1. There are very few timings in Jamie's method.  Browning sausages in a hot oven took considerably longer than I would have imagined.  But the quoted "50 minutes cooking time" is probably about right for a total cooking time.
2. My batter stuck.  Why? I used a terracotta baking dish and wonder if metal might have been better.
3. I would use considerably less vinegar than stated in the recipe.  Maybe just 1 tbsp, or use red wine instead.  There is also no measurement of water to add.  I wanted quite a lot of gravy for a family of 5 and know that you usually add 500ml water to a stock cube.  So I added 300ml of just boiled water.  I also wanted a slightly thick gravy so I added 2 level tbsp of plain flour to the cooked down onions just before adding the boiling water.

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Chorizo Stuffed Marrow

What to do with a courgette/marrow glut Part 5

No attempt to clear a courgette/marrow glut would be complete without Stuffed Marrow.  But in an attempt to make it palatable to the kids, I have wooed them with a chorizo flavoured stuffing from - an ever so slightly toned down version of River Cottage's Tupperware Chorizo to be exact.

Serves 6

1 oversized courgette/small marrow

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 tin chopped tomatoes

Chorizo
500g minced pork
1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
1 tsp hot smoked paprika
1 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp fennel seeds
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
50ml red wine
Freshly ground black pepper

 Mix and squish the chorizo ingredients together thoroughly. Seal in a tupperware container and leave for 24 hours or more (it will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge) for the flavours to develop.

On the day you are cooking your stuffed marrow, wash and halve the marrow lengthways and scrape out the seeds.  Find a high sided baking tray they can fit snuggly in side by side cut side up.  Season the cavity and drizzle with olive oil.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion until it just starts to brown.  Add the chorizo mix and fry this until brown too.  Pour in the chopped tomatoes and half a can of water to make a sloppyish mixture.

Once the sauce is bubbling, turn off the heat and spoon into the marrow cavity.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil (it is the trapped steam that cooks the marrow) and bake for 30 minutes.  The recipe I followed said it should be ready after this time, but my overgrown yellow courgette was still solid at this stage.  I ended up baking it for an hour so factor this into your estimated dinner time!

I served it with bulghur wheat and it was announced the best way ever of having courgette!

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Bolognese/Ragu Sauce made with Leftovers

The leftover Pork & Stilton, Venison & Damson, and Cumberland sausages from the last BBQ of the year found their way into this ragu, which in turn was made into a midweek lasagne.  The meat part  of this sauce could equally be made with leftover roast beef or roast pork.

A food processor makes light work of all the vegetable & meat chopping.

1 onion
1 large carrot
1 stick of celery
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
2 large handfuls of leftover meat
1 tin chopped tomatoes

Peel the onion and carrot.  Roughly chop onion and garlic and process into a fine rubble in the food processor.  Fry gently in a wide saucepan to soften whilst you roughly chop and process the celery and carrot to a fine rubble too.  Add these to the pan once chopped.  Cover and sweat over a gently heat for 5 minutes or so whilst you roughly chop the meat and process this to a rubble.

Once the onions start to look translucent, push the vegetables to once side, turn up the heat a little and add the meat.  Leave it to sizzle for a few minutes before adding the tomatoes (liquidised if you like, as my kids prefer) together with a can of recently boiled water.

Bring to the boil and simmer with the lid of for 20-30 minutes and the sauce has reduced and thickened to your taste.  If using leftover roast you may wish to add pepper and salt to taste.  Using processed meat, I found there was no need to add any further seasoning.

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Curried Currant, Cashew Nut & Carrot Couscous

All the C's.  Just realised as I typed it out.

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With an hours notice, my brother-in-law who does not cook, rang yesterday to ask me to knock up a couscous salad with some cashews in.

A quick google, whilst feeding my disabled daughter breakfast, and I turned up an enticingly sounding curried cashew nut and currant salad.  I simply added carrots to give it a little more colour, and possibly would add some thinly sliced fried or raw onion next time to give it a little more kick.

As it is an American recipe, and me being me, I altered the original recipe to suit what I have at home.  The recipe was in US cup measurements.  I do have these, but I've just discovered making it that a mug is pretty much the same as a cup if you don't have cup measures to hand.

Serves 4-6

1 cup couscous
1/2 cup raisins, currants, or sultanas
1/2 cup cashew nuts, roughly chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp curry powder or paste
2 medium carrots, grated

Place the couscous, currants, cashew nuts, curry powder, oil, and salt in a warmed serving dish with a lid. Pour over the same amount of boiling water as couscous i.e. one mug or cup.  Cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes fluff the couscous up with a fork and add the grated carrot.  Taste to check  seasoning, adding more salt, oil, or curry powder as required. The original recipe only said one teaspoon of curry powder but I found that I could not taste it a tall in this amount of initially bland couscous!

My brother in law was very impressed and claimed some of the leftovers for a weekday lunch.

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Thai Jungle Curry with Pork

Unusually for nowadays the kids ate something different to us at their tea time because they had a friend round for tea. So that gave me the opportunity to try something new for the grown-ups.  I am due to cook a Thai curry for my curry night in a few weeks so I thought I'd try a different Thai dish and jungle curry seemed just the ticket, with relatively few ingredients and a short cooking time.  This is a soupy curry.

Serves 4
400g diced pork
2 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp red curry paste (recipe I based this on said 4tbsp!)
1 aubergine, diced (I didn't have any so used spring greens!)
1/2 mug peas or sliced beans
10cm ginger, finely sliced
2 baby corn cut into about 3 (optional)
400ml chicken stock (or water)
4tbsp fish sauce
5 kaffir lime leaves , stems removed and finely sliced
1/2-1 tsp dried chilli flakes
Holy basil (optional)

Fry the curry paste in the cooking oil for a couple of minutes then add the pork and add for another couple of minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients, apart from the peas/beans and holy basil if using, together with the chicken stock and bring to the boil.  Simmer for 10 minutes then add the remaining ingredients and simmer for another 5 minutes.  Check the seasoning and add more salt/fish sauce as required.  Serve over Thai fragrant rice.

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Leftover Roast Pork in a Sweet & Sour Barbecue Sauce

This dish started off with me following the chilli sauce recipe from Ching-He Huang's Chilli Chicken with Jasmine Rice, but as I added additional ingredients from a Thai Sweet & Sour dish I learnt in Thailand as I prefer the saltier flavours, it began to take on more of a barbecue sauce flavour.  The kids have devoured it, including mine and Dad's portions, so I had better write it down to be able to reproduce it again.

2 big handfuls of roast pork.  If you don't have this much you could always leave the pepper chunky and add a small tin of pineapple chunks to bulk the dish up.
1 tbsp sunflower oil

Sauce
1 tin of tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
2.5cm ginger
1 red pepper
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
1 tsp sugar
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

Skin the garlic, de-seed and roughtly chop the pepper, roughtly chop the ginger and blend everything in a blender cup.

Fry the chopped pork in the sunflower oil, leaving it to brown as much as you dare.  Add the sauce and bring to the boil.  Serve with rice.