It's Tuesday's run-down on the menu plan for this week!

So, "what's the recipe for today, Jim?".  I'll bet not many of you recall that little bit of Radio 2 history.

I can well remember, when I was off school and feeling poorly, the sound of Radio 2 wafting through from the kitchen where my Mum was making a pie, or baking a cake, or just doing the dishes.  The programme was the Jimmy Young Show and he had a regular recipe slot, which was announced by "Raymondo", in a chipmunk style voice.  So, what's the recipe today, Jen?

Well, they go as follows :

Tues : Sausage casserole

Wed : Tandoori Chicken, saffron rice and salad

Thur : Ham & Apple Pie, parsnip mash, carrots & peas

Fri : Drunken Spaghetti

Sat : Trinidad Prawn Curry with rice

Sun : Chicken Normandy, Tenderstem broccoli, carrots & parsnips

Mon : Chilli con carne & rice.

I'm quite looking forward to that lot!

This evening's Sausage Casserole isn't just any old Sausage Casserole, oh no.  It's from the Good Food Channel's website and is from a recipe by Tana Ramsey.

Not a bad sausage casserole ...

Now both hubby and I have been known to produce a fairly good Sausage Casserole, but this one caught my attention because of its use of fennel, redcurrant jelly and balsamic vinegar in the mix.  Also, it has an interesting little savoury finish in that you mix up some whole grain mustard and creme fraiche (or cream) and drizzle it over the top.  Sounds like it could definitely hit the spot!

I'm not sure what to serve with it just yet, although I have almost settled upon some oven baked sweet potatoes.  I've got a couple lurking in the cupboard that need using - and I do want something different to the rest of the week's rice or pasta.

That's what I'm aiming for!

Wednesday's evening meal will be Tandoori Chicken from The Curry Guy.  I do have a lot of trust in The Curry Guy's recipes - and if he says that this is the closest he's come to creating a genuine Tandoori Chicken, then I'm up there for having a go.

I'll be so pleased if the rest of the family like this recipe, as we've been searching for a good reproducible home cooked version of the restaurant standard for a long, long time.

Now, Thursday's Ham & Apple Pie is one that I'm especially looking forward to.  It's an Arthur Potts Dawson recipe, from lovefood.com and I really like the idea of the layers of bechamel, ham, cheese and apple that the pie comprises.  The recipe isn't very far removed from our Kentish Pie, so I know that the flavours are sound - it's just the knack of the cook and the seasoning that counts.  This is another recipe for Bramley Apple Week - it's been a lot of fun, sourcing interesting apple recipes - and there's another one to come, in the shape of the Chicken Normany, before the week is up!

Not "the" recipe - but gives you an idea of how it should look!

I've got my fingers crossed for Friday.  Whether I make the Drunken Spaghetti or not on that day depends entirely on whether the powers that be get the wine to me in time.  I was contacted by a P.R. company for Barefoot Wines, who enquired whether I would like to receive a sample of a few of their wines to cook with.  Now as you know, I've been using wine quite regularly in my recipes so this was too good an opportunity to miss.  Hence the crossed fingers - as I was intending on using the Drunken Spaghetti recipe as a Valentine's Day possibility.  Aaah, cute, eh?  Get him drunk on spaghetti - nothing wrong with that picture, is there?

It seems like ages since we had a decent "proper" curry - and when I found Gary Rhodes' recipe for the Trinidad Prawn Curry, it sounded so light and tasty that it really got my mouth watering.  It's a different type of curry to the Indian style and although it uses curry powder instead of separating out each type of spice, the method of dealing with the curry powder is very different to what I'm used to - so I'm interested to see how that will work.

A random "Chicken Normandy" picture.

Sunday's Chicken Normandy takes me back to childhood again, when I am sure my Mum used to make a version of it.  I'm breaking out the good old Bramley apples again - I don't think I've ever used them so often - and with cider in the sauce, I'm hoping it measures up to my memories of the dish.

The observant amongst you may have noticed the appearance of the Chilli con Carne (or Chilli con Healthy) again.  For some reason, we keep dodging the appearance of this one.  I'm starting to wonder if it's the name that's putting hubby off - anything marked "healthy" is very definitely the cause of much suspicion - so have decided to re-name it plain old Chilli con Carne.  I will make this dish, I will!

So there you are.  A bit of an apple theme going on, but it's forgiveable I hope!

Oh, now speaking of apples - I forgot about the Dorset Apple Cake and the Cherry Shortbread Cookies I've got planned.

I'll be making the Dorset Apple Cake somewhere around Friday (for consumption over the weekend - helps to feed hungry teenagers!).  It's a recipe that the blog's old friend Willie gave to me absolutely ages ago and I have never got around to making.  So I'm going to be remedying that.  It looks incredibly simple to make and is the kind of cake that is capable of being a dessert with the addition of some whipped cream.

The Cherry Shortbread Cookies are really just an excuse to use my new cookie cutters - which are in the shapes of hearts and lips.  Valentines Day on the way?  Really? 

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