Menu plan? What menu plan?

Well, we DID make a menu plan - then it all went to worms as we shoved all the planned meals to one side and went for takeaway.

Firstly, on Tuesday, son & heir was invited to stay at his friend's for tea so there didn't seem to be a lot of point in making what was a three person meal (I'd bought the fish already, you see) for the two of us.  So hubby had a kebab and I had some chicken.

Canton Restaurant, Poole

Then, on Wednesday, I was driving back from a local shopping trip when I found myself yearning for a Chinese takeaway.  So intense was this yearning (they happen often, but I can ordinarily ignore it) that it wasn't going to be ignored.  I mentioned it to the family and everyone seemed keen - so that was what happened.  I shared some Spare Ribs with son & heir, a Canton Special Fried Rice and a Hot & Spicy Special Chow Mein with hubby and had a Duck with bamboo shoots, water chestnuts & cashews all for myself.  It was totally lush.  I've got the leftovers for lunch today, too.  ~glee~

So, as a result, we'll ignore Tuesday and Wednesday and - where the menu plan is concerned - pretend they never happened.

Here's what's on the plan for the rest of the week :

Thurs : Smoked mackerel, mediterranean potato salad and a tomato salad

Fri : Roast vegetable & bacon pasta

Sat : BBQ Pork chops with roast vegetable giant couscous

Sun : Stromboli and rice salad

Mon : Sausage & mozzarella bake with garlic bread.

The two meals that have been swerved this week were to have been Chilli Dogs with hash browns & coleslaw, plus a Beef Curry.  I'll just move them on to next week as we hadn't shopped for them yet anyway.

The two roast vegetable meals were, initially, separated by a day.  Because of having to swap the meals around a bit, they've come together which isn't the best plan - but hopefully they'll be sufficiently different in character that we don't feel over-roast vegetabled!

Oy! Put that out!

Looking at the way the rain is currently falling semi-horizontally from the sky, I think we might have been able to just reach outside the front door and catch a couple of mackerel!  As it is, we've already bought our mackerel and dinner tonight is a simple matter of putting together the Mediterranean potato salad.  It is a warm salad, involving tinned cherry tomatoes, roasted red peppers, black olives and new potatoes which sounded a pleasant change from the mayonnaise type of potato salad.

We've gone particularly Mediterranean this week.  Maybe it's because we know it's the closest we'll get to the Mediterranean, as there's no chance of affording a holiday there and even if we could, if I could get there (which is unlikely) I wouldn't be able to do anything as I can't walk around.  I don't qualify for a wheelchair from the NHS and can't afford to buy one, so we'll just have to eat holiday-style instead.

The roast vegetable and bacon pasta is really a simple matter of roasting some aubergine, red onion, courgette and tomato with garlic, grilling some bacon and combining the whole lot with some pasta, basil leaves and parmesan.

Son & heir has a friend coming over for the day that day, so it seemed a good dish to put before teenagers - having bacon and cheese - so long as they don't object too strongly to the aubergine and courgette!

I've been aware of giant couscous (Moghrabieh) for a while - since I bought my two Ottolenghi cook books which feature it in a couple of recipes.  I found some in our local Asda (amazingly) some while ago and have had a lttle play with it, but this is really the first  "proper" go with it.

Moghrabieh served with mixed veggies

This instalment of roast vegetables won't include the aubergine, but will include red pepper and will have a dressing of lemon, olive oil and fresh chopped mint.  I think it will be fresh and a lovely pairing with the BBQ (Mic's Chilli "El Loco" BBQ Sauce again!) pork chops.  You never know, if the weather has improved by then we might even be able to cook the chops on our new barbecue!  Not likely, but you can hope!

Hubby is making a Stromboli for Sunday's dinner - after the style of the Hairy Bakers' Stromboli as featured on their recent European Bakeation tour.  It will be along the lines of a pizza filling, with a rich tomato sauce, pepperoni, onion, ham & mozzarella.  We're currently thinking we'll have some rice salad to accompany it.

Photo c/o Vintage Victuals

I thought I'd have a go at an American style Peach Cobbler for dessert on Sunday.  It's a bit like the Strawberry & Rhubarb Pie, in that I hear so many people talking about "their Mom's Peach Cobbler" as being the best, etc. etc. that I just have to find out what's so good about it.  Hooray for t'internet, because without that I'd be lost for a recipe.  As it is, I'm spoiled for choice and will most probably do what I often do and take what seems to be the best points from a number of different recipes and make my own!

Our local Asda has some really gorgeous, intensely flavoured little peaches in at the moment - it's the beginning of the season here - that I can't help but think would be just perfect for a Peach Cobbler.

Monday's Sausage & Mozzarella Bake is a request from son & heir, who has liked this one ever since the first time I made it.  It's a Jamie Oliver recipe and is so easy to make, it is perfect for a Monday.

As for extra bakes and makes, well, I'm expecting all sorts of things to come in over the next few weeks, where various people have asked me to try various products.  I look forward to receiving these challenges, as the devising of new recipes is an opportunity for hubby and I to put our collective mighty brains together in something other than a family matter.  Yes, occasionally we have a difference of opinion and yes, occasionally I'll offend hubby mightily by stamping all over his good ideas because I like my own good idea better - but eventually they all get an airing and the best ones reach the blog.  So, it's all good.

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Bockwurst und Kartoffelsalat (or German Sausage with Potato Salad)

I may have mentioned in the past, my enduring love for Bockwurst und Kartoffelsalat.

When my Dad was in the Army (Royal Engineers) and we were stationed in Germany, whenever we went out to eat anywhere I would immediately scan the menu for Bockwurst und Kartoffelsalat.  Thus began an eduring love affair with potato salad - but if I could ever lay my hands on any good Bockwurst, then it just didn't get any better than that.

Now, what makes a good Bockwurst good?  Well, for me, it is the complete lack of whatever it is that the manufacturers put into hot dogs, that makes you feel nauseous after eating two of them.  I never feel nauseous when eating Bockwurst - and to my shame, could happily down an entire jar full in one sitting, without any ill effects.  The same could never be said for hot dogs!

For all that they are similar to hot dogs, a good Bockwurst has a more robust texture and a milder flavour.  You know how, if you cut through a hot dog with a fork, it doesn't put up a fight but just kind of mushes beneath your fork?  Not so with a Bockwurst.  It should resist the fork - not as much as a pork sausage would - enough to let you know that this sausage is firm.

Now as for cooking them, I admit that such is my keenness to get them down my throat, that I haven't ever done anything more than pop them into a saucepan of simmering water for as long as it takes to assemble some cooked potato in a potato salad.  However, I gather that they are lovely griddled - and knowing how much I love my griddle pan, I can see how that might be.

We found our Bockwurst in our local Aldi store.  I am sure a good Delicatessen would also be able to source them for you.

As for the potato salad, well, I gather that a true Kartoffelsalat falls into two camps depending upon where in Germany you are.  If in northern Germany, you can expect your Kartoffelsalat to be dressed with mayonnaise.  However, if in southern Germany, it takes the form of a vinegar dressed salad, with accompanying smoked bacon pieces.

All I can say, is that I only ever experienced the mayonnaise version.  Although, I have to say that the vinegar version sounds interesting!

Where serving the dish is concerned, I can remember sitting down to an enormous sausage on a plate with a mountain of potato salad - and that's it.  However, hubby seemed appalled at that idea (can't imagine why! *chuckle*) so we also had some mixed salad with the sausages. 


The "Jelly" potatoes from Greenvale Farm Fresh (which I have used up and had to go out and buy some more), are particularly brilliant for this dish.  Being a lovely combination of 80% waxy and 20% floury, they are able to be boiled without fear of their dissolving, yet they retain a lovely tender texture that goes so well in a salad.

I think that the recipe for my Kartoffelsalat might not be strictly true to the original, but it is certainly how I remember the potato salad tasting - which is all that I was interested in, in this case!

BOCKWURST UND KARTOFFELSALAT (or German Bockwurst sausage with potato salad)

Ingredients :

A jar of Bockwurst or two (a jar usually contains 5 sausages)
4-5 waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters or less ("Jelly" is a brilliant type for this)
2 tbsp greek yoghurt
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp fresh chives, snipped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped fine
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.


Method :


1.  Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the potato pieces, which should still be in large chunks - you will cut them to salad size once cooked.


2.  Allow the saucepan to simmer in lively fashion until the potatoes easily accept the point of a knife.


3.  Drain.


4.  Turn the potatoes onto a plate and allow to cool completely.


5.  Half fill a saucepan with water and bring to the boil.  Once boiling, turn the heat right down until at a gentle simmer.  Add the sausages from the jar, discarding the brine.


6.  While the sausages are heating up, take the cooked, cooled potatoes and cut into small dice.  Add them to a large bowl.


7.  Add the yoghurt, mayonnaise, chives and parsley and mix gently, to combine.


8.  Add some freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste.  Mix again, lightly, to combine.


9.  To serve, remove the sausages from the pan and place onto kitchen paper to drain.  Add them to your plate, together with the potato salad - and some additional mixed salad, if you so desire.


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"Turn the meal plan for this week over to me" he said ...

... and because I don't particularly like Bernard Matthews Turkey Steaks, I didn't.  *chuckle*

However, I did let hubby take the lead on this week's menu plan - only reserving the right of veto over things like putting two major carbohydrates together in a tart case.

My very favourite meal when we lived in Germany

I think we've wound up with an interesting combination of meals.  Although, our first choice for Tuesday (Bockwurst & Kartoffelsalat - a german sausage with german potato salad) had to be dropped at the shopping stage.  For starters, we couldn't find the Jelly potatoes that we've been lapping up (they're only available in some Tesco stores, which obviously weren't the four we went to) and secondly, the supermarket(s) we were in hadn't ever heard of Bockwurst.  ~rolls eyes~

So we wound up with pizza.  Desperation struck, I'm afraid.

Retro - but flipping gorgeous!

Regrettably, I think we're going to have to re-think Sunday's Beef Olives, too.  We weren't sure what cut of beef to get - and decided upon Sirloin - but the price for the quantity we're going to need - even downgrading the cut - is just prohibitive.

I'd quite like to do a pot roast of Brisket or maybe a Chicken, but done in the Slow Cooker.  I'm really not sure about that one yet, I will have to ponder it further - but I've got time for that.

So, what does the menu plan look like?  Why, like this ...

Tue : was Bockwurst & Kartoffelsalat, became pizza

Weds : Rissoles, baked Sweet Potatoes with chilli lime cream, plus peas.

Thurs : Hearty Pasta Soup and Soda Bread

Fri : Smoked Haddock & Fennel Tart with Greek salad

Sat : Chicken kebabs with salsa & greek yoghurt in pitta bread

Sun : Beef or Chicken with potatoes of some kind, broccoli, carrots & peas.

Mon : Meatballs and pasta.

Because the majority of the dishes are hubby's ideas, he is inevitably doing a fair amount of the cooking.  It is difficult to take an idea and not convert it to your view of "how it should be" as he will obviously have a picture in his mind of how he wants the dish to turn out.  As we don't have the technology to be able to download these pictures for public consumption, he's going to have to cook them!

How I imagine Rissoles to look

Case in point being tonight's Rissoles.  Now I can't ever remember eating a Rissole.  Not the kind of Rissoles that he has been speaking about - made with lamb or beef mince, coated in seasoned flour and fried.  For hubby, however, this is part of his childhood and not only does he have a picture in his head, but also the memory of a flavour - which I have neither.  I'm intrigued to find out about these Rissoles, having heard a fair amount about them over the years!

Because of their potential for being high fat, we've decided on having a baked sweet potato with the lovely chilli/lime cream dressing.  For all that it's sour cream based, I'm quite sure there's less fat involved than using a great dollop of butter - and with the green peas to accompany them, hopefully a balance will have been struck.

Picture c/o BBC Good Food website

The Hearty Pasta Soup is my choice and it is a BBC Good Food recipe that I've known about for (literally) years and have put on the menu a couple of times, but each time it's been bumped off and I've never got to make it.  So, I'm having another go.  I was hoping to be able to get some of the walnut & blue cheese tortelloni (which is double yum) to be included in the soup, but  - probably because I was after some - there was none in the shop.  I settled on a spicy sausage tortellini that I'm hoping will have some flavour.  So many of these filled pastas are just little knots of flavourless Plasticine, but I'm hoping that due to the "spicy" aspect these will be different.  I'm looking forward to it - and I will be making some soda bread rolls to eat with it.

Eggs, versus ...

Friday's Smoked Haddock and Fennel Tart is a concept that came about through exhaustive brainstorming one evening.  I do so enjoy making tarts and can't quite decide - in this instance - whether to go down the "eggy quiche" route with it, or deviate into a "white sauce" route.  I know both the fish and fennel will be happy in a thick white sauce that has the fish poaching milk used in it along with maybe some herb or another (possibly parsley & the ferny fronds from the top of the fennel) and perhaps a light sprinkling of cheddar over the top that will melt when baked in the oven (sounds gorgeous).  However, the eggy quiche route is a much more reliable route to the final product.  You know, I can feel an inexorable pull towards the white sauce going on.

....... white sauce?

I think (hope!) that it would be nice when paired with a Greek salad of large sliced tomatoes, cucumber, olives and red onion with a sprinkling of Feta cheese - but is that too much cheese for the fish?  Hmmn, possibly.  We might have to lose the Feta, if so!

Saturday's Chicken Kebabs is another brainchild of hubby's.  He's envisaging strips of chicken that have been marinaded in lemon, thyme & olive oil, laced onto skewers with alternating pieces of courgette, cherry tomatoes, mushroom, aubergine and possibly apple.  He's proposing to grill them (maybe in the char grill pan, I'm not sure) and then once done, release them into a pitta bread.  Slosh on some Greek yoghurt and some suitably tasty salsa and you're done.  Sounds pretty darned yummy, to me.


I touched on Sunday's dinner earlier - and since then I notice that our local butcher is doing whole chickens for around £2.50!  Even if they're tiny little things, for that price we could get two.  I'm contemplating having a crack at jointing the chicken(s), which is something I've never done but would be interested at having a go at.  I'm assuming it'd be easier with a smaller chicken and I know my "Big Knife" (as it's known) is man enough for the job, it just depends on whether I've got the oomph to push it through a chicken!

Monday's meatballs and pasta is going to be an interesting one.  Yes, I've been having a bit of a meatball fest just lately - but I spotted a bag of frozen meatballs in Asda the other day, for a very affordable £1.55 for 500g of cook from frozen.  Now my guess is that these are going to be parlous as best and inedible at worst, but they've just got to be tested.  They purport to be 80% beef and have an encouragingly short ingredients list that doesn't appear to contain anything that would make your eyebrows lift in horror.


I'll be making a lovely powerful tomato sauce (possibly with a little chilli) to put them in and we'll have some grated cheese to sprinkle over the pasta.  It's rather like having your favourite curry the first time you use a new Indian takeaway, just to test what they're like.  Before I try doing anything startling with them, let's try them with a bog-standard sauce and get their measure.  I'm sure you'll hear, whatever the results are!


Apart from that, I still have three types of packeted rice pudding to try out (we tried the chocolate one the other day) and report back on.

I am STILL intending on cooking the Dorset Apple Cake - and had better get cracking on it, because the Bramleys I bought for it are slowly getting older and older!


I've also entered a Watercress Soup competition - so I'll soon be trialling a few recipes before deciding on my potential competition winner.  It's a good job son & heir is out for 5 lunches out of 7, as he'd probably leave home if faced with successive bowls of watercress soup for lunch!


Something else that's going to require some thought is what to cook for National Pie Week!  I'm considering steak and kidney, at the moment.  I do love a good steak & kidney pie, but it needs to contain loads of lovely pieces of kidney as well as be in a luscious rich beefy gravy.  Goodness, I've just made my own mouth water!  It is just such a good job that you can't put weight on by just thinking about food - I hope.

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