Tuesday's dinner : comfort food!

I've decided to start a little, "in between" feature.

Between recipes, I thought I'd post up what we had for dinner that night.  Just a quick post, with a couple of photographs at the most, with a view to helping those of you who are a bit lost for inspiration, not to mention people like me who just like to look at photographs of yummy dinners!

Now I won't be doing this for EVERY meal we have - the Jenny Eatwell's Rhubarb & Ginger facebook page is for that!  Just ones that I think you might be interested in.

Do - please - let me know if you don't like this feature, or if it irritates you, won't you?  Good, thanks!

So, what did we have for dinner tonight?  Well, hubby was in charge in Risotto Chef mode.  Using the lovely carrots from our Vegibox delivery (I'll tell you about that very soon) he made a gorgeous carrot, bacon & courgette risotto that was just the last word in comfort food.  He grated the carrot and the courgette and used some julienne of carrots in the scrummy Essential Cuisine vegetable stock to increase the carrotty flavour.  Light and fresh flavoured, it was one of those dishes that I could have kept eating for as long as the plate or my tummy lasted.  Fantastic.

I polished off the last of the rhubarb with a spoonful of Cornish vanilla ice cream and son & heir had chocolate sauce with his, for dessert.  So deliciously sinful!  :)

Big thanks and a tricky meal plan, this week!

A cake for everyone!

First of all, before we talk about the meal plan for this week - I must tell you how proud I am of you all and thank you for being brilliant readers, commenters and loyal fans of Rhubarb & Ginger.

You see, at the end of September, Rhubarb & Ginger had registered a new all time high for page views of 18,953!  In one month!  Wowser!  Yes, I know - how close did we come to hitting the 19k mark?  But then, there's always next month.  *wink*

Great big thank you's go out to you all - across the globe - for coming back and reading my ramblings and salivating (or I hope you salivate!) over my recipes, before trying some of them at home yourselves.

~ applause! ~

Now then, to business and this week's meal plan.

It's a tricky one, because my parents are likely to call us at short notice to come over and put together my Dad's mobility buggy, which they've ordered and which should be delivered some time this week.  They just need some muscles to help put it together and deal with all the packaging - so it's not an onerous task, but it will probably mean we will need a quick and simple dinner for that evening.  Plus, of course, we don't know which day we'll be called on - which has made planning the meals a bit more complex than normal.  After all, we don't want to be committed to doing a recipe that will take several different stages over the course of a day, if we're not going to be here!

I think we've wound up with an interesting collection of meals, that are flexible enough to be cooked by pretty much either of us and which can be moved around (barring Sunday!) to suit.

Here's the plan :

Tues : Stir fried black bean beef, with noodles & vegetables

Weds : Pasta bolognese

Thurs : Oriental pineapple pork, with chinese style kale and rice

Fri : Smoked haddock & leek risotto

Sat : Creamy tomato soup with bacon & cheese muffins

Sun : Chicken Biryani

Mon : Rarebit sausages, mash and vegetables.

Now I don't guarantee that any of these (other than Sunday and maybe Thursday) will happen on the day that they're scheduled for - as it all depends what happens regarding the delivery of the buggy.  The plan is that the Pasta Bolognese is the wild card that can be moved on down the menu - to be had on the day we'll be out.

So fingers crossed, it'll work that way!

Photo c/o www.back-mirror.com

Tonight's Stir fried black bean beef is using the remaining third of the whopping great lump of Silverside that we bought a couple of weeks ago.  It's been in the freezer ever since, just waiting for a good idea like this one.

I found two sachets of black bean sauce in the larder cupboard - still in date, amazingly! - and so hubby volunteered to make a noodley stir fry with them.  The beef is a beautiful piece of lean meat and should be a complete doddle to cut into thin slices.  Just show it a blindingly hot wok and it'll be done - and stay wonderfully tender.

The Pasta Bolognese is, as I say, the wild card.  It'll be just a bog-standard version.  No singing or dancing involved and one of son & heir's favourites, so he'll be happy!

Something like this - c/o BBC Good Food.com

Thursday's Oriental Pineapple Pork is hubby's choice - he's still continuing with his "thing" about pineapple.  Keeps trying to include it in the weirdest of combinations, so hopefully this rather more predictable combination will be a) yummy and b) soothe the savage pineapple monster.

I'm looking forward to the Chinese style kale, as I absolutely adore kale.  Hubby isn't so convinced about the stuff, but this was his choice again - so hopefully it will be presented in such a way that it changes his mind.  It's actually a very simple dish - stir fried kale with garlic, soy sauce and oyster sauce, but I can just imagine the flavours and they're very nice indeed.  They'll go well with the sweet pineapple pork.

Hubby features highly in this week's meal plan, as Friday's Smoked haddock & leek risotto was his idea, too.  I love his risotto's - and so does son & heir (finally), so we're all dead keen on this one.

Little muffins of deliciousness

I thought we'd have an early Bonfire night on Saturday.  Son & heir's birthday is on Halloween, so we never seem to "do" bonfire night in any great way, as we're either all partied out, or financially broke, or both, by then.  I love the idea of a thick creamy tomato soup with bacon & cheese muffins (which are, universally, voted as "my favourite muffin") to dip with.  Who knows, if it's not pouring with rain (yeah, right - the forecast is for rain all week) we might even break out the fire basket and have a mini bonfire on the patio, just to make it perfect.

Sunday's Chicken Biryani isn't going to be one of those "quick" biryani's.  This is one that will be started the day before with a marinade and then move on into long slow cooking in a low oven.  I'm hoping that we'll be able to get the most flavour out of the chicken and spices by trying our hardest to follow the "authentic" way of cooking biryani.  I'll probably do a raita to accompany it, along with mango chutney and some flatbreads.  My mouth is watering already!

No!  Not RABBIT sausages - RAREBIT sausages! ~rolls eyes~

Hubby saw a recipe for rarebit pork chops and wondered whether it was possible to do the same thing, but with sausages.  His plan is to open each sausage out - butterfly it, effectively - and then cover with the rarebit mixture and bake.  I'm intrigued!  I can see how it would work on a pork chop, but with a sausage I'm a little unsure.  However, if it does work, it'll be a fabulous mid week dinner and just perfect for a Monday.  Oh, and it's an excuse to make some mashed potato - and I'll never turn down an opportunity for mash!

I haven't got any plans for any additional makes or bakes for this week, but I am anticipating the cropping of Ruby 2 (the second rhubarb bush) - so we'll be busy freezing the rhubarb in advance of some pre-christmas chutney making!

A new risotto through to meatballs and Yorkshire Pudding day - the meal plan

I have made a new resolution.

Yes, I know it's not the right day for new resolutions, but I figure it's better late than never.

My new resolution is to knuckle down to telling you all about what's on the menu plan for the coming week, on a Tuesday - the beginning of that week.  Now obviously, it's not going to happen that way every week, because my life just doesn't allow things to be that organised.  However, the intention is there - and it's a good place to start.

So, here's what's on the list :

Tues : Pizza (spot the cop-out!)

Weds : Bramley apple, black pudding & bacon risotto

Thurs : Turkey & chorizo meatballs with pesto spaghetti

Fri : Minced beef, mashed potato & vegetables

Sat : Spicy chicken wraps, mexican hash browns & coleslaw

Sun : Toad in the hole with vegetables

Mon : Chilli-con-healthy with soda bread rolls.

Yes, tonight's dinner of Pizza is a total cop-out - but sometimes you just want to have a break from all the preparation and the washing up.  As much as I enjoy creating dishes, cooking them and most importantly, eating them, sometimes you just have to have a day off.

We're back in harness again on Wednesday, or more to the point, hubby is back in harness.  He's cooking a new risotto, one which we dreamt up in honour of Bramley Apple Week.  We devised the ingredients and contemplated the cooking method and after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, came up with this recipe for Bramley apple, black pudding & bacon risotto.  I think it sounds completely delicious, but you'll just have to wait for the blog post to find out whether it was or not!

Thursday is another of our dreamt up recipes, which evolved from wondering what to do with two chicken breasts - and wound up with turkey mince and two chorizo sausages that are lurking in the fridge.  The obvious answer was to make them into meatballs and serve them with pesto coated spaghetti.  Simple - except we've still got the two chicken breasts hiding out in the freezer.

Now I do try to schedule in at least a couple of meals that son & heir is guaranteed to like, per week.  Poor soul, as a bit of a picky teenager (one of the worst times for food likes & dislikes, I think), he is often faced with his worst nightmare where food is concerned but will generally give it a go.  This is why I try to schedule in a couple of his favourites.  This week, the first of these is good old minced beef, mashed potato and vegetables.  He would, of course, prefer to abandon the vegetables part of the meal altogether, but my insistence on his not being 99% carnivorous, 1% mashed potato-ist, ensures that at least a few veggies disappear down his gullet occasionally.

The next son & heir friendly meal is the Spicy Chicken Wraps.  These consist of shop-bought chicken in a spicy coating which is oven baked then sliced and put in a wrap along with some lettuce, salsa and sour cream.  Hubby has had an idea where the current favourite of hash browns are concerned and is intending on Mexican-ing them up with the addition of a sprinkling of chilli powder, cumin and salt.  I shall be abstaining from this delicacy and going for the coleslaw option.

Sunday, believe it or not, is Yorkshire Pudding Day.  Now I'm not guaranteeing that we stay with this plan, but currently we're intending on having a Toad in the Hole, which hubby has agreed to make as his Yorkshire is a whole lot more reliable than ever mine has been.  There is an outside possibility that we might flip this to one side in favour of a different incarnation of Yorkshire Pudding meal, but at the moment, the Toad is a goer.

Monday brings the re-submission of the Chilli con healthy from last week.  Because of a sudden yearning for a Doner Kebab, this got bumped from last week's menu list - but not before I'd bought all the ingredients for it.  I'm looking forward to it, as although it has an anxiety inducing name, the method is exactly how we'd produce a chilli - except the spicing is slightly different.  Should not only be interesting, but nice!

I've a number of extra cooking projects in mind, too.  Because of Bramley Apple Week, I'm intending on making an apple cake - maybe the Dorset Apple Slab, which I've been intending to make ever since we arrived in Dorset and found out about it!  I've also got a recipe for Maple Apple Muffins formulating in the back of my head.  We'll see whether it makes it to daylight or not!

National Dairy Week is supposed to kick off on the 3rd February (Friday).  Currently, I can't see that anyone (the Dairy Council, National Cheese Board - always makes me smile, that one) is doing very much in relation to that, but I've got ideas for a Greek Yoghurt and Passion Fruit dessert, plus some yummy Cheese Scones, at the very least!

Oh - and don't forget, Valentine's Day is trotting into view!  I've got some recipes up my sleeve with this in mind, but maybe it's too early to reveal, just yet.

I just have to share something, before I go, which is that Sainsbury's (following on from their featuring Rhubarb & Ginger on their Family Finance Blog) have invited me to be a member of the Sainsbury’s Finance Family Blogger Network!

 

The network is an informal network of family friendly bloggers that they think share Sainsbury’s values.  Apparently, this will mean I'll have an entry to their Best Family Blog Award and an opportunity to guest blog on their Finance blog, Money Matters.

I'm currently quite ridiculously excited by this - and am very much looking forward to finding out more!

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Asparagus & Prosciutto Risotto - the risotto king strikes again!

In the scheme of things where the menu planning is concerned, Saturday is now the day when hubby cooks.  He likes to cook and more often than not, his dishes are a big success.

This Saturday was a bit of a mystery tour, however.

We set off for the supermarket with the knowledge that we needed to get the ingredients for a risotto, but not what that risotto was going to comprise.  Maybe a seafood risotto, maybe an asparagus risotto - really, it could have wound up being anything.  Hubby was looking for inspiration along the supermarket shelves.

First of all, we checked out what the fishmonger had in the fresh fish Department.  He had some lovely Sea Bass, but they'd have needed filleting.  The bags of frozen seafood - squid, mussels, prawns etc. - were out of our price range at £4 for 400g.  He picked up some Prosciutto as we went through the delicatessen, but nothing else really appealed.

On to the fruit and vegetables we went, where he wandered along looking increasingly disconsolate.  Right up until we spotted the asparagus.  Suddenly, an asparagus and prosciutto risotto took form before his very eyes.  We had vegetable stock already, together with butter, parsley, olive oil and parmesan cheese.

Sorted.

ASPARAGUS & PROSCIUTTO RISOTTO  (Serves 3)

Ingredients :

75g thinly sliced prosciutto

250g asparagus

3 tbsp olive oil

a medium onion or 3 shallots, very finely diced

1 clove garlic, chopped fine

25g butter

300g Arborio or Carnaroli rice

1.5 litres of  vegetable stock

10g fresh chopped parsley

parmesan to taste, grated and shaved

Method :

1.  Bring a saucepan of salted water to a rolling boil and prepare the asparagus by snapping at the weak point (around one third of the way up the stem from the cut end).  Retain the woody ends for use in the stock and blanch the tipped ends for 60 seconds, then plunge into bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process and retain the cooking water.

2.  Prepare the stock with the asparagus water and add the woody ends cut lengthwise.  Keep the stock over a very low heat until required, not allowing it to boil.  Remove asparagus just before use.

3.  Heat the olive oil and butter gently together in a large pan.  Add the onion & garlic until they are soft and transparent, not allowing them to brown.

4.  Slice prosciutto into very thin strips.

5.  Add rice to the onion mix and stir well to coat with the oils, then turn the heat up as hot as you dare - without burning - before quenching the pan with a ladleful of stock which should have had the asparagus pieces removed.  Reduce heat to a simmer.

6.  Add another ladleful of stock and the prosucitto.   Continue adding ladlefuls whenever the mixture runs dry, stirring well and keeping it moving to avoid catching on the bottom of the pan.

7.  Continue in this way until the rice is cooked al dente.  You may find you have stock left over, which is normal as different rices require different amounts of liquid.

8.  Drain the asparagus from the iced water and add them to the risotto, warm them through.

9.  Just prior to serving, add some of the parsley, reserving a small amount for garnish.

Serve in warmed bowls, garnished with shaved parmesan and chopped parsley.

Add a bowl of grated parmesan on the table, for folk to add as they please.

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So! What's on the menu list for this week, then?

Isabella Plantation, Richmond Park

This week, we shall mostly be thinking about fresh flavours, lighter flavours and trying a few new things.  Well, it IS spring - and if ever there was a time to cast off those heavy (but cosy) old overcoats of casseroles, dumplings, heavy sauces and old favourites such as Chilli con Carne, it's now.

Now is a time to lighten the load (not only around our waistlines) and wake up our tastebuds with tastes and textures that we haven't experienced for the last few cold and damp months.

So, out goes our reliance upon root vegetables, heavy stocks and sauces - and in comes citrus flavours, braising and salads.

I'm certainly ready for a change - and this week's menu reflects that.

As ever, my week kicks off on a Tuesday when I went to Spring Fields Catering Butchers to buy some chicken breasts and pork steaks.  The five chicken breasts were still priced at an incredibly reasonable £5 for the lot, but the pork steaks just amazed me.  £2.99 for six - and as he was cutting them from the huge piece of loin of pork, I couldn't quite believe my eyes.  In fact, I had to check what I'd got when I arrived home, such was my amazement.  If you were to buy the equivalent from your local Supermarket, I'm sure you wouldn't see much change out of £6.  Just superb value.

So Tuesday's dinner was Citrus Paprika Chicken with a watercress, rocket & spinach salad together with cherry tomatoes and avocado.  The carbohydrate aspect came in the form of some diced potatoes which were roasted in their jackets alongside the chicken, having been doused in the chicken's marinade.

Apart from the oven suddenly deciding to roast everything super-hot (and subsequently burning the edges of the spuds) this all came together really easily.  However, its reception wasn't quite universal.  I really liked it, hubby wasn't so keen and son just seemed ambivalent towards the whole meal.  However, I do think that it was more of a "girl's food" dinner, than a real "man's dish" - even though it contained an entire chicken breast each!

Wednesday should bring about a change from "girl food" to real "man food", with the pork steaks braised in cider & mustard, with mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli.  Goodness, but I'm looking forward to this one, having seen the loveliness of the pork.  I'm also going to be using a bottle of the gorgeous Sheppy's Dabinett single variety cider which I've used before with very good results.  Fingers crossed!


Thursday requires a simple, quick to cook dish as I'll have been at work during the day.  Hence, I've booked in a Creamy Linguine with prosciutto, lemon and basil, which I expect we'll have with garlic bread.  Now, don't tell everyone, but this will be the very first time I've ever cooked with prosciutto.  *blush*  I'm really quite excited to be adding another first to my repertoire.

Picture c/o BBC Good Food website

You might remember that I booked in Bobotie on last week's menu list, but it got bumped off when I ran out of steam and plumped for fish & chips.  Well, I've gone off the idea of Bobotie now, but I've still got the minced lamb in the freezer.  So, on Friday we'll be making use of it in a lamb meatball traybake.

This is where the mince is made into some tasty meatballs with onion and mint, which are then roasted off in the oven alongside some onions, courgettes, butternut squash pieces, sweet potato wedges, cherry tomatoes - and some feta is crumbled over at the last minute.  It just appealed to the desire for some fresher, less complicated flavours - and I'm hoping it will suit that just fine.  Son and heir won't like the courgettes or cherry tomatoes, of course, but then he'll have the butternut and sweet potato to console himself with.  I may also throw in a couple of mushrooms - it's the kind of meal where anything that will roast can be added as an afterthought.


Saturday is hubby's day for cooking - and he's promised us a risotto.  Yum!  I'm not sure what type of risotto - and neither is he - but he's leaving it to providence and seeing what is in the supermarket on the day.  If nothing else, the produce will be fresh when it goes into the pot!

Photo c/o BBC Good Food website

Speaking of pots, on Sunday I've booked in another pot roasted chicken - except this time, instead of the usual roasted accompaniments, we're going to be having gnocchi and tenderstem broccoli.  Now there's a brave break from tradition for you!


Which brings us to the last day of this week's menu list, which is Monday - or "cold chicken day" as I expect it is becoming known.  I think it is always such a terrible waste of some really quite glorious cold cooked chicken (which is one of my favourite flavours in the universe) to put it into some curry, or pasta, or make it into a pie.  So, this Monday is going to be all about the chicken - right up until we reach the carrot fritters.  To give them their proper title, "carrot, cumin & feta fritters" which will be served with coriander yoghurt and a side salad.  I thought it would be an intriguing accompaniment to that delicious cold chicken - and far more interesting than a boring old potato salad!


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