Author: jamesclay

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Pasta with Chicken and Mushrooms

In a frying pan cook off some pancetta bacon, remove from the pan. Cook the chicken, I usually use chicken thigh (bonless and skinless) cut into a size which is about the same as the pasta I am using. Cook the chicken over a relatively high heat. Remove the chicken and then add the onions, cook until softened. Now cook the mushrooms.

Whilst this chicken and mushrooms are cooking cook the pasta. I used fusilli (pasta twirls) and cooked until al dente.

Once the mushrooms are cooked, add back the pancetta and chicken, add some creme frache.

Mix the chicken mixture with the cooked pasta and a good handful of freshly grated parmesan and some freshly ground black pepper.

Serve.

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The Price of Chicken

BBC Food has an interesting article on chicken.

Chicken is no longer the expensive luxury it was and as poultry prices have dropped, the welfare of the animals themselves has declined. Here’s how you can source higher-welfare chicken and eggs.

Personally I do enjoy eating chicken, however I will now only buy organic. Compared to other chicken though more expensive the flavour is so much better.

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Sweet Potato

I have really got back into sweet potato.

sweet potato

I use to eat it a lot and as with anything you eat too much of, got kind of bored of it. Recently I have got back into it. My preference is simple to cut into slices and roast in the oven with a splash of olive oil. They then have a natural sweetness which really adds to a meal.

I do also quite like them mashed, but roasted slices will always be my first choice.

Photo source


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Mussels

Do you know I can’t remember if I should only be eating mussels when there is an ‘r’ in the month, or when there isn’t!

Mussels

I use to really enjoy mussels, both fresh and those large New Zealand green ones, but recently seem to have gone off them. As with any food, too much of a good thing can result in one no longer enjoying it as much as one did.

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Organic is “better for you”

When I started buying organic, and about 90% of what I buy is organic, the data and research seemed to indicate that there was no real difference between organic and non-organic produce.

I justified it to myself that possibly it was good for me, but in reality the main reason for buying organic was the flavour, and I still stand by that.

Fruit

However it was nice to read today that:

Organic produce is better for you than ordinary food, a major European Union-funded study says.

The £12m four-year project, led by Newcastle University, found a general trend showing organic food contained more antioxidants and less fatty acids.

So there we have it, organic food, well organic produce, could be better for you than non-organic produce.

It should be noted that they are talking about organic produce and not processed organic food like crisps or other unhealthy foods.

Photo source.

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Munchkin Pumpkin

Small, yet perfectly formed.

The Munchkin Pumpkin is as you would expect from the name, a miniature pumpkin.

Today I cut the one I had bought into wedges and roasted in the oven for about thirty minutes with a splash of olive oil and some honey.

The end result, looked quite nice, but there wasn’t much flavour. The parsnips and sweet potato I had done alongside were much nicer and with a really nice natural sweet flavour (no honey on them).

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Pizza, hold the cheese!

An amusing look at the online ordering system at Domino’s pizza.

But what I’ve become obsessed with is that when you only want a particular topping on half of your pizza, they make you specify WHICH HALF. LEFT or RIGHT.

I had ordered from them a few times but never paid attention to see if they got the halves correct. I was curious to see if it really would arrive the way I ordered it.

Last night I performed a test.

Can you really order a pizza with  NO cheese, NO sauce and NO topping?

Read more 

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Air Freighted Organic Food Rule Change

The BBC is reporting that the Soil Association wants to change the rules on organic produce which is air freighted to the UK.

Food flown into the UK will be stripped of its organic status unless it meets new stricter ethical standards, the Soil Association has warned. The association, which certifies 70% of the UK’s £1.9bn organic food sector, says firms must show trade brings real benefit to developing world farmers. It wants all air-freighted food to meet tough “ethical trade” standards.

Only 1% of organic food in the UK is flown in, so it only impacts on a small amount of the total. Will this impact on developing world farmers? I expect so.

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Border Biscuits

I originally had these biscuits when I would make business visits to Scotland, so am always pleased when I can find them south of the border.

These are some of my favourite biscuits, they are perfectly cooked, extremely buttery and melt in the mouth like they ought to

Border Biscuits.

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Lamb Kebabs

Nice and easy this, take some lamb and cut into 1″ cubes. I used neck fillet, this is a relatively cheap cut, but after marinading can be quite tender and therefore suitable for making into kebabs and grilling.

I marinaded the lamb in a mix of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, ground black pepper and finely chopped rosemary. Watch how much rosemary you use, it’s quite strong and some may not like this. I left it in the marinade for a couple of hours, you could leave it longer, but a couple of hours is fine.

I placed the lamb cubes on wooden skewers. Now you are suppose to soak the wooden skewers before using them to stop them burning in the oven, to be honest I alwasy forget and don’t really have a problem. Might be a problem on a barbecue I guess.

I grilled the lamb for a about fifteen minutes, more if you like your lamb well done and slightly less if you prefer it pink.