Posts

Posted on

Pork with Borlotti Beans

This pork dish was a throw together type of dish and alas the pork was not as tender as I hoped. Though I think that was more down to the pork I used. I had some diced pork and I think it would have been better with medallions of pork fillet, or possibly cooked for a lot longer.

In a large frying pan I browned off some diced pork. Once this was browned it was removed from the pan and I cooked off some diced onions and mixed peppers.

To this I added Sainsbury’s Boeuf Bourguignonne paste from their new Ingredients for Cooks range. I then added some water, on the assumption that the concentrated paste would have sufficient flavour and salt already added.

This I then let simmer for about thirty minutes, before adding a small tin of cooked borlotti beans.

I served this with some plain boiled rice.

Posted on

DVD Choice – The River Cottage Collection

I do like the River Cottage programmes and this DVD box set contains the episodes from seven series.

  • A Cook on the Wild Side
  • Beyond River Cottage
  • River Cottage Road Trip
  • River Cottage Gone Fishing
  • River Cottage Spring
  • River Cottage Autumn
  • The River Cottage Treatment
British celebrity chef and “real food” campaigner, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall is back in this amazing 10 DVD River Cottage Collection.

Well known for his back-to-basics philosophy on cooking, Hugh has resided at River Cottage for a number of years now, cultivating his vegetable garden, raising chickens, pigs and even cattle for his table. He is an ambassador for local, seasonal produce which he cooks to perfection. Whether it be from the wild, the garden or even off the shelf, Hugh offers a variety of remarkable recipes to enthuse & salivate over.

This special River Cottage Collection is a delightful feast and follows Hugh on his wonderful investigative culinary journey as he showcases the very principles he stands for; self-sufficiency, food integrity, and the consumption of local and seasonal produce.

British celebrity chef and “real food” campaigner, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall is back in this amazing 10 DVD River Cottage Collection.Well known for his back-to-basics philosophy on cooking, Hugh has resided at River Cottage for a number of years now, cultivating his vegetable garden, raising chickens, pigs and even cattle for his table. He is an ambassador for local, seasonal produce which he cooks to perfection. Whether it be from the wild, the garden or even off the shelf, Hugh offers a variety of remarkable recipes to enthuse & salivate over.

This special River Cottage Collection is a delightful feast and follows Hugh on his wonderful investigative culinary journey as he showcases the very principles he stands for; self-sufficiency, food integrity, and the consumption of local and seasonal produce.

Buy it from Amazon.

Posted on

Linguine with pesto, green beans and rocket

I wanted something quick and easy to cook, I decided to cook linguine.

I took a large pan of boiling water and placed the linguine to cook. I also in another pan cooked some sliced green beans.

When the linguine was cooked, I drained it and added a splash of olive oil. I then stirred in some pesto, pine nuts, the rocket and the cooked green beans.

Though nice on its own, I served mine with some chargrilled pork steaks.

Posted on

Roasting Lamb

I kind of really wanted to roast a whole leg, however I didn’t have the people to eat it coming round… so in the end I went for a small boneless leg joint.

I placed the joint on some garlic and rosemary, before seasoning the lamb with olive oil and ground black pepper. No salt as I don’t really use salt in cooking any more.

Posted on

Calamari

Once place I do seem to frequent a fair bit, is Bella Italia. Mainly as it is convenient and also they accept Tesco Clubcard deals. Yes it is a chain and they probably use some kind of step system for cooking, but compared to some traditional Italian places I have eaten it isn’t that bad.

One thing I seem to order from the menu a lot is the calamari.

They coat it in parmesan before deep frying it. Sometimes it can be overcooked (not how I like it) but generally they do get it right.

I also quite like the pasta and pizza at Bella Italia too.

Posted on

Beignets de Cabillaud

Earlier this week I mentioned the starter I had had at Café Rouge. It was part of the fixed price menu, for my mains I had Beignets de Cabillaud, which is deep fried cod goujons served with French Fries and remoulade sauce.

So it’s fish and chips!

I did enjoy this dish, I liked the fries, the batter was cripsy, the fish had flavour, the sauce was tasty.

I think I should have ordered a salad to go with it, but if the rocket leaves were anything to go by on the starter than maybe it was a good idea I didn’t.

This dish almost made up for the disappointment of the starter.

Posted on

No more wifi

An interesting article from LA about how some coffee shops are not just getting rid of free wifi, they are getting rid of wifi full stop!

Coffee shops were the retail pioneers of Wi-Fi, flipping the switch to lure customers. But now some owners are pulling the plug. They’re finding that Wi-Fi freeloaders who camp out all day nursing a single cup of coffee are a drain on the bottom line. Others want to preserve a friendly vibe and keep their establishments from turning into “Matrix”-like zombie shacks where people type and don’t talk.

I do like to go to coffee shops and have been known to use the wifi. I agree though that sometimes you go into some coffee shops and everyone is huddled behind their laptops using Facebook or similar. Coffee is about the conversation.

Photo source.

Posted on

Wild Rocket

Found this at my local Tesco.

It’s a packet of unwashed wild rocket.

Certainly felt a lot fresher than the stuff in bags (and I hope a lot less chemicals too).

Of course the obvious thing to do is not buy the stuff, but grow my own rocket.