A seriously good sandwich

More of a construction job than a recipe...

Fry some sliced red onions in a knob of butter and a healthy drizzle of balsamic vinegar until meltingly soft. It should take at least 15-20 minutes on a low-ish heat.

Pre-heat a griddle pan until very hot. Season a lamb steak on both sides before placing on the hot griddle. Cook for 2-3 minutes each side if you like your meat cooked medium.

In the meantime, toast a thick slice of bread or ciabatta. When the lamb and onions are ready you can assemble the sandwich... first sliced tomatoes (which should be at room temperature), then mayonnaise which has been mixed with a smidge of dijon mustard, then the lamb, then the slow cooked onions. Finally finish with a handful of rocket dressed with more balsamic. Top with a final piece of toasted bread if you like.

Lime and paprika chicken

This is easy Spring/Summer food, peferct for bbq's or an after work dinner with whatever salad bits you've got in the fridge. Marinade the chicken the night before or before you go to work if you can, otherwise an hour before you're due to eat it is fine.

Place de-boned chicken thighs in a bowl with olive oil, crushed garlic, the juice of one lime and plenty of smoked paprika. Add some dried chilli flakes for extra kick if you like. When you're ready to grill/griddle/bbq the chicken, season it with plenty of salt and pepper first before cooking the chicken fast on a high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with a little extra paprika once cooked if you like.

We had ours with garlic and parsley corn on the cob and a warm herby new potato, green bean, spinach, onion and tomato smush. It tasted a lot nicer than it sounds!

Herby green risotto

This was lovely and fresh and Spring-like, even if there has been snow and hail here in Cheshire in the last week or so :-(

I've not included how to make a risotto again here, just the ingredients used. For the first time ever we made a risotto without wine in it. It didn't taste any worse for it. Although it was rather odd to stand stirring the rice with a cup of tea in hand rather than the usual glass of vino.

Ingredients:
- veg stock
- arborio rice
- 1 white onion, chopped
- 1 fat clove of garlic, minced
- 6 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 2 handfuls of spinach, roughly chopped
- handfuls of parsley, watercress and chives, blitzed
- handful of green beans and asparagus cut in half, cooked in boiling water for 2 mins and then set aside to add to the risotto for the last few minutes
- small tub of double cream, added towards the end
- salt and pepper
- plenty of parmesan grated on just before eating

Watercress sauce

We have this as a cold sauce to go with salmon wrapped in pancetta. You can warm it up gently too though which is equally nice.

Blitz a bag or two of watercress with a couple of handfuls of spinach (if you happen to have some), plus a small handfull of parsley and a handful of chives. Then add a small tub of double cream and season with salt and pepper.

Salmon and scallop teriyaki kebabs

Ingredients (serves 2):
2 thick salmon fillets, cut into large chunks
6 large scallops
100ml teriyaki marinade
25ml dark soy sauce
25ml mirin
tea spoon honey
tea spoon sesame oil

- Mix together all wet ingredients in a bowl and add the salmon and scallops. Leave them in the marinade for an hour. Soak wooden skewers in water in the meantime before you skewer the fish.
- Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees. Carefully add the salmon and scallops to the  kebab skewers, alternating as you go. Place in a roasting tray and pour over a little of the marinade.
- Cook in the pre-heated oven for approximately 10 minutes, but check after 6 minutes or so, especially if your scallops are small.
- Whilst the kebabs are cooking, stir fry some veg of your choice with some cooked noodles, adding the rest of the reserved marinade for the last few minutes. You could also add a little garlic, chilli, ginger and Chinese 5 spice to your stir fry for extra flavour.

Bits and pieces soup



I couldn’t decide what to call this one. It’s sort of like a minestrone with a few tweaks.
We love the savouryness of this soup. It’s also great for using up bits and pieces from the fridge, including veg which is just past its best.
Ingredients (suggestion):
Leftover roast meat (we used beef)
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Garlic
Green beans and/or mange tout
A handful of tomatoes
Mushrooms
Kale, cavolo nero or cabbage
1L of stock (veg, chicken or beef)
Splash of white wine
A handful of small pasta shapes
Herbs (parsley, thyme, rosemary, bay)
Salt and pepper
It’s not a recipe as such… Chop the veg (carrots, onion, celery, garlic, mushrooms) and sauté in a little oil until starting to soften. Then add the stock, wine, tomatoes and herbs. Leave to simmer for 10 minutes before adding the beans, cabbage, pasta shapes etc. When the pasta shapes are almost cooked add the leftover roast meat for the last few minutes to warm through. Adjust the seasoning. Top with some grated parmesan to serve. It would also be good with a chunk of buttery garlic bread to dip.