Potato Boulangère - Cooked in a Steam Combination Oven

I've made this Jamie Oliver recipe numerous times, it's quick, easy and a healthier option to the usual potato dauphinoise.  Potato Boulangère is simply thinly sliced potatoes, onions and stock layered up in a dish.  I like Delia's recipe too......

When I chose my new kitchen the purchase of a steam combination oven was an indulgence, especially as I had no idea if I was going to be happy with it but now I don't know how I managed without it. The advantage of cooking in this type of oven using the fan/steam mode is food doesn't dry out and also cooks quicker, I cooked this dish in just over 30 minutes at 200°C Fan/Steam.

Steam ovens have to be used with caution, when I first used mine I had one or two nasty burns and I learnt very quickly that my best friend was going to be a set of of double oven gloves that have an extra long cuff, a protective steam layer and don't let the heat through.  I'd recommend C'est Ca because they never let me down.

Adapted Recipe:
750g maincrop potatoes
1 onion, sliced
sage leaves
200ml vegetable stock
Parmesan cheese
butter

Conventional Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Peel and thinly slice the potatoes, add a layer over the base followed by a layer of onions, season. Build up the layers finishing with a layer of potatoes.
3. Pour the stock over the potatoes, season. Grate the Parmesan over the potatoes, top with a few fresh sage leaves. Top with a few pieces of butter. Cook for an hour until golden and the potatoes are cooked through.

The original recipe is on the Jamie Oliver website.

Walnut & Rosemary Focaccia

After watching the TV programme Britain's Best Bakery, which Cumbrian celebrity chef Peter Sidwell co-hosted with Mich Turner (sugarcrafter extraordinaire), it inspired me to make a bread recipe from his book Simply Good Bread. The recipes in the book can be made using a bread machine or by hand.

I love homemade focaccia and walnuts in bread always work well. The dough uses a mix of strong white bread flour, OO Italian pasta flour and mashed potato from a baked jacket potato, this produced a very light crumb.

The baked focaccia is lovely dipped into extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Any leftover can be frozen away in slices - when you need to take any out of the freezer, defrost on a paper towel which will soak up any moisture and then refresh in the microwave.

The focaccia dough waiting to be baked.

The recipe can be found online at lovefood.com

Sage Sausage Rolls - Recipe

These well dressed little beauties are filled with good quality sausage meat from my trusted butcher, I then add a grated apple, a few breadcrumbs, chopped sage and parsley.  Decorate with fresh sage leaves.  The recipe is from Delicious Magazine and because I have never found a recipe to upstage this one, I use this time and again!  I use my Stellar Eazistore trays because the sausage rolls don't stick whilst cooking.

Open freeze the uncooked sausage rolls on trays and when frozen pop into ziplock freezer bags ready for cooking - easy!

Rosemary Roast Lamb Chops and Potatoes

Whilst lazily reading the newspaper at my local coffee shop the other week, I came across this recipe from BBC GoodFood in the Daily Mail.  I always look forward to seeing which recipe they have chosen from the GoodFood website because I can then buy the ingredients whilst I'm out shopping and cook the suggested recipe.  I don't know whose job it is to choose recipes from the GoodFood website for the Daily Mail readers but they always pick a winner.  I'm mostly grateful to them because it saves me thinking 'what shall I cook for dinner'.

After my disaaahhhster (disaster) with a previous meal, I thought it only fair I cooked something that looked good, tasted wonderful and is very delicious too.

The recipe is very easy to prepare and make, I used King Edward old potatoes because when roasted they are crunchy on the outside and fluffy within.  The balsamic vinegar drizzled over the roasted meal is a must and takes it to another level. I cut off some rosemary which happily grows in my garden and managed to tear off the last sprig of mint too.

The recipe is on the BBC GoodFood website. I found the oven timings suggested on their site too short and cooked the potatoes for another 20 minutes.

Slow Cooker Recipe: Lamb Cooked in Red Wine

Slow cooker love - simply take a half shoulder of lamb or a leg of lamb joint and brown in a large frying pan.  Add to the slow cooker.  Throw a few quartered red onions into the slow cooker, and you needn't even peel them, because you will be straining all those fabulous slow cooker juices afterwards.  Add a few cloves of crushed garlic, bay leaves, sprigs of thyme and rosemary.  This is herb love too - my pots of herbs have been very kind to me and seemed to thrive on a poor summer, well - it's good to know some things like poor summers.

Deglaze the frying pan with red wine, I used Shiraz but any full bodied red wine is ideal, bring to the boil and add to the lamb. Season with freshly ground salt and pepper.  Cook on high for 5 hours or until falling off the bone, this way you don't need to use any butchery skills but can use two spoons to pull the lamb apart into reasonably sized pieces.  Strain the slow cooker juices over a saucepan, add some redcurrant jelly to sweeten and thicken with a a few instant thickening granules, which are available from most supermarkets.

No photograph of the cooked lamb, because it never looks very photogenic when cooked, but what it lacks in looks it makes up for with taste, it is so delicious.  You can use lamb shanks and these are equally delicious.

Chicken Pesto Parcels

Served with a few crushed new potatoes garnished with chopped chives.

After eating out on numerous occasions recently, it's always great to get back to normality and eat home cooked food.  Hubby always says he prefers my meals, but then like most men, he has learnt the art of saying the right things.........

Tasty, quick, simple with just one ready made ingredient and all cooked together in a tray.

My ready made ingredient is fresh pesto from Waitrose, it's amazing and you can even see whole pieces of pine nuts in the pesto sauce. This is one of my finds that is nearly as good as home made.  I buy a pot and pour some into an ice cube tray and freeze for a rainy day.

The slightly adapted recipe is from The New Dairy Cookbook.

Serves: 4

You will need: 2 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons pesto, 25g grated mature Cheddar cheese, 4 boneless chicken breasts, 2 red and 2 yellow deseeded peppers, 4 tomatoes cut into wedges, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 15g butter

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Mix together, pesto, Cheddar and breadcrumbs.
3. Cut a pocket into each chicken breast and fill with the pesto mixture. Use cocktail sticks to close the pocket.
4. Arrange the peppers and chicken in a baking dish and drizzle over the olive oil and dot with butter.
5. Roast for 25 minutes or so until the chicken is cooked and the vegetables are charred at the edges.
6. After serving up drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil and the pan juices.