apple crumble recipe: caravan cookery

Showing posts with label caravan cookery. Show all posts

Showing posts with label caravan cookery. Show all posts

Bread Soup recipe

At the time of writing, on the Serro Da Bica campsite in Ourique, Portugal, we were getting a

delivery of a small loaf of freshly baked brown bread six days a week. Most days we ate about three-quarters of the loaf so I started to look around for recipes to use up the remainder. Waste not, want not and all that. This frugal bread soup recipe is vaguely based on an idea in the book Portuguese Homestyle Cooking that I first mentioned when we tried its Baked Salmon recipe. The soup recipe in the book is called Acorda a Alentejana (page 44) although if you know the original, you might not recognise what I actually ended up creating here! The texture of my soup as I served it was similar to a coarse mushroom soup and it was delicious!

Ingredients:

3 inch pieces of chourico (ends and curve of a ring)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper
1 vegetable stock cube
1 pint water
day-old brown bread (I had about half a small loaf)

Heat the chorizo in a saucepan until the oils start to run.
Add the garlic, herbs, seasoning and crumbled stock cube. Add the water and cover the pan. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.
When the stock is simmering, remove the crust from the bread and tear into roughly inch-square pieces.
Remove pan from the heat and add the bread, pushing it under the liquid. Recover the pan and leave for five minutes so the bread can soak up the stock.
When the bread cannot absorb any more stock, stir it to break up the bread into a thick sort-of puree.
Serve immediately while soup is still warm.

Italian stewed octopus recipe

Italian stewed octopus

A very delayed recipe post here because Dave first cooked this Italian-inspired meal while we were still in Spain and I've been meaning to blog it ever since because this is a delicious dinner. I am surprised at myself that I am happy to eat octopus because I am quite squeamish about things like cooked fish 'looking at me' during my meal and octopus isn't the most visually appetising of seafood, but when it's cut into pieces, it doesn't look too scary! I think I first tasted it in a rice stew when we were in Croatia. The dish contained a few whole baby octopi so I could see exactly what I was eating. One of the main reasons to travel for me though is to try new foods so I was very brave!

It is possible to buy small packs of about 300g of pre-cooked octopus pieces in Spanish supermarkets and this worked perfectly for the first time of creating this dish. For the second time I think we were already in Portugal and had to buy frozen raw octopus instead in order to get little enough for just the two of us. Most meat and seafood in Portugal seems to be sold in quantities suitable for feeding your extended family at every meal. The raw octopus tasted just as good in the end but took a lot longer to cook.

Ingredients:
300g octopus pieces (or enough for two people)
olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
200ml tomato passata or tinned chopped tomato
100ml white wine
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp dried dill
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp chilli powder
salt and pepper

If your octopus is raw, boil in in a large pan of salted water for 1-2 mins, then drain, cut into large pieces, and saute in olive oil for 2-3 minutes. If it's already pre-cooked, ignore this stage.
Heat oil in a large pan and add the octopus pieces. Add chopped garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add the wine and bring to the boil over a high heat. Stir well and allow to cook for about five minutes. Add tomato and chilli powder then bring back to a simmer.
Add sugar and a scant tsp of salt.
Mix well, cover and simmer for about half an hour.
Check if octopus is done. If it still needs more cooking time, add half the dill and parsley at this point, re-cover pan and allow to continue cooking for up to 45 minutes. Check every 15 minutes or so. Add remainder of dill and parsley when it is done.
If octopus was already cooked at the end of the 30 minutes, add all the dill and parsley together, leave the pan uncovered and turn up the heat for an additional ten minutes to slightly reduce the sauce.
Serve with pasta penne or hunks of fresh bread.

Chicken tikka masala recipe

Chicken tikka masala

So I promised a Chicken Tikka Masala recipe during my firs t Ourique post and then completely forgot to publish it. D'oh! Here goes ...

This is my interpretation of a recipe by +Elaine Lemm - her original recipe is here but I had to amend a few bits to suit what we can find locally in Portugal. Dave doesn't like food too spicy so I reduced the chilli making this version less hot than would probably be served in a UK restaurant. Plus life is too short to zest a lime and I always ending up grating my knuckle instead!

There appears to be an almost total dearth of Indian restaurants in Alentejo. You need to travel right down south to the Algarve (and all the holidaying Brits) to find one. Strangely, there are Chinese-run shops in practically every town but hardly any Chinese restaurants either.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, diced (or enough for 2 people)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 garlic clove, finely diced
salt & black pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
juice of half a lime
olive oil
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 small onion, finely diced
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
200ml double cream
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp lemon juice

Put the diced chicken in a bowl with the ginger, garlic, salt, pepper, coriander, lime and 1 tsp olive oil. Mix well, cover and leave to marinate for as long as possible. We left ours for about ten hours in the fridge.
When ready to begin cooking, heat more oil in a saucepan and brown the chicken pieces.
Remove the chicken from the pan, lower the heat and fry the onion with the chilli powder until the onion is soft.
Add turmeric and cumin and cook for one minute. I used whole cumin seeds because we didn't have any ground cumin.
Add cream and cook for five minutes. Pingo Doce sells cream differently to what we find in the UK. I used a 200ml carton of cooking cream which most closely resembles double cream. I think you could use plain yoghurt instead.
Return chicken to the pan and cook for five minutes.
Add tomato puree and lemon juice and cook for one minute.
Check chicken is piping hot, then serve immediately with rice.

Interestingly (or not), 'tikka' in Finnish means 'woodpecker'.

The first week in Ourique

Gorgeous view from Bailey at Serro da Bica
photo by Dave Greene

which rhymes so well I couldn't resist! We're staying at yet another brilliant Dutch-owned campsite, this one is called Serro da Bica and our hosts are Herman and Albertje. Again, we've pretty much got the place to ourselves - one other Dutch couple and a German man being our only neighbours - although Herman said that it's usually busier here at this time of year. Apparently tourist numbers are lower generally compared to previous years. Must be that recession still biting. Facilities here are a cut above the norm - there's even underfloor heating in the shower room for a couple of hours every morning. We also have a bar/library room where we all have the option to meet up of an evening. You'd like this, Dad! Herman rings a bell at 5pm, when he's got the wood-burning stove roaring away, which is our cue to trot over there for a hour or so of beer or port and olives. Last night was special because Albertje had baked delicious Sinterklass biscuits which are little spiced cookies to celebrate the 5th of December.

Banks of the river Mira,
photo by Dave Greene

Walking is the primary daytime activity here and there is a variety of maps to choose from in the bar, plus we also tried going off-piste - which nearly ended badly meeting a large dog in a farmyard! The first afternoon we explored a little of the gorgeous river Mira whose banks mark the edge of Serro da Bica. On the first full day, I packed a picnic lunch including a loaf of handmade fresh brown bread that is delivered daily. It's so tasty butter isn't needed with it. We set off on a 13km walk which doesn't sound too taxing except that the first half was mostly rock scrambling and following narrow wild boar tracks along the river bank in lieu of 'proper' footpaths. Great fun and the river here is beautiful. Rocks and autumn coloured trees, crystal clear water and red earth. Unfortunately most of the birds have gone south for winter but we saw azure magpies, red legged pheasants and evidence of an eagle owl.

Saturday night saw us going out to dinner for the first time since we've been away. Herman and Albertje drove us all to Café Restaurante O Novo Coimbra, a few minutes away. They had already got us salivating with much talk of the 'mirandesa' - a beef dish of the red cow which is served on vertical skewers with chestnuts and fried potatoes. Dave had this and was very impressed. I had javali, which is wild boar, in a very tasty stroganoff. I had not tried boar before. We're going back there on Friday and I think I shall have mirandesa then though - unless something else new catches my eye!

Do you remember my saying in a previous post that one of the problems we might face on such a long trip is only having British gas bottles which aren't compatible with those in ANY other country? Well to try and prevent this being an issue for as long as possible, we brought a camping gaz bottle that was still part-full from our last trip. It's done pretty well coping with most of the cooking outside in the awning until yesterday evening when it ran out. Replacing it was going to be expensive - 36 euros we think - so we have taken the advice of our Dutch neighbours at Evoramonte and have instead splashed out the princely sum of 17 euros on an electric hob. We generally have to pay a set amount for the electric hookup, regardless of how much energy is actually used so ... ! We are now the proud owners of a Clatronic EKP 3405 Hotplate which has just cooked an excellent Chicken Tikka Masala (recipe to follow) and fits neatly on the worktop in Bailey so no more chilly awning cookery!

Coconut prawns recipe

An unexpected resurrection of a recipe we haven't had for ages made for a delicious dinner tonight. We've brought an old notepad away with us, intending to use the remaining pages for shopping lists and the like, but the first pages contain handwritten recipes for meals that we enjoyed when we first got together all those years ago. Awww! I have no idea where Coconut prawns originated and I had to make a few minor changes to accommodate what was available in the Continente in Estremoz, so this is what we've actually just eaten.

Coconut prawns

Ingredients:
olive oil
3 shallots
1 clove garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp ground coriander
pinch turmeric
salt and pepper
2 tsp lemon juice
stock cube
200ml coconut cream
prawns

Finely slice the shallots and garlic. Fry slowly in a saucepan in the olive oil until softened and beginning to brown.
Add the ginger, chilli, coriander, turmeric, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Stir well to combine.
Add the coconut cream and crumble in the stock cube. (A fish or vegetable stock cube would probably be best but I only had beef or chicken so chose chicken.)
Increase the temperature and when the sauce begins to bubble add the prawns. (The smallest amount of prawns we could get was a 250g bag and this was too much. Probably about 150g would have been fine for the two of us.) Stir in well and continue cooking until the prawns are piping hot.
Serve with rice.

I've got a note written at the end of the original to say that the sauce also works well with lamb or as a vegetarian version with cauliflower, leek and courgette.

Portuguese baked salmon recipe

It's been a little while since I posted a recipe and this one is a new dish that we tried yesterday evening. It is page 71 in a wonderful book that our friends, Andy and Barbara, gave to Dave for his birthday, Portuguese Homestyle Cooking by Ana Patuleia Ortins, and our very first recipe from the book. It's a simple one to prepare which needs minimum space - ideal for caravan cookery - and took just 25 minutes in the oven so conservative on fuel too.

Ingredients per person:
Salmon fillet
one slice Parma ham or similar
two thin slices of onion
thinly sliced garlic clove
several 1/4 inch thick slices of chorizo
olive oil

Lay the garlic slices on the base of a baking dish in a line where you will put the salmon. Pour a little olive oil over them. Then lay the salmon fillet, skin side uppermost, on top of the garlic. Press the ham slice to one side of the salmon and the onion slices to the other side. Scatter the chorizo slices around the rest of the dish. Bake at about 180c for 25 minutes or until salmon is cooked through.

We served ours with new potatoes and cauliflower because that's what we had. The original recipe suggests baked potatoes as an accompaniment. Do you like the gingham caravan plates?!

We liked the ham with the salmon and this combination is similar to a Jamie Oliver recipe that we make at home where the ham is wrapped around the salmon fillet. However, we weren't sure about the onion as it was still crunchy which we didn't really like. Perhaps it's meant to be like this? Perhaps it should have been doused in oil like the garlic which softened. The recipe is garlic-heavy and I'd probably reduce the amount next time I made this, but I liked the chorizo-flavoured oil with the salmon.

Jambalaya recipe

Today's the last evening before our departure and I'm catching up on things I meant to do but haven't quite gotten around to - one of which is posting this recipe. We spent a few hours earlier stowing away as much as we can in Bailey. It was surprisingly straightforward and we do have some space left, although there's only grams remaining on the weight allowance. (Note to BeValued staff: there's not enough room for stowaways!) So I've got time this evening for a bit of blogging.

This jambalaya recipe is my interpretation of a recipe card from Waitrose and Tilda Rice. Dave says it's a waste of prawns because they don't add much to the flavour but I think the seafood and meat combination is essential. We agree to disagree. It's not essential to sing the Jambalaya song as you cook, but I usually do. I've put a YouTube of Hank Williams singing it at the end of this post in case your memory needs refreshing!

Ingredients (serves 2):
as much rice as you usually serve yourselves
pinch of turmeric
chicken stock
olive oil
2-3 shallots or a small onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
offcuts of chorizo (about 60g), chopped
1 tbsp Schwartz Cajun Spice blend
2 tomatoes, chopped
100g large prawns
fresh chopped parsley

Add the turmeric to the rice and boil in the chicken stock until the rice is cooked. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the shallots/onion, pepper and chorizo until the onion has softened. Stir in the spice mix, tomatoes and prawns and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the pre-cooked rice and continue to fry until all the ingredients are cooked through and piping hot. This should only take another 2-3 minutes but double-check the prawns. Stir in the parsley and serve immediately.

Sweet pepper soup recipe

This recipe makes my favourite end-of-the-week soup and is a frequent Saturday lunch for us served with slices of hot buttered toast.

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp garam masala spice mix
2 red, yellow or orange peppers, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
500ml chicken stock
Salt & pepper

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and garam masala and fry until the onion is soft.

Add the peppers and stir to coat everything in the oil. The pictured soup was made with one red and one yellow pepper. I find the yellow ones are usually the sweetest, then orange, then red. I try to avoid making soup with green peppers, especially if they are dark green because they have quite a bitter taste that takes a lot of spice to disguise.

Add the stock and bring to the boil. When boiling reduce to a simmer and cover the pan to prevent too much evaporation. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until the pepper pieces are very soft. Remove from the heat and season to taste.

When cooled enough not to scald if it splashes, blend the soup and reheat until almost boiling. Serve with plenty of hot buttered toast!

Almost vegetarian mixed bean chilli recipe

When I served up this chilli last night, Dave's first reaction was to call it a sneaky trick because it didn't contain any meat. He did admit that it tasted good though so hopefully I'll get to make it again sometime! I found the original recipe here on allrecipes.co.uk and amended it slightly to make two portions. In reality, this ended up being three portions though so the freezer got one as well.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 a large onion, diced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 red pepper, diced
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1x 400g can chopped tomatoes
1x 400g can mixed beans
250ml stock
1 bay leaf
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large saucepan.

Fry the onion, garlic, red pepper, coriander and chilli powder until the vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the tomato puree, cumin and paprika, and heat through.

Add the tomatoes, beans, stock and bay leaf. This step is why my chilli was only 'almost vegetarian'. I used a beef stock cube but the original recipe lists vegetable stock.

Bring to the boil then reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Season with salt. It was a bit too runny at this point for our taste so I then kept the pot on a low simmer but uncovered for a further 30 minutes to thicken the sauce.

I served our chilli with steamed basmati rice. If I was serving this regularly and wanted to ring the changes, I could add minced meat but I think I would probably choose bacon bits or chopped smoked sausage instead. Smoked paprika would add a lovely flavour too but we only had regular.

Other new caravan toys we tried out this weekend

The cutest little travel kettle jumped into my trolley at +Sainsbury's last week. It was just over £20 so not particularly cheap but looked perfect for Bailey! We tried it out this weekend just gone and it is much better than the full-size one we had taken to Bosham. It hardly takes up any room and boils exactly enough water for two mugs of coffee. However, the automatic cut-out when it's boiling doesn't work so whoever is brewing up needs to stay close at hand.

We also took our Kindle which I tried out for the first time. Dave's already read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn which he says is very good and he likes that the Kindle is bright enough to read outside when it's getting dark. I've resisted getting one for ages because I love actual books, but a few titles I've wanted to read recently that are only available in this format so I've been persuaded and we went halves! I downloaded an Eastbourne-based thriller, Devil's Chimney by Tin Larrick which I'm about half-way though at the time of writing. I'll review it on Theatrical Eastbourne soon.

Not so much a new toy as a new way of cooking because I tried out pasta in the caravan microwave for the first time. We conscious that Bailey only has a limited gas supply and the supplied cylinders are UK specific. If we were only ever going away for a week or so, or were staying in the UK, this probably would never be a problem, but as we're planning an extended jaunt in Europe, replenishing the gas supply is going to be an issue. One way of delaying the inevitable, especially as we'll nearly always be paying for an electric hookup anyway, is to use the microwave a lot more than we do at home. I tried out both pasta and rice at home. 6oz of pasta penne needed 680ml water and took 8 mins on full with 5 mins standing to be perfect. It wasn't quite cooked after this in the caravan so I think next time '7 mins full, 5 mins standing, 2 mins full' will do the trick. It's boiling over at around 8 mins so just going for 9 mins straight isn't really an option.

My final new toy that I didn't start using is a posh moleskine journal courtesy of Glenfiddich Explorers. I signed up for their mailing list ages ago in the hope of winning one of the 500 they were giving away, but then totally forgot about it. The unexpected parcel arrived in the same week as I had finally confirmed to work that I wanted to take a sabbatical break. It is such a big decision that I was feeling quite nervous and wondering if we had made the right decision. Seeing your own job advertised is a weird experience! But then the blank journal arrived, ready to record our adventure and I took this as a sign that the fates were with us and we'd made the right decision. (Superstitious? me?) Perhaps there'll be a book in it by the time we get back!

Balsamic salmon recipe with new potatoes and cherry tomatoes

I thought I must have already blogged this recipe as it's a favourite summer meal of ours, but I was surprised to see that I haven't! It's really easy to cook, takes less than an hour and all goes in one dish which can be brought to the table to serve if you are entertaining. The original idea came from the +goodtoknow website a few years ago and I've adapted it since. The ingredients below serve two people

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
10 pieces new potato
1 tsp dried basil or mixed herbs
2 salmon fillets
12 cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Put 1 tbsp of the olive oil into a baking dish that is large enough for all the ingredients. Roll the potato pieces in the oil to thoroughly coat them and sprinkle with the 1 tsp dried herbs. Put the herby potatoes into the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the dish from the over and nestle the salmon fillets in the centre. You might need to move some of the potatoes to the edges. Put the tomatoes in the dish as well and drizzle the remaining tbsp of oil and the tbsp of balsamic vinegar over the salmon. Return the dish to the oven for 15 minutes or until the salmon is cooked through but not overcooked.

Serve immediately.

Any dried herbs will probably work well with this dish. I like dill or basil with salmon, and parsley goes nicely with the tomatoes. I haven't tried coriander yet but that might be nice too - experiment with whatever you've got in the cupboard.
You can serve the meal with a green vegetable or a leafy salad. I like green beans or asparagus, but think that peas don't work as well. Not sure why.

Our lovely anniversary weekend continued

Orchard Farm campsite, Bosham

with taking Bailey away for two nights at Bosham, near Chichester – hence the no presents ‘rule’ mention earlier. Orchard Farm campsite is very peaceful but basic –water tap and electric hookup provided, own sanitation essential. No shop or club room onsite although there's a Co-Op close by in the village and nice-looking pub within a few minutes walk - we didn't actually go in. There's very little light pollution so a fantastic place for stargazing. It's also a caravan storage place so there were loads of vans but very few with people! We got there for lunch on Saturday, having avoided the Festival of Speed traffic, and met up with our friends Barbara and Andy who had not only saved us a shady spot under trees but also made a delicious chicken and mango salad that was perfect after the stuffy, sticky drive. I drove all the way and only really messed up once caused by indecision approaching a roundabout. There’s a weird creaky noise when we go slow though –probably best get that checked out.

Saturday afternoon we all went on a boat trip from Itchenor and saw hundreds of little and not-so-little boats. It felt as though everyone in the area must own their own vessel and we were left wondering ‘what recession’?! There are also loads of cyclists. It’s mostly flat countryside and they seem well catered for with cycle lanes, off-road routes and a tiny, cute ferry. Dave as a tad jealous I think and would take his bike if we go there again.
Saturday night I shared cooking with Andy. My contribution was Turkey Tagine that had been slow cooking all afternoon. It was just as tasty as if it had been done in the tagine and I’m definitely going to make the slow cooker a caravan essential. We weren’t sure due to the weight of the ceramic crock, but it was so easy to leave it safely doing its thing while we went out and I appreciated arriving back to the aroma of dinner all ready. Andy did a fruited couscous with chopped dates, apricots and pistachios. This will probably be one of my next recipe posts!

Dave steeling himself to start dinner!

The whole area is perfect for gentle strolls around picturesque harbours and spying on how the other half live on Bosham Hoe which is how we spent our Sunday. I’m happy to recommend Anchor Bleu in Bosham for lunch –good food, fast and friendly service, and they have Fentimann’s ginger beer! There’s an extensive arts and crafts shop on the harbour front where I managed to avoid spending any money despite many temptations. As it turned out, Dave drew the short straw with Sunday night cooking (salmon and pesto penne) as juggling two pans on the hob is going to take a bit of practice. He says it’s necessary to clear the area of anything that’s not needed before you start. And I must perfect doing pasta and rice in the microwave properly – like the slow cooker this will save our precious gas when abroad, and help utilise the limited space to its best advantage too.

And now it’s Monday and our wonderful weekend is over :-(
Worthing was a nightmare of heat and traffic and it took us two hours to get from Bosham to Polegate. I’d taken a half day and did still manage to get into work early though. Nearly kept walking to the seafront but thought I’d better not!

Quick biscuit recipe

This is a simple, versatile recipe that's very easy to make and also dangerously quick so perfect for those times when an emergency sugar fix is needed! We used to make these biscuits when I was child and I think the original version of the recipe is probably from the ancient Good Housekeeping Cookery Compendium that was my Mum's favourite. She made sure that my sister and both got our own suitably dated copies too although, now I come to think about it, I'm not sure what has happened to Mum's?

Ingredients:
6oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
4oz butter
2oz sugar
small handful sultanas or any other dried fruit

Grease a baking tray and preheat the oven to about 180C.

Cream the butter and sugar together either by hand or with an electric mixer. When combined add the flour, baking powder and spice and mix again. When the mixture gets to the sort-of breadcrumb stage, throw in the sultanas and continue mixing. Eventually it will form one large ball and when it does you can stop. If you're mixing by hand, this is great exercise for bingo wings!

Take ping pong ball size pieces of the dough and roll them in your hands to smooth the edges. Flatten them slightly as you put them onto the baking tray. Leave a gap between the dough discs as they will expand a little during cooking.

When all the dough discs are on the baking tray, bake them in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes. I currently have a fan oven which I set to 180C and the biscuits only take 15 mins as we like them quite lightly baked and crumbly. The biscuits are very delicate while hot so be careful transferring them to a wire cooling sheet or they may disintegrate. Also, try not to eat them straight from the oven as the sultanas will blister your mouth!

Enjoy x

Quick Potato Salad recipe

Probably everyone has got their own variation on a potato salad recipe already but I thought I'd share this one which I can get from opening the fridge to serving up in about twenty minutes. It's simple to do and only has a few ingredients. The following amounts served two as an accompaniment to our lunch on Sunday. I had a mini Ploughman's Cheddar and Pickle Tartlet and Dave had a slice of Cumberland Sausage and Bramley Apple Pie - and, no, I didn't make either of those two myself! +Sainsbury's delicatessen counter did the honours.

175g new potatoes
pinch of salt
several fresh mint leaves
2 tsp Mayonnaise
squeeze of lemon juice

Put a saucepan of salted water on to boil while you cut the potatoes into roughly inch-cubed pieces. You can peel them if you want. I usually just wash them as I like the skins left on new potatoes. I cut up 4 good-sized potatoes which turned out to be just about 175g.

When the water comes to the boil, put the potato pieces in with a couple of fresh mint leaves. They'll probably only take about 10 minutes to cook so keep an eye on them and don't let them get too soft.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain them immediately and rinse them under cold water until they have completely cooled. I always do this even if I'm not moving straight on to the adding mayonnaise stage. Mum always did too. I can't remember why it's important though. Possibly it stops the potatoes continuing to cook? Maybe it stops them changing colour? Answers in the Comments below if you know!

Put the cooled potato into a bowl with 2 tsp of mayonnaise, a good squeeze of lemon juice and 3-4 fairly finely chopped mint leaves. I've already discarded the soggy ones from the saucepan. Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly but not too enthusiastically. You don't want to break up the potato pieces.

Serve cold.

There's lots of different ingredients you can also add to this salad to make it more impressive. it travels quite well for picnics and packed lunches as long as it can be kept cool. Chopped apple works nicely for a sweeter flavour, or chives and spring onions give a savoury crunch. Most green herbs will work whether fresh or dried. We're lucky because Dave grows fresh mint in our garden, but I've tried parsley, dill, coriander or basil instead to ring the changes. If I don't have half a fresh lemon already sat in the fridge, I will make do with a few drops of lemon juice out of a jar of slices instead of cutting into a new one. We are usually part-way through a jar because I use the slices in my Turkey Tagine recipe. I do like to use a good quality mayonnaise though because I find the cheaper ones can taste too acidic.

Roasted Vegetable Pasta recipe

Proving that vegetarian doesn't have to mean healthy, this tasty pasta recipe is pretty high in dairy badness so probably should be a once-in-a-while meal rather than a regular choice! Quantities below serve two or could be stretched to three if you offset the dairy by also serving a fresh green salad.

Ingredients:
4 tbsp olive oil
1 courgette
1 red pepper
3-4 garlic cloves
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 tsp lemon juice
5 oz pasta penne (or other shapes)
200ml creme fraiche
1-2 tsp English mustard
2 oz strong cheddar cheese.

Preheat the oven to 220C.

Cut the courgette and pepper into sticks which are about half a cm square at the ends and as long as you like. Finely slice the garlic. Put the three into a roasting dish and toss with the oil, herbs and lemon juice until all the veg is evenly coated. Roast for 15-20 mins until the veggies are soft and ends of the pepper sticks are starting to blacken.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a saucepan that is large enough to fit all the ingredients. Drain pasta and return it to the pan over a low heat. Hopefully the pasta will be done at about the same time as the veggies finish roasting, in which case remove them from the oven and stir them in with the pasta.

Add the creme fraiche, mustard and grated cheese to the pan and stir gently until all the cheese has melted into the sauce. I like to use the +Yeo Valley Half Fat creme fraiche. It comes in a 200g pot which is perfect for this recipe and it has a nice light taste.

Serve with a green salad or hunks of fresh bread.

This recipe is very flexible in that any type of pasta shapes can be used so it's good for using up ends of bags. Also, the mustard doesn't have to be English - I've used wholegrain before - you would just need to adjust the amount depending on its strength and, of course, your liking for mustard! We normally cheddar in the fridge, but I think any similar textured cheese would work just as well if that's what you have. It doesn't matter if it's begun to go a bit hard at the edges so, again, use up odds & ends and experiment.

Salmon and pesto penne recipe

This one isn't actually a meal that I cook myself. It's a tasty specialty that Dave creates and he got the original recipe via Sunny who lives in California. Isn't that just the perfect name for a Californian?! Salmon and pesto penne makes a light, quick midweek supper or lunch. These ingredients serve two.

Ingredients:
butter or olive oil
2 salmon fillets
salt and pepper
100g green pesto
small glass white wine
6oz pasta penne

Heat a large pan of salted water. When it comes to a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions, stirring occasionally to make sure it is not sticking. When cooked, remove from the heat and drain.

Heat 1 tbsp of butter or olive oil in a skillet if you have one, otherwise a frying pan. Add salt, pepper and the salmon fillets. Cook the fish until it starts to brown and the skin loosens. Remove and discard the skin.

Add the wine and poach the salmon until it is completely cooked through.

Stir in the pesto, breaking up and flaking the salmon as you do so.
When the pesto has heated through, stir in the pasta.
When the pasta is also pipng hot (love that phrase!), transfer to warmed plates and serve.

The pesto and wine amounts are both approximate and can be adjusted to taste. We use the Napolina green pesto and one 185g jar does for two meals. Also, while we cook 6oz of pasta, there is usually enough left over to form the base of a pasta salad for my packed lunch the next day so we probably only eat around 5oz with the salmon.

It's just occurred to me that this would be an ideal recipe for caravan cookery. It wouldn't use much gas and the ingredients should be available quite widely across Europe. Perhaps even the salmon would be interchangeable with other similar types of fish. I will have to experiment - cue the look of dread of Dave's face at that word! I'm going to start 'caravan cookery' as a new blog label so I can keep track of all the potentially suitable recipes I post.

Mushroom Soup (recipe)

Mushroom Soup

Quick and easy recipe post here!

I nearly always make 'End-Of-The-Week' soup for Saturday lunch to use up any left over veg in the fridge before we go shopping again on Sundays. These soups are all based around the same method. I have salad lunchboxes for work so there are cherry tomatoes and peppers left and sometimes lentils, but this soup requires the special purchase of a whole tub +Sainsbury's closed cup mushrooms - last of the big spenders! They are usually £1 for a 300g tub but are often reduced when close to the sell-by date. The mushrooms don't need to be in perfect condition or even all of the same type.

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 small onion, fairly finely chopped
300g mushrooms, quartered
1 tsp dried dill
500ml light stock, vegetable or chicken
Salt & pepper
Splash of brandy (optional)

Heat a couple of glugs of olive oil in a saucepan and fry the onion until softened but not browned.
Add the mushrooms and the dill and stir to coat everything in the oil.
Add the stock and bring to the boil. When boiling reduce to simmer and cover the pan to prevent too much evaporation. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until mushrooms are well cooked.
Remove from the heat and taste. Season and add a splash of brandy if you've got some / if you want to.

When cooled a little, blend the soup and reheat until almost boiling. Serve with hot buttered toast.

Chicken and Chorizo Stew recipe

Another Spanish-inspired dish today and one that was originally created by us to use up leftovers so it's both tasty and thrifty. We like pasta penne with tomato and chorizo but a whole chorizo ring is too much for one meal so about a third gets put back in the fridge. Also, a whole chicken - even a small one - will do us for its original roast dinner with plenty of good white meat left to make this stew. The leg meat is also fine to use in the stew if you want, but Dave's not so keen on it so I normally use that up in a lunchbox salad for me. A pint of stock made from the chicken bones and that's a pretty good £6 worth. The quantities below are for two but are quite vague as it depends on how much of each ingredient we have. Experiment to find the flavour combination you like best.

Chicken and Chorizo Stew

Ingredients:
olive oil
6-8 inches of chorizo sliced into half-cm thick rounds
half a large onion, fairly finely chopped
small new potatoes, cut in half (or left whole if they're really tiny)
400g tin chopped tomatoes
200ml chicken stock
left over roasted chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
salt, pepper, dried mixed herbs

Pour a glug of olive oil into a saucepan and heat. Add the chorizo and fry for a couple of minutes until the oil starts to colour.
Add the onion, lower the heat, and cook until the onion is soft.
Add the potatoes, tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil. Add the chicken and simmer for about an hour or until the potatoes are cooked through.
Season to taste and serve.

I've submitted this recipe to Credit Crunch Munch which is a fun initiative from Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All to find budget-conscious recipes, saving some money whilst still enjoying good food. I've followed Fuss Free Flavours for a couple of years but this is the first recipe I've submitted. There's several blogs taking part in Credit Crunch Munch and I always find great ideas for new meals and flavours.

Pork with Black Olives recipe

Pork with Black Olives

I'd like to share this favourite dinner recipe of ours. It's a simplification of a Spanish dish. We usually serve the quantity below as two portions for dinner, but then don't have anything else with it. I have also served it as four portions with a carb side dish when entertaining.

Ingredients:
175g pork tenderloin fillet
1 tbsp plain flour
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
1 small onion, fairly finely chopped

400g tin chopped tomatoes
200ml chicken stock
100ml white wine
90g black olives, pitted and halved
2 tbsp dried parsley

We usually get a whole +Sainsbury's tenderloin fillet when I cook this meal, and keep half for next time in the freezer. Slice the fillet into 1cm thick slices and flatten them out with the heel of your hand (or a meat mallet if you've got one).
Mix the flour, salt and pepper together into a bowl and dredge the pork slices. Go easy on the salt because the olives will add a salty taste to the dish later on.
Heat a couple of glugs of good quality olive oil in a large deep frying pan and brown the pork slices. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
Add a little more oil to the pan if needed and lower the heat. Fry the onion until softened but not browned. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock and wine, and bring to the boil. I like the Napolina tomatoes and use Kallo organic stock cubes.
When the sauce begins to boil, lower the heat again and return the pork to the pan. Make sure all the slices are submerged and leave on a slow simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally to make sure the sauce doesn't stick.
Add the olives to the pan with a generous couple of tablespoons of parsley. Stir and leave to cook for about another half an hour before serving. I probably only put about 60g of olives into the actual dish. We buy them from the deli aisle in a 90g tub but, strangely, several always vanish between halving and cooking!

Enjoy!