Dinner recipes

Vegetable Laksa In my university days of cooking for 5 people in a ‘kitchen’ that consisted of a Baby Belling, a sink and fridge to do all my prep on; this was always a special treat. We got it from our culinary bible of the time – Cranks, a revelation of vegetarian cooking and not a bean […]

Cauliflower Cheese Most things are improved by the addition of cheese sauce. I remember eating a sunday dinner at a friend’s house once; the usual roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips and greens. The meat of choice was a large ham, with a sticky sweet glaze. All in all a good spread I thought, then out came the piece […]

Root Vegetable Rostis Great for using up root vegetables and a healthy(ish) treat for brunch.

Valentine’s Day The combination of the credit crunch and February 14th presented the perfect excuse to buy lots of decadent ingredients, cook up a delicious meal, pop open some bubbly and hunker down for the evening. The starter was a beef carpaccio salad, inspired by this Jamie Oliver recipe, although we used rocket instead of green beans, […]

Parsnip and Leek Risotto Running with the idea of cooking parsnips in long thin strips with or without bacon like this recipe, I came up with this risotto, utilising some leeks lurking in the fridge. I’m not normally a fan of risotto, but this was perfect, rich and comforting. I tried to use as much parsnip and leek as […]

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie I guess you could call this more of a ‘gardeners’ pie’ as naturally there is no lamb in it, either way given this was a random idea thrown together after work, its definitely as rich, filling and hearty as any meaty version and as delicious too. Red lentils braised in red wine and tomatoes, topped […]

Beef, Mushroom and Guinness Stew Another gem utilising my slow cooker. Inspired by this article by Nigel Slater we used cheap chunks of braising steak slow cooked with mushrooms, plenty of sweet onions and carrots and Guinness, to counteract the slight bitterness of the Guinness, I added a couple of tablespoons of prune jam that I had in the fridge, […]

Steak with Colcannon Mash and Creamy mushroom Sauce Yes, this was as outrageous as it sounds. Not exactly in keeping with January healthy eating, but sometimes when it’s cold outside, you need something fortifying and creamy. However, all is not lost! There must be a good 2 portions of veg in the colcannon and mushroom sauce. I’ve already written about steak before and so […]

Simple Egg Fried Rice A simple recipe, perfect for using up leftovers and shoehorning in extra vegetables.This recipe works best with cold rice, so next time you cook rice, cook a bit more for the next day! (Although we use freshly cooked rice as often as not). Top with whatever interesting bits and bobs you have, toasted cashew nuts, […]

Slow Cooked Lamb, Sweet Potato and Lentil Curry The picture doesn’t really do this justice, it was the inaugural outing of our slow cooker and it did us proud! Amazing tender lamb in a rich sauce of lentils and sweet potato served alongside rice and peas. I just browned the meat and chucked it into the slow cooker with the rest of the […]