This is one of the specials recipes. You have to make it with the fresh pasta sauce, and aubergines done this way taste divine. Made up of three cheeses, cheddar, mozzarella and vegetarian hard cheese (the veg version of Parmesan), aubergines gently fried in olive oil and drained and the fresh pasta sauce, when it is baked it smells amazing. Served with a little garlic bread and a side salad this is a winner with the guests, and my daughter loves it!! As does mum and me.....
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When making most soups I use a basic formula of sliced potato, chopped onion and chosen veg, then Oxo vegetable stock, cornflour, water and black pepper. This formula works for most of my soups. Celery soup is very easy to make and really good tasting too, and from a budget point of view it's relatively cheap as well. Celery is also low calorie, full of anti-oxidants and a good source of fibre. It has also been used in Chinese medicine for centuries.as an anti-inflammatory so should definitely help with Arthritic conditions too. I always serve the soups with crusty bread or sliced wholemeal bread.
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When we went to a hotel in Scarborough with Lia who was five years old then, she asked for pasta for her tea. They served her a version of this that she liked. She said can you make me this at home mum? So I tasted it and said it's just a pasta sauce with pasta shells and red Leicester cheese on top, I will make it when we get home and you can try it. Oh the pressure! So I used a basic fresh pasta sauce that I make, the conchiglie and finely grated Red Leicester on top. She loved it, and so did mum, and so did I. Result.
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Mum likes Watercress for it's peppery taste, so she asked me would I make a soup of it. I was apprehensive, but this worked surprisingly well with my base soup recipe of potato, onion, stock and cornflour. Watercress retains it's peppery taste even when it's cooked, and this soup has a really good punchy taste. In addition Watercress is calorie low, but nutrient rich!
In fact, it’s ranked number one on the US Centre's for Disease Control’s Powerhouse Fruits and Vegetables list. It is high in Vitamin C and A, so not only will it be good for your eyes, but great for your overall health too.So it is well worth a try for that reason alone...
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This is a basic BLT recipe. You don't need to use the Quorn one, you can use any of the vegetarian bacon varieties. The mayonnaise gives it a little extra. We also recently found a vegan mayonnaise called OMV Burger mayo which has a really nice taste, surprisingly enough too. This recipe is a really quick breakfast or lunch snack. You need to use iceberg lettuce though because it provides the crunchiness to it. The tomatoes can be sliced salad tomatoes or any other variety. Sometimes we have even had this for a quick tea with fruit and soup to start. So really you can eat this at any time of day!! For this reason it is always worth having a pack of veggie bacon in the freezer on standby for unexpected guests....
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A friend of mine made a version of this for me and I enjoyed it so much I asked for the recipe. This uses mainly food cupboard and supermarket ingredients, and though the ingredient list looks quite long it isn't really, as this one pot not only feeds a crowd but you can freeze some of it too, or serve it in jacket potatoes with a sprinkling of cheese on, and it really is delicious. It is even good with rice as pictured here. Everyone who has tried this chilli really enjoyed it, and, if you serve it with chips and make a chip butty you can dip it in the juices and again it really has an amazing taste. Do try it if you haven't already and you will not be disappointed! The chip butty way is my favourite, and I always make my chips in the deep fat fryer....
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We made the Ratatouille which is a traditional French dish, because it is good to diversify and try other cultures' food. Here we used green pepper, onion, aubergine, courgette, tomatoes and fresh oregano. Oregano grows well in this country in summer and we have some of it growing ourselves in the back garden in a tub. It is not so easy to source in the supermarkets, it's more of a public market herb, and sometimes you can order it from them if they haven't got it in as I have done previously. This meal has quite a sharp taste with the oregano, and a slightly bitter one too. Different coloured peppers would give vastly different tastes to this recipe. Here we served it with rice, but you could also put it in a jacket potato.
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Cheese and onion pie is a British institution just like fish and chips! You can definitely tell this as this recipe is my most viewed - by over 100,000 people! I tried a few recipes to make this and realised that with the addition of water it makes the pie more moist, so you can have it without a sauce. The milk brushed over makes it brown evenly too. My daughter has this with mashed potatoes and beans, but you can have it with a side salad, with chips and beans, or new potatoes and other vegetables like carrots, cabbage or green beans perhaps. I prefer the ready made pastry here but I have sometimes made my own and it has been just as good. This doesn't really work with any other cheese but mature, and extra mature cheddar. You could try it with filo pastry too for a lighter pie if you like. Fussy guests never refuse this, and even ask for more....
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Cheesy mash - this is real comfort food. Serve it with a big helping of baked beans for a night in by the fire! It's got to be made with mature cheddar cheese too, and onions chopped up really fine. It is also a great way to get the children to eat onions without knowing! You can also do this as a tray bake for a party with a large pan of baked beans. My daughter was also an onion hater, and once when she was about five years old, we went into Greggs bakery and I said to her tell the lady what you want. Lia said, " Can I have a cheese and onion pasty without the onion please?" And the lady behind the counter looked at me, winked and smiled, and simply said, "Certainly darling" Try not to smile at that....
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Asparagus soup has a really rich and unique taste if you haven't tried it. It is very good, and it has a nice creamy taste. It is best to use the young asparagus tips, but it still works with the thicker variety. We always buy two bunches for this soup. Most of the soups start as a basic recipe of potato, onion and your chosen vegetable. Be sure to blend this soup well though, and make sure that the pieces of Asparagus are relatively soft before finishing it off on the stove, otherwise you can end up with little strands of Asparagus stem floating in it. Everyone who has tried this soup likes it. It's mum's favourite too... It's crusty rolls time again!
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Who doesn't like a sausage casserole, especially when the nights draw in and you know that winter is now approaching. This is a one pot dish so just throw everything in and simply cook in the oven. I got the idea from a ladies magazine whilst in the hairdressers. I simply changed the sausages, made use of an onion gravy, altered the mushroom and red pepper quantities and ended up with this! The Bisto onion gravy in the glass jar works well with this but I suppose you could try the red onion gravy in a jar that is less expensive too, as I have also tried this gravy before on things and it is very flavoursome as well. Just check that it has quite a good thickness before you put it in. Otherwise add a little more powder. We like this with a good helping of mashed potatoes to soak up all the juices. I found the Linda McCartney sausages worked the very best in here, but I have made it with the other brands too. You can also serve it with new potatoes if you like....
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This recipe took a lot of tries to get it just right. I made quite a few samples on this. Quorn did not work with it, it had to be more of a mince. I started with Vegemince. Then I had to decide the amount of carrot which gives the recipe the sweetness. I needed a good onion gravy and found the Bisto one in the glass jar had a great taste. Then I had to find a good vegetarian Worcester sauce Then at last I had it. I tried it out on mum and her friend when they came back from their holiday in Torquay and they loved it, and so did my friend Gail who nearly always insists on having this whenever she comes to see us. Even my daughter Lia ate the lot too, the first time she tried it. You can have this with beetroot, pickles, and red cabbage, or beans even. Recently I made it with the red onion gravy in a jar which gave it a different taste, but just as good!! It's real comfort food and there is NEVER any leftovers....
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What is celeriac? For those of you who don't know, it is the large root bulb of the celery plant. This is why this soup tastes like a sort of much creamier and thicker celery soup. It's a very good winter soup because it's especially thick and warming. It has a look of semolina when its out. The root can be hard to peel, it's best to cut it in half but maybe peel it with a potato peeler first. Then cut chunks off it. Don't make the chunks too large because you want them to cook through. If you smell it it does have a slight celery smell, though it does look like an old skull or something from Doctor Who, with the tendril bits coming off it. Try it out, I am sure that you will like it, and it's the crusty rolls yet again to serve....
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When i tried this Chinese soup, for the first couple of mouthfuls i wasn't sure, a few more and i was hooked! It's an acquired taste if you haven't had much experience of Chinese food. I always do this in a big pan and use all the red pepper etc so that there is no waste. Always shake up your Soy sauce before you use it as it settles. Always again use the freshest beansprouts spring onion etc as possible as this soup can last a few days. We have used it from the fridge up to four days. Always cool down your soup and then get it in the fridge before 90 minutes have passed for good hygiene rules, and store it in good quality sealable containers. My daughter loves to drink the juice last, and everyone that has tried it loves it by the end of the bowl. Though it could be because of the salt content in the Soy sauce. (joking). It's lazy cooking as well because it lasts a few days, and it was even good on day four! Don't leave it longer than that though....The Chinese leaf is usually obtained from Morrisons, I can never find it in the other supermarkets Oh well, crusty roll time again.
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Minestrone soup should always contain some sort of pasta. Here we used spaghetti cut into short strands. Then you can add anything that is left in the fridge. Courgettes whatever, just an even mix of vegetables. Then use parsley as the herb here. Always use the garlic, onion, potato and tomatoes as the base for the minestrone though. Crusty rolls at the ready!
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Who doesn't like garlic mushrooms? If you haven't made this yet its quite easy and tasty. Make sure that the garlic cloves are a good size in here. This is as good with or without the Mozzarella. Use the closed cup or button mushrooms, and same again, only fresh and white ones. Use the curly parsley in here too, not the flat leaf, as the curly parsley has a far superior taste! I like this with the Lurpak or Kerrygold, but again use your favourite butter. We usually have this with maybe a fresh salad, and garlic bread can be good here too, to mop up the juices,,,,
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This recipe again started out in a book. I doubled up the mushroom quantity, reduced slightly the stock quantity using Oxo vegetable stock, and added some cornflour. This is my daughter's favourite soup so we have to have it at least once a week! It also makes a good Christmas meal soup. Always make sure the celery stick goes limp before you take it out though, and always use the freshest ,white mushrooms. Button or closed cup will do. Semi skimmed is the best milk for this so that it is not too rich. Out come the crusty rolls....
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This recipe again started out as a basic one in a book. By using more stock, and using the Oxo vegetable stock, taking away the milk, and using Chantenay carrots, this soup took on a really nice taste. You can use any carrots, but always make sure they are fresh, crisp and bright orange for this recipe. Carrots also are one of the cheapest vegetables that you can buy, so this soup is an all rounder for budget cooking and taste! Crusty roll anyone?
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A friend suggested this recipe to me, and I tried it. Then I changed the mushrooms, removed the salt, topped up the garlic, and Voila! It was the first time that I had made Spaghetti Bolognese at home. It's tasty and you can feed a crowd with it. A one pot meal. Sometimes I grate a little vegetarian hard cheese, (parmesan style) over it, if I make it for guests, and this has been a staple in our house for years. This Spaghetti Bolognese works well with the Quorn because it has a mince style texture. It doesn't work half as well with the other commercial minces I don't think. Further on in the blog you will see how you can use this Bolognese sauce in other meals too, but for now
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This recipe started out in a book again, shallots were used and a small carrot, so i changed it to a brown onion, a larger carrot, and Oxo Vegetable stock and got a really nice taste! You need to use the freshest broccoli and cauliflower though. I find it easier using in a ready made twin pack but always check the quality. The carrots here again provide the sweet taste to it. We sometimes have this one at Christmas too as it was my late brother's favourite, and he also insisted on it being served in a mug not a dish. There is always one! Grab the crusty bread rolls.
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