My Spam, Bacon Pasta store-cupboard Salad Supper served in my new Glass Salad Bowl

The dear SO was found rootling about the kitchen, looking for something to eat, so I set-to and made up the following recipe for supper!

My dressed spam bacon pasta salad supper

 Ingredients:

1 tin of Spam diced

2 rashers of smoked back bacon cut into lardons

1 small red onion sliced

10 small tomatoes, halved

Handful of sliced mushrooms

2 handfuls of Spaghetti – gluten-free or regular

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sea salt and ground black peppercorns

Herbes de Provence

Cooked pasta, Parmesan cheese and my new glass Salad bowl

Bacon, mushrooms and sweet potato

Roasted tomatoes and sliced red onion with herbs and olive oil

How to prepare:

1.  Put on pan of water for the pasta and sweet potato.

2.  Cook halved tomatoes and sliced onion with 2 tspn Herbes de Provence, sea salt and ground black peppercorns with a good shake of the olive oil for approx. 10 minutes

3.  Peel and dice sweet potato and cook in boiling salted water, removing when done. Then cook spaghetti for 10 – 12 minutes.

4.  Cut bacon into lardons and cook in a little olive oil with mushrooms for about 5 - 7 minutes.  Add sweet potato and keep warm.

5.  Grate small amount of Parmesan.

6.  Drain pasta when cooked and return to your pan.  Add bacon mixture, then tomato mixture and toss all carefully together.  Tip into serving bowl.

7.  Dress pasta salad with grated Parmesan, black pepper and a light sprinkling of Herbes de Provence and serve at once onto warmed plates

Useful additions:  I think green peas would have made a very welcome addition, along with

 1 or 2 tspn. of single cream; neither were in my store cupboard, but they will be for when I cook this dish again.

A store-bought sauce would also make a good addition, or a tin of plum tomatoes or perhaps some crisp home-made croutons.

Ah ha, hot spaghetti salad

My empty Salad bowl and  the compost bin



It was a very nice supper - washed down with a glass of iced ginger beer!!!

happy eating everyone

My Slideshow

Warm-weather outdoor suppers - Sunday, 18th May, 2014

It's just great, hey, this beautiful warm weather conditions we've been enjoying just lately and wonderful to be able to eat outside, with family and friends together round the table.

Simply or fantastic, the food you serve can be whatever is right for you, for any meal and occasion, but I do like to serve fresh and colourful simple ingredients, to match the glories of nature waiting in your garden.

Dressed and garnished poached salmon, dressed crab, prawns in rich and creamy sauces, succulent steaks with all essential grilled and fried accompaniments, glorious salads plus strawberries and cream, cheesecakes, meringues, followed by a well-dressed cheese board, savoury biscuits and crackers, butter, celery, olives and warm crusty bread...plus champagne... just delicious!!!

The simple menu, served outside in the garden, to family and friends, is what I am talking about today for I believe the charms of such an offering may never be overlooked or forgotten.  I'm talking about warm, home-made potato salad with good mayo, snipped chives from the garden and seasonings,  Home-made Cole slaw, a tossed green salad carefully dressed with oil of choice, just prior to serving.  Crusty baguettes and butter or spread of choice, grilled or barbecued sausages, home-made beef burgers; see my recipe for home-made beef burgers a few weeks ago, sliced tomatoes and cucumber, spring onions and radishes.  All go so well with a home-made quiche, a savoury tart or Homity pie or store-bought pork pie.  Cheeses sliced, diced or crumbly, warm jacket potatoes, hard boiled eggs and olives....The list is endless and, realistically, may encompass any food item you and your family find essential.

No time for home-made.... then your choice of store-bought favourites!

Happy eating with fresh and simple ingredients, chat and laughter about the table with kith and kin caring for each other.

On a lovely sunny day, what else could anybody require to make their lives complete?

Happy warm-weather eating wishes to all of you!

Daisy

Gluten-free Detox supper for Three - Tuesday, 13th May 3214

For supper tonight, a newly created dish of meat and veggies, cooked without oil or dairy and utterly gluten-free, for a girlfriend on a new, one month, detox diet.

Consisting of 10% Fat Irish  beef, lean smoked bacon and lots of different vegetables - tiny button mushrooms, thin slices red pepper, shredded baby spinach plus a whole large carton of prepared stir-fry veggies - Edamame beans, broccoli, red onion and various other ones too; then a tin of plus tomatoes, herbs - Oregano and herbes de Provence plus ground black peppercorns and a dash of salt.  Ah ha, don't forget your Tamari sauce.

Heat a large fry pan or Wok and  tip in your mince and agitate with two wooden tools - I used my trusty fork and spatula - and continue in this manner until all your mince is nicely seared - cooking your meat in its own juice.  Add bacon lardons and cook for a few minutes then empty the tinned tomatoes into your meat and bacon mix and herbs and flavourings to taste, plus a good couple of shakes, or more, of Tamari soy sauce.  Bring mixture to a small boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 - 25 minutes until meat is nicely cooked.

The toss in all your veggies and cook for 4 - 5 minutes, before serving onto warmed places.   I whipped up a small salad from halved cherry tomatoes,small slices of avocado and tiny scraps of baby spinach - dressed with a fine drizzle of olive oil and a grating of black peppercorns.

Ingredients:

1 kg. 10% fat Irish Beef
2 rashers of lean smoked bacon
l Edamame Stir-fry from Sainsbury's
handful of tiny button mushrooms
1/2 sliced red pepper
1 tin of plum tomatoes
Oregano and Herbes de Provence
Ground black peppercorns and a little salt
2 - 3 good shakes of Tamari soy sauce
Shredded washed baby spinach

Salad :

small slices of peeled avocado
12 halved cherry tomatoes
tiny scraps of baby spinach
Fine drizzle of Olive Oil with a grating of black peppercorns

Here's my finished dishes -

My dish of steaming mince and bacon veggie stir-fry - detox-style

My small avocado salad...

And look at this beautiful Azalea bloom I found this evening in a friend's garden!!!

Have yourself some cooking fun!

Bye for now Daisy xxx

My lovely home-made Flapjacks - Tuesday, 13th May 2014

A really moist and tasty flapjack recipe, it's easy to mix and bake, quick to do and only requiring a little patience from rumbly-tummies to enjoy the whole baking experience.

I've always included a little flour into my flapjacks because it stabilises the mix which I think is a good idea and, of course,, you may use both gluten-rich and gluten-free flour and there's absolutely no difference to the finished product.

The most critical point is the cooking time - 15 - 25 minutes depending on your oven and in my very hot oven, just 20 minutes is absolutely enough.  Remove tray from oven and allow to cool for approx. 5 minutes and then score into squares with the tip of a very sharp sharp - then leave to cool completely - that's the rub.  If you don't do this, the mixture breaks away at the edges and you are left with chunks of flapjack crumbs.  So leave to cool completely for, for well-shaped squares for good eating.

Here's my recipe:

24 ozs. porridge oats
4 ozs.   gluten-free or gluten-rich flour
12 ozs. soft butter or spread
12 ozs. Demerara sugar
3 serving spoons of Golden Syrup
7 ozs     Raisins

How to make:

Melt together oats and flour and raisins; gently melt butter or spread with the golden syrup and Demerara sugar and stir in the flour, oats and raisin mixture to combine all well together.

Tip contents into lightly oiled shallow baking tray, press mixture down lightly with a fork and cook in a warm - hot oven - my oven was set to 160 deg. (a very hot fan-assisted oven) and it was cooked and just lightly browned after a 20 minutes cook time.

Here's the finished result...

My cooling flapjacks

Flapjacks for pudding after our lovely roast pork and apple sauce family dinner...!

They're so easy to make, it's tempting to make them too often but, sadly, one simply must not do so!  A very nice occasional treat is the best way to view flapjack...hey!

Daisy

Post-Easter Food Frugality Wednesday, 30th April 2014

Easter was great wasn't it?  The food-with-family times, the weather, the time off work and the whole vitality and compassion of Easter.

We enjoyed the chocolate eggs, the sugared eggs, the chocolate, the Simnel Cake and the Panettone.  Then the roast lamb with roast potatoes and veggies, the roasted pork joint and all the trimmings and the hot cross buns.  We even had scones with strawberry jam and whipped cream on Good Friday.





Therefore, this week has been the week for restraint and frugality, for eating out of the 'fridge, the freezer and the store cupboard.  We've eaten well on home-made chicken dishes, on pancake stacks layered with curried chicken, mushrooms and almonds with rice....

The jacket potatoes with my potted beef with mayo, Parmesan cheese with Rape Seed oil drizzled green salad ...
....

jacket potato with potted beef and salad with Parmesan cheese...

And the toasted sourdough bread with my potted beef...!

sourdough toast, potted beef, salad with Rape Seed Oil dressing...

and Heinz baked beans on white toast, for him,  or on toasted sourdough bread  for me.  Sometimes we  had fried eggs with our beans and toast and sometimes just beans and eggs, although one meal had bacon with it too.

Of course, we had to finish up the Simnel Cake and the Panettone, some scones which we toasted and then, at the weekend the remains of a cream and jam filled sponge cake (actually gluten-free) which I made for visiting friends.  So, we've done fairly well, during our after Easter week of simple frugal food.....

my gluten-free Simnel Cake - Mmm! delicious

A lovely slice of warm Panettone...




My gluten-free sponge with strawberry jam and clotted cream ...and tiny pieces of chocolate....yummy!...

Finally, supper of chicken and bacon in a bought mushroom sauce for chicken, all under a soft crust of mashed potato....

Comforting chicken for supper.....with vegetables......

Happy eating...!

Daisy