ENGLISH MUM

Barbecue chicken skewers So summer is finally creeping up on us (I definitely saw the sun at least twice last week), and, with some fabulous fresh veg popping up in our local farm shop (I can’t resist a glossy aubergine), I felt it was time to dust off one of my favourite summer essentials: the barbecue skewer.  It’s handy to have meat in the freezer (I often bulk buy meat online from Farmer’s...

I’ve done a few of these Lean on Turkey challenges now, supporting our fabulous British turkey farmers and showing you just how versatile turkey is.   The first challenge for 2013 is ‘pizza and pasta’ and I just had to go with pizza as, with a houseful of teenagers, it’s a bit of a staple. This pizza went down so well it’s been requested again already and has affectionately become...

Well, it was a mental weekend, what with the boy’s 18th birthday party, then dinner out with friends on Saturday followed by waiting up until 1am to pick Sam up from doing the bar at a local event.  Knackered doesn’t even cover it.  Sunday dinner, then, was a chilled affair – luckily I’d remembered to defrost the racks of lamb that I took home from the Asda meat masterclass so we had...

Beef, pancetta and shallot pie So if you’re a regular reader (or you’ve just stopped by in search of pie recipes – in which case welcome!), you’ll know that I’ve already published a step by step ‘how to make a pie‘ recipe.  Do have a look at that one as it will give you invaluable tips on how to make pastry.  This recipe kind of skips the basics, just because I don’t...

So this week I was lucky enough to be invited up to Asda House in Leeds for a meat masterclass just in time for Easter, with the amazing (and rather Sean Bean-like) Jim Viggars, 30 year Asda veteran and the supermarket’s Head of Meat Quality. We started with drinks and nibbles (well, Laura and I actually started by trying to check in to the wrong hotel – turns out there are two Hiltons in Leeds city...

So when I was in Jamaica on our Royal Caribbean cruise (I’m never going to tire of saying that), we spent a fabulous day riding horses around old plantation land and – amazingly – into the sea.  After we’d dismounted (walking, it must be said, a bit like we’d soiled ourselves), we were served amazing spicy Jamaican jerk chicken, with rice and beans.  Delicious. The real thing:...

(By all means skip the waffle and scroll down for the recipe) It’s my fervent wish that when my offspring finally leave the nest and head out into the wide world, they will be able to feed themselves.  I’m not talking pot noodles here either – I’m just talking about good, basic food.  Recently, we were watching the Comic Relief version of the Great British Bakeoff and one of the challenges...

Lamb is one of our favourite Sunday lunches.  I think with lamb chops, they’re nice when they’re tender and pink in the middle.  With a leg of lamb, though, especially at this time of year, we all prefer it slowly cooked and really falling off the bone.  This is a nice easy recipe – I use the timings from a really old (2005) Nigel Slater recipe for slow roast lamb with chickpea mash.  I...

The thing about Christmas dinner is that the thought of it is worse than the actual event. Just think of it as Sunday lunch but on a slightly larger scale – a turkey is very forgiving and will happily rest for a good hour (and probably more), covered in foil and a tea towel or two, so there’s no need to rush anything.  My one recommendation is that you take ten minutes to scribble a rough timetable...

This is my fourth Lean on Turkey challenge, supporting our fabulous British turkey farmers and showing you just how versatile turkey is.  In the last three recipes, I’ve told you that turkey’s not just for Christmas,but FINALLY I can tell you that it’s for Christmas too! This time the chaps have challenged me to create a recipe with leftovers, and it just HAD to be the Boxing Day Pie.  It’s...

Pastry always seems a bit terrifying.  But honestly, have a think about it: it’s really just a vessel to hold delicious contents, all of which will spill out over your pastry making it all taste yummy anyway.  And if it’s a little thick or a bit uneven, who cares? That’s what home made food is all about.  So come on, let’s dive in: practice makes perfect! Pie dishes A quick word about...

So this is my third Lean on Turkey challenge, supporting our fabulous British turkey farmers and showing you just how versatile turkey is.  It’s not just for Christmas, y’know (sorry, but it took me three challenges – I resisted in the first two).  Last time, as you may recall, it was a healthy, low fat turkey recipe and the result was my sticky sweet chilli turkey kebabs.  This time I’m...

The very generous and lovely people at Knorr recently sent me a parcel of goodies and challenged me to cook up something lovely using the ingredients and their new stock pots.  The ingredients came beautifully packed from Forman & Field and, amongst other things, included: 1 Rhug organic chicken 2 shallots Biddenden Ortega white wine (from Kent!) A bunch of tarragon A bunch of parsley I also used a Knorr...

Over the long Diamond Jubilee weekend, we had several family get-togethers, so I was delighted when Farmer’s Choice offered to send me one of their frozen food deliveries for review. What we got: Topside  1400g Diced beef  750g Steak mince  750g Chicken large Diced turkey breast 750g Diced lamb  750g Minced lamb  750g Leg lamb half boned and rolled 1400g Diced pork  750g Leg pork boned and rolled...

You might remember that I took part in a little challenge a while ago with Lean on Turkey, supporting our fantastic British turkey farmers, to create a turkey dish for a family of four for under a tenner.  The result was my Moroccan style turkey with Ras el Hanout.   This time, and happily for us it coincides with this gorgeous weather, my challenge is to cook a low fat, healthy turkey recipe, again costing...

I’ve written before about the fact that as a nation we’re not massive turkey eaters. Christmas, yes, but the rest of the year? I’ll be honest, when I was given this challenge and popped to the shop, I was surprised to find packs of turkey breast there on the shelves – right next to the chicken. Have you ever seen them? Thought not. So anyhoo, the lovely chaps at Lean on Turkey, supporting...

So, starting the year as we mean to go on, then, my next recipe is a little belter.  Brisket is a firm favourite in our house.  I love it because it’s a ‘bung it in and forget about it’ type of recipe, and the brevren and Hubby like the meltingly tender meat and rich sauce.  We have it with mashed potato usually (not really your diet option, so substitute with mashed sweet potato or maybe...

To skip all the waffle and just get to the recipe, feel free to scroll down. It will be no surprise to you when you hear me say that I love Christmas. LOVELOVELOVE Christmas! But often I find that Christmas recipes involve huge amounts of food. There’s generally only the four of us for Christmas lunch, plus maybe my Mum, so to turn to Nigella’s Christmas book and find her recipe for Christmas ham...

I’m not completely sure where I first saw this recipe.  Rest assured it wasn’t my idea – I’m thinking maybe Martha Stewart or somewhere like that? Anyhoo, if you’re entertaining on bonfire night, these little beauties are a great talking point.  If you don’t fancy chicken, just fill them with your usual minced beef recipe, or even just squeeze sausagemeat out of the casing...

So first of all, I have to be honest, I’ve said no to coming on this show A LOT.  Luckily for me, I think Nick could see through my thin veneer of nonchalance to the terrified wobbling jelly within and just kept on asking until I said yes. Originally I was going to do the Christmas show, but then it was all change and suddenly it was this Saturday.  I was overcome with a mixture of excitement, nerves...

So we’ve trifled with titles: roast lemon chicken, poulet au citron… whatever.  In our house it always comes back to ‘roast chicken with a lemon up its bum’.   Anatomically correct? Probably not, but it’s kind of stuck. Roast chicken is the easiest of meals.  A quick fiddle, bung it in the oven and your work is done.  First things first, though, you must choose your chicken...

Fellow guest at Jimmy’s Farm, the lovely Marie from food blog The English Kitchen, suggested over dinner that I try pork with apricots.  It sounded such a lovely combo that I thought I’d give it a try with the large loin of beautiful free range rare breed pork I was given at the farm: 4 pork loin steaks 3 apricots 4 or 5 sage leaves 1 glass cider or apple juice Double cream Heat up a heavy based...

Lemon and mint cocktail On our amazing trip to Dubai, we were served a refreshing drink made of lemon and mint.  I got quite addicted and since coming home have found myself drinking it a lot, with the addition of a slightly less traditional little ‘freshener’ of gin.  Oh it makes all the difference.  Those little minxes at British Mummy Bloggers challenged me to vlog a summer recipe, so I cheated...

Fellow blogger and tweeter, Ben, from Mutterings of a Fool was telling me all about the fabulous slow-roasted pork he was going to cook for his family over Christmas, so of course I persuaded him to give us the recipe (and take photos).  Over to Ben, then.  And no dribbling on the keyboard, now. When cooking for a large number of people...

Soooo here comes the big day!  There’s just the four of us this year, but whether you’re catering for 15 or it’s just you and your other half, the golden rule is the same as ever: Christmas day is a happy, family day.  Please don’t get stressed and fall apart.  Just think of it as a big roast dinner – a turkey is very forgiving and will happily rest for a good hour (and probably...