Category: vegetable recipes

macaroni cheese

macaroni cheese with broccoli and hot dogs

Utterly unpretentious, and a standby for all American moms, the mac and che’ is immense pleasure in a pot.

For me I boil up some macaroni, then when it’s nearly cooked chuck in broccoli florets and chopped hot dogs for a couple of minutes, so they are all tender at the same time.

Whilst this bubbles away I knock together a roux-based white sauce. That’s butter and flour smooshed together and allowed to form a paste, then when pale add milk until smooth. A bay leaf, a spoonful of English mustard and salt and pepper are added to give some flavour, then cheese grated in until it tastes right.

Then I chuck it all in a pot and bake in an oven until bubbly and brown. Not very spring-like, but pure comfort food.

carrots chorizo courgettes food peppers rice

paella

…Or it might be jambalaya. I’m not sure what the criteria is. It’s rice ‘n’ stuff in one pan, anyway.

My old chum chorizo makes a special guest appearance, but it’s the vegetables that do the work in this one. I fried the chorizo a bit to char the edges and encourage their spicy-sweet juices to leak out, then put them to one side. Then in go the veg: red onion, celery, carrot. After they’ve tenderised a bit, in go a courgette, some garlic and a pepper. After a couple of minutes I added some basmati rice and tossed that around to get up to heat. I wanted an alcoholic flavour so I added some Cinzano of all things at this point – slightly bitter, slightly sweet.

Then the chorizo went back, along with a pint of veg stock, some saffron and some paprika. Lid on, and left it for 20 mins or so. I came back to find a pan full of sticky rice and tender veg. Garnished with a little fresh parsley and shovelled away heaped spoonfuls at a time. Dinners in one pan rock!

cabbage food pork swede

hungarian pork chops with cabbage and swede

Post author By Gary @ BigSpud
Post date March 17, 2009
No Comments on hungarian pork chops with cabbage and swede

Yet another Jamie winner, and yet another triumph from my friendly neighbourhood butcher. There’s three distinct parts here: pork chop, spicy cabbage, and roast swede.

Swede first: peeled and diced, tossed with salt, pepper, oil and thyme, left to roast for 45 mins.

Then the pork. I made a rub first by grinding fennel seeds, paprika, salt and pepper together in my two-ton pestle and mortar (must pic that some day), and then pressing all over my beautiful pink pork chops. Then on to a nice hot griddle, ten minutes all told, turning every couple of minutes.

When the pork was done and resting (crucial for those flavours and juices to return throughout the meat), it was time for the cabbage. I heated some oil in a hot pan, then added mustard seeds, cayenne pepper and sliced garlic until the seeds were popping out of the pan. Then shredded cabbage was quickly added and tossed in the pan until it caught slightly, blackening the edges.

It was lovely – juicy flesh, with aniseedy flavours hitting you immediately then giving way to the smoky-sweet paprika. The cabbage and swede were great counters to both of these. Enjoyed this a lot.

cauliflower courgettes curry food

vegetable curry

Another one from Nigella: a filling, warming bowl of food that assuages post-Christmas guilt.

Relatively simple, tin tomatoes, whatever veg was to hand (courgette, cauliflower, onions, carrots, peas), stock and some Gary Masala, boiled up for a while and dotted with coriander.

Served with a chewy, fluffy naan, it’s seriously comforting.