novel34

  Now and then in the wintertime when all is grey and filled with drizzle, in between storm and gale,  God sends a golden day, a day filled with skies of blue and warm sunlight, almost too lovely to be real.   You want to hang onto the sunshine in hope, but . . . before too long the rain and drizzle return . . . sigh . . . such is winter on these verdant green isles . . . There is nothing for it but to hunker down and keep warm by the fire.  Hearty casseroles, soups and stews are the order of the day.   Sustaining comfort foods . . . just like this sausage and mushroom casserole I am showing you today. It's a simple casserole, using simple things.  Most of my recipes are . . . I am a simple woman with simple tastes and I live with a man of the same ilk.  He would be happy with meat and potatoes every day of the week, every day of the year.   He is very easy to please . . . which is not an entirely bad thing I don't think. You want t...

        I don't remember ever having Brussels Sprouts when I was a child.   They just were not a vegetable that was readily available back then. We basically only had peas and carrots and green beans and sometimes corn.  I can remember discovering sprouts as an adult and falling completely and totally in love with them, and with cauliflower and broccoli too.  I am a real brassica lover!        I got a huge bag of sprouts in my Christmas Vegetable Box and of course we did not use them all and so I sat here looking at them the other day and thought to myself, I better use them up before they go off and so I thought I would make a sort of gratin with them.      I did a search on line to see if I could find any suggestions and found what looked a lovely recipe on the BBC food web page by Sophie Grigson.  I like Sophie's recipes and so I thought I would use it as a basis for what I wanted to d...

 I love food this time of year . . . I know I say that all year round, but this is the time of year that we really start to get stuck into comfort foods . . . winter warmers . . . rich soups, stews, casseroles and bakes. Food that, with the exception of a few small prep details, pretty much cooks itself.  Simple and wholesome ingredients, but let me tell you . . . more often than not there it nothing simple at all about the flavours!  Most pack a very delicious punch! I've always been the kind of person that has been able to put things together and come up with something satisfyingly delicious . . . things like this Chicken, Bacon and Leek Casserole I am showing you here today. It's simple.   It uses stuff you most likely have in your fridge, larder and freezer right now.  It tastes fabulously delicious, and it basically cooks itself.  I like to serve it with some fluffy mash.  The Toddster is a real mash lover.  I like to cook some greens on the ...

  I am not overly fond of oily fishes, except for salmon and tuna . . . and although the fresh is best, I always have tins of those fishes in the larder.  They come in really handy for casseroles and sandwiches, salads, etc. Tuna Casserole is something which I have always loved . . . but I have never been overly fond of using too many processed ingredients in making it, like tinned soup, etc.  I like to make my own sauce and it's really not that hard to make a sauce from scratch and tastes so much better. I remember an old Italian woman telling me one time when I was in the grocery store buying tuna that I should only ever buy Albacore tuna.   She said the other stuff was garbage.  This was a very long time ago as I was a very young wife and mom at the time.  Since then I have only ever bought the Albacore.  I figure it an old Italian woman thought it was the best then it probably was the best. I know it does come at a premium price, but I thin...

Gnocchi is one thing I always have in my cupboards.  Oh, I know you can easily make your own, but I am of the opinion that if you have a packet of ready made gnocchi in the cupboard, you are never much more than a half an hour or so from putting a tasty meal onto the table.   It lends itself beautifully to all sorts . . . especially if you treat it a bit like a potato from time to time.   I have done sauteed Gnocchi with Egg (pretty much like egg and chips, only better with the addition of sage and garlic!)  Gnocchi Mac and Cheese with Purple Sprouting Broccoli (beautifully sauced!)    Gnocchi Breakfast Scramble (a fabulous morning delight with eggs, cheese, bacon and chives!)  Chicken and Gnocchi Soup (think Chicken and Dumplings!) and then there is my personal favourite . . . Hashed Gnocchi (Corned Beef Hash, except with plump little gnocchi!) So, you can see how very versatile a package of Gnocchi can be!  If you can do it with a pota...

       We have been trying to eat less meat in this house lately, and much more in the way of vegetables.   Partly for economics and partly for other reasons.  You may have noticed . . .   I had some chestnut mushrooms that needed using up the other day and so I thought to corporate them into a macaroni and cheese casserole.    It ended up being really, really delicious! I did an herbed cheese sauce, using two types of cheese along with some tarragon.  I love the flavour of tarragon.  It goes really well with cheeses and mushrooms actually . . . I also added some chives and thyme.  Both for flavour and colour.  You could use fresh herbs, but I think when they are being incorporated into a sauce like this, it doesn't really matter.  I always use the Bart Freeze Dried Herbs though . . . they hydrate really well, so it's almost like fresh herbs.  Change your herbs often.   I change mine at least twice a ...