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just like mum used to make five ...

This is beef cobbler, a simple dish which would have been very popular when my mum was cooking for us kids back in the 1970s. Just make your usual beef mince for the base and top with homemade scones, although I made the cheat's version for this evening and used Aunt Bessie's dumplings from the freezer cabinet, this is delicious with good old mash. I love all sorts of vegetables but J is just a peas, sweetcorn, carrots and french beans el dente man, you may have been wondering why my meals are never served with anything more adventurous, well this is the reason why!

I really appreciate good photography of food, since taking photos for my blog, I have come to realise how tricky it is to take a good picture of anything edible, I usually give J his meal to be getting on with, as by the time I have taken a half a dozen photos to get a half decent one, the food is half cold!

The plate my old cobbler is served on is 'Alfama', which was a pattern made exclusively for Tiffany & Co by Poole Pottery, I just have a set of six dinner plates originally acquired by my mum and stepdad who often used to make trips to the Poole Pottery factory shop, bringing back lots of useful china. Mum always knew she had to give me first refusal on some of the pieces, and of course many I purchased at cost price, my mum was too generous, she would have never of made her millions!

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chicken in chinese black pepper sauce ...

A few years back I discovered a great stir fry sauce, produced by the great Ken Hom, we loved it, and then Ken decided to take it off the shelves, then I discovered a similar sauce produced by Amoy, they decided to take it off the shelves too, so ever since we have been searching high and low for a replacement. Yesterday whilst strolling around Worthing we noticed a sign pointing us in the direction of a lovely oriental store down Bath Place and voila we found a jar, bought two! Tonight I am going to use it, so I hope we like it, if the meal tastes similar to the delicious sizzling platter version we have at our local sitdown Chinese restaurant, we are sure to love it.

Chicken in Chinese Black Pepper sauce for two people is really easy to do, infact you could use any oriental sauce. First I cut two large chicken breasts in Chinese takeaway size pieces, you know what I mean, then heat up a stirfry pan with a little oil until sizzling, then throw in the chicken and flash cook, then just throw in the sauce and stir around for a few seconds until the meat is coated, you can always add at this stage any stirfry vegetables you like, then I transfer it into a dish and place in the oven on a low heat to keep warm. After I have washed the stirfry pan up, I only have one, I make egg-fried rice, first heat up a little more oil and then add one large beaten egg and quickly stir around, then throw in enough rice for two, which I precook, and just stir through until piping hot. Don't forget to serve on hot plates, don't be fooled by the photo above, these chopsticks and oriental dish have been used for a little artistic licence, we use a spoon to eat ours!

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just like mum used to make four ...

I could eat Yorkshire Pudding until the cows come home, and J loves it too, Toad in the Hole is one of our favourite meals and so easy to make.

First brown off a pack of good quality chipolatas in a non-stick roasting dish in the oven, then add a little extra oil and heat until really hot (about 200 degrees c) and then add the batter mix. I always make the batter mix a few hours earlier to give it a chance to stand, this is a tip that has been passed down through the family. The batter is made by placing 4oz plain flour into a mixing bowl and then stirring in half a pint of semi-skimmed milk, once mixed together, beat in two large eggs and a pinch of salt, I find doing it this way I get no lumps in my batter and mixing by hand is sufficient.

I do follow recipe ingredients quite carefully, but I always estimate the times my recipes take to cook, temperatures vary and only you know the ferocity of your oven but I cook mine at about 180 degrees c until the batter is cooked through and golden brown.

We just have ours with a little extra gravy and baked beans, you really do not need anything else, it is very filling!

This is for Sara @ Farming Friends who recently wrote about British Sausage Week, she too likes Toad in the Hole, a good job really as she is from Yorkshire!

http://www.farmingfriends.com/classic-pork-sausages-from-the-blue-pig-company-2/

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just like mum used to make three ...

How to make chunky Chicken Casserole
Place chicken pieces in a casserole dish, I just de-skin chicken thighs, for a casserole I prefer using these to breast meat, then add a chopped onion and chunky carrots, meanwhile in approx half a pint of boiling water add two chicken Oxo cubes, add this to the ingredients along with some mixed herbs and lots of black pepper, then cook in oven until chicken is cooked through. I always make my casseroles the previous day as I believe they always taste better the next. To reheat I just place on the hob after reserving some of the stock to use to mix the cornflour with (or if I remember to buy them, I use thickening granules which you can just sprinkle in), bring up to the boil and then add the cornflour mix to thicken, at this stage I add the peas and a homemade dumpling mix and then finish off cooking in the oven. Serve with new potatoes.

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just like mum used to make two ...

Looks a bit messy drizzling down the sides but I'm in good company, as this is how Nigella likes her fruit crumble to look!

The name Shepherds Pie does not appear to be old, first appearing in the 19th century, the first known mention being in 1885, although the dish itself must be much older.

How to make delicious Shepherds Pie
The first step is to dilute two meat Oxo cubes in a mug of boiling water, then in a saucepan sauté an onion in a little oil until soft, then add the lambs mince (on this occasion I used Welsh Hill lamb mince 'matured for fuller flavour') and fry off, once browned bring off the heat and add a good heaped dessertspoon of flour, this is the thickening agent, then slowly stir in the stock, a good splash of Worcestershire sauce, a squeeze of tomato ketchup and lots of ground black pepper, no salt as this is already in the stock cubes. Place mince into a dish and cover with lots of creamy mashed potato, I fluff mine into peaks so it goes lovely and crispy when baked and then to finish off with lots of ground black pepper. I remember my 'Granny G' used to do a fancy lattice pattern on hers and put little knobs of butter on the top, what do you do?



You may prefer the look of Delias!

Have you heard of Gobble Pie which uses minced turkey?

just like mum used to make one ...

With the cold winter ahead and the necessity for warming meals after a hard day, I thought I would share with you some simple, old fashioned hearty meals just like my Mum used to make from my childhood days. Most of the meals will include meat, so apologies to any vegetarians out there, I was brought up on a farm where eating meat was the norm, even my Mum was a vegetarian before she met my Dad, a farmer!

I know how many TV chefs harp on about how it is quicker to make a dish from scratch and cheaper than buying ready meals off the shelf, but I agree with them, and homemade does taste much better and is much better value for money, especially for those with larger families. We all try to come up with excuses to warrant buying ready meals (I dish them up when I am really pushed for time), but more times than not there is no excuse not to use good basic ingredients.

I often get put off by recipes in cook books as I rarely have all the ingredients they suggest in my store cupboard to hand, so most of the time I just cook simple, quick meals using few ingredients.


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This really does taste better than it looks!

We like liver, but I understand that a lot people are squeamish with the mere mention of offal, I don’t particularly relish it in its raw state but hey you are not eating it raw.

How to make lovely Liver with bacon and onions
I use pigs liver because I prefer it to lambs, fryed in a deep stir fry pan after first sauteing a large onion, then adding half a pack of smoky lardons and then the liver, to cook as desired, then I just make up a thickish gravy mix and add, along with plenty of black pepper, no salt as there is enough in the lardons and gravy powder. Served with new potatoes on this occasion but also lovely with mash, baby carrots with their skins on and frozen peas, no fancy ingredients here, what could be simpler (going to Tescos and picking one off the shelf, I hear you say)!

Served in a Pyrex dish just like mum did!