Recipes.

dreamdaisy

DD's Basic Pasta Sauce

I use this for my meatballs and lasagne.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil.
1 medium onion, roughly chopped.
2 cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed (whichever suits).
1 box/tin of chopped tomatoes.
1/2 teaspoon of dried basil.
ditto oregano.
ditto fennel seeds.
1 teaspoon of Italian herb seasoning.
A generous splodge of tomato puree.
1/2 teaspoon of honey or sugar.

Method

Fry on the onion and garlic in the oil, I use a medium-sized heavy-based saucepan.

Once the onion is translucent add everything else apart from the honey / sugar.

Bring to the boil then gently simmer for around 10 minutes. Taste and then, if required, add the honey / sugar to sweeten.

When I use this for the meatballs I add extra chilli flakes, for the lasagne I use paprika.

DD

dreamdaisy

DD's Meatballs

Ingredients

400-500g lean beef mince.
1/2 a medium onion, finely chopped.
1 clove of garlic, ditto.
1 small chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and ditto.
A generous shake of chilli flakes.
1 beaten egg (I do mine in a mug).
1 slice of stale breadcrumbs.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C (180 fan) (Gas mark 5?)

Chop the onion, garlic and ginger, I use the blade on my hand blender but if you have the knife skills, patience and wrists get thee a'going

Tip the mince into a bowl then add all the other ingredients.
Roll up your sleeves and dive in, mushing and squidging it all together. Then comes the sums.

Halve the full amount then halve each half and halve again. Wet your hands then begin to roll individual balls by halving and halving; at my best I've made 24, at my most generous 18. I keep wetting my hands throughout.

If preparing ahead of time at this point you can leave them to firm in the fridge while you make the sauce but, if you're like me, gently fry them on in a large pan then transfer to a Pyrex dish. Pour over the simmering sauce and bake for around 30 minutes. Serve with either pasta shapes or spaghetti with bread for mopping. DD

dreamdaisy

Pork and Pineapple Curry for 4.

Ingredients

1 kg of cubed lean pork.
1 white onion, peeled and sliced.
1 tbsp. of olive oil.
1 tbsp. of medium curry powder. *
1 tbsp. of paprika. **
1 pint of chicken stock.
2 dried chillies.
1 tbsp. of mango chutney.
1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce.
1 can of cubed pineapple in juice.
2 bay leaves ***

* mild or strong can be used according to preference.
** you can use sweet or hot, ditto.
*** I use one fresh but two dried.

Method

Pre heat your oven to 180 fan (350F, gas mark 4).

Add the oil to a flame-proof casserole and gently heat, then add the cubed pork and sliced onion. Fry them on, stirring as needed (and don't be afraid to add more oil if needed).

Using a sizeable jug mix the stock, curry powder, paprika, chutney, Worcestershire sauce and the juice from the pineapple.

Once that's done chuck it over the pork, luz in the bay leaves plus pineapple chunks and bring to the boil.

Transfer to the oven and cook for around an hour (or until the pork is tender, whichever comes first).

Ideally serve with rice and whole green beans. DD

PS. Chicken breasts can be used instead of pork.

PPS. The original recipe was for a slow cooker but I've mucked about with it and this works.

dreamdaisy

Green Fruit Salad

This is very refreshing, I serve as is.

Ingredients

1 ripe Galia melon.
1 bunch of seedless green grapes.
A goodly glug of apple juice.
3 lumps of stem ginger in syrup.
2 tspns of said syrup.
2 or 3 thinly sliced kiwi fruit.

Method

Find a pretty bowl for serving (an ugly one will work just as well).

Halve the melon then halve again, de-seed and ball as best you can. I'm not too good at this so I use a swivel peeler to cut thin strips. Put the results into the bowl.

Wash and halve the grapes then add to the melon.

Add the goodly glug of apple juice (say around 200ml) to the bowl, then match with enough water to cover the grapes and melon.

Slice the stem ginger as thin as you can and add the results to the bowl with the syrup. Stir it all together.

Peel the kiwi and again slice as fine as you can, then place the slices on the surface of the bowl to cover the other ingredients.

DD

Slosh

I'm pleased to see you aren't discriminating against ugly bowls!

The recipe sounds perfect for this hot weather.

dreamdaisy

Tonight I am doing one of my trusted recipes, beef with olives (see earlier). This is one of Mr DD's favourites (I quite like it too ) but, for whatever reason, tonight's version was not working too well. I tasted, thought, tasted again, decided depth was the missing element, thought again then luzzed in a small amount of sweet paprika. I've never done this before but it seems to have worked. I've just added the olives, there's still an hour to go but I know he's far too tired to care about what he's eating (and I know this because he is asleep in front of the booming telly showing the FA Cup Final).

I wish I was. DD