Duck with mash, pears and a cherry-red wine sauce

Okay, so this definately doesn't fit my fast cheap and simple criteria, but boy, do I love a bit of duck!

Mash potato, there's nothing worse than lumpy mash, I can only recommend you go out and buy yourself a potato ricer, seriously, so worth it!

'Note of thanks to my mother in law who got us ours ;)'

So tonight I'm cooking duck breast - pan seared and then oven cooked.
Pile of creamy garlic mash potato
Steamed asparagus
Caramelised pear and fig
And a red wine and cherry sauce (because I found some mini jars of morello cherry jam in the cupboard!)

I'm not going to say use this or that type of potato or veg. But what I will say is get it fresh and get it local! I'm always inspired by our local greengrocers and it's such good value I'm never afraid to experiment and buy something new! Hence the fresh figs tonight. Seriously, no matter how hard I try filling my basket, I never spend more than £10!

First, make your mash, it's up to you how you like it, but we made it with a dab of butter and 100ml cream, 1 clove of garlic and seasoning. The potato ricer makes it really smooth and creamy, put it to one side to re-heat later.

Pre-heat your oven to 200*C. Cut criss-cross over the duck skin and season with salt and pepper. Heat up a frying pan with no oil untill it's very hot and put the duck skin side down, reduce the heat down to about half-way and cook for 6 minutes. Flip it onto its front and leave for 30 seconds, then slide into the oven. Leave it for 5 minutes if you like it pinker, up to 10 for well done.

Whilst the duck is in the oven, in a small saucepan make the sauce.
So 2 3rds of a little bottle of wine, 2 mini jars of cherry jam (or 80g if you're being precise). A heaped teaspoon of brown sugar. dessert spoon of balsamic vinegar and a couple of slivers of a orange citrus (I had a satsuma in the fruit bowl). Bring to boil and then turn down to a simmer for 5 minutes.

Get your asparaguas on to steam/boil/griddle however you like.

Once the duck is done get it out and remove it from the pan to rest.
Quarter a fig and peel and wedge a pear ( don't forget the cut out the woody bits), get the frying pan you cooked the duck in and put back on the heat, add the fig and pear wedges and turn occasionally until the pears are nicely golden.
Add a knob of butter and a dsrt spoon full of the duck pan juices to the sauce.

Just re-heat the mash and put it all together on the plate, gorgeous!

Pictures coming soon once I upload it! :)

Prawn Linguine

A really easy simple dish, the quantities are for 2 but feel free to double up or slim down as required!

1/2 red onion diced
200g Prawns (big work better!)
1 lemon
2 tblsp of cream cheese (I use philly light and it tastes fine by me!)
2 peoples worth of dried linguine (or spaghetti)
Handful of greenery (ideally I like baby spinach but if I haven't got it 1/2 a mug of frozen peas will do!

• Cook the pasta in a big pan of salty water (according to the wisdom of nigella, it should taste like seawater!) with a splash of olive oil.
• Just before that is finished (I go with what's on the packet) Cook the onion gently in olive oil in a frying/saute pan (it needs to be big) and then add the prawns. Melt in the cream cheese and grate 1/2 the lemon rind in aswell.
• Drain the cooked pasta and add to the pan with the prawny cream cheese mixture and add the greenery.
• Give it a good toss through, add a splash of olive oil, seasoning and squeeze over 1/2 the lemon

Enjoy!

Chinese-style Pork Loin

I just love char sui pork, this is a similar flavour just without the bright pink colour, possible msg and the takeway price tag!

This for my dad-in-law, Tony after I cooked it Friday night :) (told you I'd put it on here!)

Pork loin can look a bit unappetising before it's cooked, especially if you get a vacuum packed one from the supermarket. Alot of people are put off pork because they've eaten it when it's as dried up as an old boot, but give this a chance, it's good!

Easy and simple so I'm not even going to list the ingredients separately!

Put the pork loin in a roasting dish and add (roughly) a tablespoon of soy sauce,  and a splash of either cider, white wine or chicken stock (whatever you've got in the fridge) and sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of five-spice over the loin, also some powdered garlic if you have it (or just tuck some sliced garlic around the loin) and some star anise (if you don't have these don't worry)

Cover with foil and cook for half the time the loin needs to cook for (ask your butcher or read the packet) then remove the foil, turn the loin over, drizzle with 2 teaspoons (approx.) of honey, another sprinkle of 5 spice and soy sauce, and cook for the second half of the recommended cooking time.

Go for an all out chinese feel by slicing thinly and serving it with stir-fried vegetables cooked in a tasty sauce (try my spring onion and ginger sauce) and noodles or egg fried rice (click here for the recipe)

Feel free to experiement with different flavours (a bit of sweet chilli sauce if you like it hot) but this is a good base to work from, enjoy!

Spanish chicken bake

All quantities are approximate on this - whatever you have in fridge available at the time!

• 6 new potatoes
• 2 handfuls of cooked chicken (great for using the leftover roast from a sunday!)
• 1 handful of chopped chorizo (or use chopped bacon and 2 tsp of paprika)
• small red onion chopped into chunks
• 1 garlic clove - chopped
• 1 tin chopped toms
• splash of red wine / chicken stock

Boil new potatoes for 5 minutes, drain and add to roasting dish. Add everything else and stir well. Cook for 30mins at 200*C (gas 6), stir halfway through cooking.

Minimum effort, so tasty and minimum washing up, which is what I like!

Enjoy.

Classic Beef Stew

Beef Stew taste of nostalgia (for 4)

This beef stew always makes me think of my Nan, who sadly passed away last December. Many a rainy Sunday afternoon was spent with steaming bowls of stew, a stack of buttered bread and a squeeze of either brown or tomato sauce, followed by stewed apple and custard and either a game of Newmarket or Scrabble. Lots of my favourite early memories are spending time with my Nan, who taught me, above everything else, the most important thing to do in life is to be happy.

So to the recipie, this is as simple as you can get, the quicker you can chop the quicker it is to do, and no nonsense of the beef jumping in and out of the pan :). Oh yeah, you will need a BIG pan!

1lb cubed stewing steak

4 medium potatoes

1 small swede

1 medium white onion

1 parsnip

4 medium carrots

(There's other bits aswell but that's mainly store cupboard stuff)

• Finely dice the onion and cook slowly in a splash of olive oil, untill it's really softened, but don't let it brown.
• sprinkle the cubed beef with flour and salt n pepper and add to the pan, add a beef oxo and crank the heat up. You want to seal the beef and keep stiring untill it's just starting to catch.
• Turn the heat down whilst you add all the chopped veg ( chop into bitesize chunks but make sure the potato is slightly bigger or it will break up to easily) 
• Add boiling water just until the veggies are covered, bring back to the boil and then turn down to a low simmer.
• After an hour, add a teaspoon of marmite, half a teaspoon of mustard (I use dijon but whichever) and sprinkle in gravy granules whilst stirring until the gravy is as thick as you like.
• Leave it a bit longer (30 mins) if you can, stir occasionally so it doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan.

 That's it, serve and enjoy!

Pimpin' Peas

Minty Pea Puree (for 2)

As per a request - it's a quick and easy way to pimp frozen peas and is lovely with fish/scampi or my favourite coke boiled ham ( Click here for the recipe!)

Cook your frozen peas in a pan in vegetable stock (i usually just use an oxo) and when cooked through drain off most of the stock but leave a little in the pan with the peas. 

Add a teaspoon of mint sauce and a heaped desert spoon of cream cheese, then blitz up roughly with a stick blender ( it's best if you leave it with some texture). Add a squeeze of lemon if you're having it with fish/chicken.

Credit for this goes to my mum-in-law Liz :) xx

Red Onion and goast cheese tart

Carmelised Red Onion and Goats Cheese Tart

The one recipie I always get asked for, and it's so easy! There's 10mins of standing and stirring, then 15mins in the oven.

Serves 4 as a starter or two for a main if you're a couple of piggies i.e. me and the hubz!

• 1 pack of pre-rolled puff pastry (the easiest option or you get can the block and roll it out, up to you!) (Asda own brand comes on greaseproof paper, even easier!)
• 2 big red onions (cut in half and thinly slice, thinner the better!)
• Brown sugar (1 table spoon)
• Balsamic Glaze (it's dead cheap from Asda, or you can use balsamic vinegar and add a pinch more sugar)
• Soft Goats Cheese (ideally you're looking for the soft one with the rind and you can get them to slice it into 1/2 cm slices at the deli counter, or do it yourself, or if you've got a block of soft cheese just crumble it over!)
• Milk or an egg to glaze the border of the pastry

• Pre heat the oven 180C/ gas mark 5
• Layout the pastry onto an oven tray (on greaseproof paper or oiled foil) and cut into quarters so you have four seperate tarts (you can cut four circles if you want to be more fancy, but I say lets not waste pastry!)
• With a knife draw roughly a cm border around the inside of the tarts, don't cut all the way through. (this helps the pastry rise).
• With a dab of butter and some olive oil, cook the onions down slowly in a frying pan. Keep stirring so they won't burn. The onions will change over time, going really soft. 

• Add the sugar and the balsamic and stir in till it's all dissolved. Done!
• Split the onions over the 4 tart bases (keep inside the borders) and top with the goats cheese slices (either one big one, or if you're using the soigon (?) cheese I use 2 as it's smaller!

• Glaze the borders with either milk or egg wash, then put in t'oven for 15mins, or until they're all risen and golden.

Gorgeous with a fresh green salad and tasty bread, enjoy!