Very simple Meatloaf

The remains of our meatloaf which I just managed to hold onto for long enough to photograph

Although this recipe is, by its very nature, larger than one person would need, you could either cut it into slices and freeze some after you have made it, or you could form it into individual patties instead of making a loaf shape and freeze some uncooked, just keep a close eye on the patties whilst they are  cooking  to ensure that they are cooked but not burned.  You could also try halving the amounts of ingredients to produce a smaller version. 

• 1/2 pound of minced beef   (I used about 3/4 pound of mince)
• 2oz breadcrumbs
• 1 onion diced very small
• 1 egg
• App 60mls milk
• mixed herbs
• A good splash of Worcerstershire sauce
• Ketchup
• 1 teaspoon mustard (optional)

• Mix all the ingredients except the ketchup, in a basin.  Get your hands in and really squidge it all together, ensuring that the ingredients are well combined.  The mixture should be fairly loose but not runny.
• When that is done put it all together in a loaf tin, (or whatever shaped oven proof dish you have)
• In another bowl mix together around 3/4 to 1 cup of ketchup and another good splashing of Worcestershire sauce, and the mustard if you are using it.
• Spread the sauce mix over the top of the meatloaf
• Put into a preheated oven at 180 degrees, gas mark 4, for 1 hour.

I know most meatloaf recipes call for ketchup, mustard and sugar for the topping, but I think there is already way too much sugar in ketchup and as I didn't have any mustard I substituted the Worcestershire sauce.

I lined my tin with baking paper to make for easier cleaning of the tin.

This recipe couldn't be simpler so have a go  and let me know what you think.


Since posting this I have been experimenting a little.  As I expected the ketchup was a little too sweet for my taste so we have added in French mustard (because it was the only one I had in the cupboard) which was good, and today I have tried it with a mixture of ketchup, Worcerstershire sauce, French mustard and barbecue sauce.  Don't be afraid to  mix and match, trying out different combinations to see which you prefer.

A Comparative Guide to Oven Temperatures

These temperatures correspond to the numbers on your oven but I don't think that there are many ovens which still use the Farhenheit scale.

Degrees Fahrenheit	Degrees Celsius	Gas Mark	Description
225	110	1/4	Very slow
250	120/130	1/2	Very slow
275	140	1	Slow
300	150	2	Slow
325	160/170	3	Moderate
350	180	4	Moderate
375	190	5	Moderately hot
400	200	6	Moderately hot
425	220	7	Hot
450	230	8	Hot
475	240	9	Very hot

Do you want to impress someone? Boeuf Bourgignon

So now it is several weeks since Freshers Week, those who are not Freshers have been back for some time and you have all had time to get to know new people.  Some you like, some you are not so keen on and some you really like.  Maybe there is one person who you like better than all the rest, maybe someone you would like to make a great impression on?  
 In that case  you need to try this recipe for Boeuf Bourgignon, which is just a French beef casserole but it sounds much more impressive in French doesn't it?
Boeuf Bourgignon is one of those dishes which can be a bit intimidating in concept, somehow it sounds very complex and difficult, but in fact it is very simple and you will probably have most of the ingredients in your kitchen already.  You will need some red wine, but you will probably already have some of that and if you can resist drinking the last 250 - 300 mls which is around a third of a bottle, you won't need to buy any, but if you do have to buy some, you can always drink the rest with the meal.

• 1 tablespoon of oil
• Knob of butter
• 1 or 2 rashers of bacon
• Approx 300g beef (this doesn't have to be expensive beef as we will be slow cooking the dish so the meat will become tender in the cooking)
• 2 onions or around 6 shallots (optional)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 or 4 mushrooms 
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• approx 250mls red wine (or as much as you have left over)
• 1 beef stock cube
• Boiling water
• Bay leaves

Boeuf Bourgignon

• Peel the onions or shallots, if using onions cut them into quarters, if using shallots cut them in half.  You do not need to chop or dice the onions very small, you need big visible lumps of onion.
• Peel and crush the garlic
• Cut the mushrooms into quarters
• Cut the bacon into smallish pieces
• Cut the beef into bite sized pieces
• Heat a pan and add the oil, butter and bacon
• Whilst the bacon is cooking mix the flour, salt and pepper together in a dish then add a few pieces of beef at a time and coat with the flour.
• Add the pieces of beef, a few at a time, to the pan with the bacon and oil/butter
• Add the rest of the beef as it is coated with the flour
• Turn each piece of beef to brown on all sides
• When all the beef is browned remove from the pan and reserve
• Put the onions, garlic and mushrooms into the pan and brown slightly
• Add the wine to the pan, when it is warm start to scrape the bottom of the pan to remove everything which is stuck to the bottom of the pan - we don't want to lose any of the flavours to the washing up!  This process is known as deglazing the pan.
• Once the bits are cleaned from the bottom of the pan you can add the meat back in.
• Bring to the boil, crumble a stock cube into the mixture and add a couple of bay leaves.
• If the mixture is looking too thick add some boiling water to thin it down.
• Transfer the mixture into a slow cooker if you are using one, or into an ovenproof casserole dish
• Slow cook for at least 6 hours or cook in the oven at 150ºC, 300ºF or gas mark 2 for 3 or 4 hours. If oven cooking check from time to time that the casserole is not drying out.  Add more boiling water if required.

You can serve this with whatever you want, noodles, baked or mashed potatoes, but I would suggest that you also add in some brightly coloured vegetables - broccoli, carrots etc.

Chicken and Rice

This is a delicious, simple dish, which doesn't require a great deal of preparation and is great comfort food, especially on a cold, damp night.  You don't need to restrict it to such nights however as it is fabulous anytime.

• 2 or 3 large Chicken breasts or 6 thigh fillets
• 1 onion
• 3 or 4 mushrooms
• Oil for browning chicken and onions
• 1 Can mushroom soup
• 300 mls chicken stock (or a mixture of chicken stock and wine)
• 6 ounces of rice
• Bay leaves if you have them

• Chop the onion and mushrooms
• Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces
• Heat the oil in a large pan, add the chicken, onion and mushrooms and cook till the onions are soft and the chicken browned.
• Remove the chicken from the pan then add the mushroom soup and stock.  ( make the stock with a stock cube and boiling water.  If you have some wine, use less stock and make up the required quantity with the wine)  The wine really adds flavour to the dish.  Stir the liquid around the pan scraping up the remnants of the onions, mushrooms and chicken so that you garner all the flavours.
• Return the chicken to the liquid and stir.
• Place your rice into a deep, oven proof dish, then pour the chicken mix over it.
• Add a couple of bay leaves if you have them.
• Place in the oven at 190º C  gas reg 7 for  1 hour.  
• Before serving check that the rice is cooked, leave a little longer if it is not to your taste.  Also check the thickness of the dish, if it is too thick you can always add some boiling water.

Perfect fried eggs with no oil.

Guilt free eggs - no oil or fat for cooking with and soooo simple.


You will need:

• A good non-stick frying pan with a solid base. 
• A pan lid - not necessarily the same size as the frying pan but definitely not larger. (A see through one is best but not essential)
• Kitchen roll
• A silicon, nylon or plastic fish slice

• Place the base on a heat source, I always prefer gas, but at university you have to make do with what you have in your flat/house.   
• Let the pan get very hot, put your hand above the base of it, without actually touching, to gauge how hot it is.  When it is ready it would be a good idea to turn the heat down a little.
• Break your egg into the pan and as it starts to cook, wet a piece of kitchen roll with cold water, squeeze gently so that it doesn't drip but retain a lot of the moisture.  Scrunch it up and place it next to the egg in the pan.  I tend to use two pieces rather than one as it works more quickly.
• Cover both the egg and the wet kitchen roll with the pan lid.  In seconds you will have a beautifully cooked egg with the white set, and a runny yolk.

Another word about Garlic

I posted instructions on how to use garlic Here but I just wanted to pass on some information I have been given.

Whilst garlic adds a lot of flavour to many dishes, it does tend to have anti social side effects.  I am led to  believe by a knowledgeable source however, that if you cut the clove in half lengthwise and remove the centre fibre, which is sometimes green it will remove most of the pungent garlic odour  which hangs around for ages after eating it.
I have tried this but I can't vouch for the veracity of the statement as one cannot smell it on oneself, and as a general rule it tends not to be noticeable on another person if you also have consumed .

Chicken Veronique

This is so easy but sounds very luxurious.  It will impress your friends without breaking the bank and you won't break a sweat over it.

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 oz butter
• 1 tsp oil
• 3 medium mushrooms sliced
• 2 or 3 shallots or one small onion, chopped
• 50 mls dry white wine if you have it or 50 mls chicken stock
• Medium carton of cream
• ½ teaspoon tarragon
• Approx 12 seedless green grapes
• Pinch of salt
• Black pepper

• Heat the butter and oil together in a frying pan. (If you are using something like flora you will not need the oil.  Butter burns very quickly so the oil is needed to prevent it burning.)
• Add the mushrooms and cook over a medium heat for 2 minutes, then remove from the pan and reserve.
• Add the chicken breasts, cook them over a medium heat for around 15 minutes, turning two to three times.
• After the chicken has been in the pan for around 5 minutes add the onions,  tarragon and wine or chicken stock (made with a stock cube and water if you don't have ready made stock,  but don't use the whole stock cube for 50mls of stock.  It is best to make the stock according to the packet instructions and just take out the 50mls which you need.)  The liquid in the pan will reduce which is desirable but ensure that it doesn't all disappear thereby allowing the chicken to burn, add a little more liquid if you need to.
• After 15 - 20 minutes return the mushrooms to the pan and add the cream.  Bring to the boil for a few minutes until the cream thickens.
• Add the grapes to the pan and stir in salt and pepper to your taste but do be careful, if you have used a stock cube taste the sauce before adding salt to check how salty it already tastes.  Leave over a low light for about a minute 30 t0 60 seconds just to heat the grapes through, they do not need to be cooked.

I usually serve this with rice.

Curries

I have said elsewhere on here that curries don't need to be hot to be good, and I mentioned that on another site earlier today which made me think about a couple of things to do with curries.  Curry is about the combination of spices to provide flavour.  Different spices give a dish unique flavours and it is possible to pick out the spices by taste.  Some spices you will like and there will be others that perhaps you don't care for so much, personally I can live without turmeric.


In previous recipes I have offered a way of cooking dried spices to prepare your curry but you can also use fresh ones or a mixture of fresh and dried.  


I like to purée fresh chillis with garlic cloves, ginger and some dried or powdered spices like cumin or coriander with a little oil to make a paste.  The chillies and the ginger are going to be the ingredients which provide the most kick so the amount of those which you use will determine how hot your finished curry will be.   You can make quite a large batch and then pop enough for a single use into a used, clean yoghurt pot, wrap in cling film and keep in the freezer until you are ready for it.  


Slice your onions and cook in a little oil with the curry paste and diced meat until the onions are soft and all are coated with the paste then continue with your chosen recipe.   I have two preferences but there are many other variations.  I either make a tomato based sauce using either fresh, skinned tomatoes, or tinned tomatoes with the stalk end removed, or a creamy sauce using either coconut milk or yoghurt.  Yoghurt is much less expensive than coconut milk but doesn't have the same rich creamy flavour.  If cooking with yoghurt always mix a little of the yoghurt in a cup with a spoonful of cornflour to stabilise the mixture and stop it from curdling when it heats up.

• Curry paste
• Onion
• Other vegetables to your taste
• Your choice of meat
• Approx 1 tablespoon of oil
• Either 1 can of tomatoes, 1 can of coconut milk or 1 pot of plain yoghurt
• Flour or cornflour to thicken

• Slice the onion and any other vegetables
• Cut the meat into cubes or strips
• Heat the oil in a large pan or wok
• Add meat and brown on all sides 
• Add onion/vegetables and curry paste
• Stir until onion is softened and all ingredients are coated with curry paste
• Stir in 1 spoon of flour (cornflour if you are using yoghurt) and coat the ingredients in the pan with it, cook for around a minute
• Remove from the heat and add either tomatoes, coconut milk or yoghurt (if using yoghurt mix a little of it in a cup with a teaspoon of cornflour - I know you may well have already added cornflour to the pan but I like to be sure)
• Return the pan to the heat and bring back to a boil then turn the heat right down and simmer.  The sauce may be too thick but you can let it down with some boiling water from the kettle until it is the desired consistency.
• Put a lid on the pan and cook gently until the meat is tender.

If you used yoghurt you may like to add about a teaspoon of tomato ketchup to the mixture and stir well before putting the lid on and leaving to cook.

Chicken in Tomato Sauce

I cannot believe that I haven't put this recipe on here before now.  It is a family favourite and  I was so convinced that I had posted it, that I came looking for it when I had a brain freeze moment whilst cooking dinner this evening.


This recipe really couldn't be simpler - I promise it is foolproof, you could almost do it with your eyes closed (unless you get a sudden brain freeze like I did).  Please don't try to do it with your eyes closed though - just saying.

• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
• Chicken thigh or breast fillets cut into bite sized pieces (2 breast fillets for 1 or 2 people or  3 - 4 breast fillets or a pack of thigh fillets for about 4 people)
• 2 or 3 mushrooms
• 1 carrot sliced thinly
• 1 teaspoon of mixed herbs
• I can of Cambells Condensed tomato soup
• (1 tablespoon of flour)

If you are making this with just a couple of chicken breasts for 1 or 2 people you don't need the flour.

1. Peel and slice your carrot
2. Slice the mushrooms
3. Put the oil into a pan and heat it then add the chicken and brown it
4. When the chicken is well browned, add the flour (if you are making the larger quantity).  Stir it in to the meat until it is well absorbed, then cook for a few minutes. Omit this step if just using a couple of fillets.
5. Add the contents of the can of soup.  If you have added flour, then you need to use the can and add 3/4 of a can of water. Stir well.
6. Add the carrots, mushrooms and mixed herbs, stirring them in well.
7. Bring to a good simmer but don't boil.  Put the lid on and cook for around 30 minutes stirring from time to time.

I usually serve this with pasta but you can use whatever you prefer.