We went to see Jimbo and Louise’s new house yesterday. I promised Louise I’d bring a dessert. It was going to be a blueberry cheesecake, I bought all the ingredients and on Saturday morning I spent 20 minutes looking for that recipe. Couldn’t find it. I have to say I have never succeeded in making a nice cold cheesecake, the image in my head was the passion fruit one that I once tried to make  and it poured out of the tin when I tried to serve it…And I hate cooking with gelatine.

This time I got impatient, I decided to get on with it without the recipe, as I had to leave for work shortly and there would be no time for making desserts later. I thought to myself- I am a confident enough cook to come up with a dessert of some sorts.

So I blitzed the digestive biscuits, mixed it with some melted butter and pressed it all gently against the bottom of the tin. I wanted to avoid making it too hard and ending up with a base that wouldn’t come out.

Next I whipped up some double cream with vanilla sugar, added a tub of Philadelphia cheese NOT MEASURING ANYTHING AT ALL, added a juice of a lime and its zest and  nearly 2 packets of blueberries. Folded it all in, placed on the base, smoothed and topped with lots of grated chocolate.

I chilled it in the fridge and kept my fingers crossed.

We’ve had it after Louise’s pasta with chorizo, it worked nicely, the base was lovely and crunchy, but not too hard, it was a success!!!! I had no camera with me, so couldn’t take a photo of it, but it will be made again. Nice, spontaneous,  improvised and fun to make.

🙂

Not sure, what the Italians would make of it, I think it is pretty good. And quite healthy as well, with all the greens.

I fry  an onion, a carrot,  a celery stick, some garlic, add chicken stock and let it cook slowly. In a separate pan I fry up some pancetta, lovely flavour, like no other bacon, then add it to the soup. Then in go the beans, chopped to the size small enough to fit on the spoon. I use green beans, runner beans and- if I have, broad beans. Some nice spring cabbage adds to the consistency nicely too. I season it all generously and add a handful of tiny pasta and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. The last thing to go in is pesto, doesn’t have to be a homemade one ( however with pesto pasta it is the only option in my kitchen! 🙂  ), a few bits here and there to add to the flavour.

I serve it with lovely crusty bread.

Florian once said  that my cottage pie is the best one he’s ever had. I reckon the one I’ve made tonight was best ever. Someone on telly has given me the idea of a parsnip mash, I’ve done half and half with the potatoes, it made the topping deliciously creamy and… sweet.

My meaty filling varies on whatever I have in the fridge. Today I fried up a red onion, a carrot, a courgette, some cherry tomatoes, green peas,then of course the minced beef ( not from Sainsbury’s, Florian has found a piece of bone in his 🙁  ).I add a generous splash of red wine, some Worcestershire sauce, some beef stock and some ketchup. And I let it all bubble away until the beef is lovely and soft and all has a nice rich texture and colour. Tasting it all the way is essential, it ahs to be nice and rich to be in contrast with the mash.

My mash is a messy one, but well worth the effort. It is all squeezed through the ricer, I add some butter, season with salt and pepper and work it with a wooden spoon until smooth.

All that is left now is transfer the meat mixture into the baking dish, cover with a layer of mash and bake off, until  it begins to brown slightly. You want it slightly crispy on top. I don’t think adding cheese on top is such a good idea, no need, if you make a nice mash.

We’ve managed the whole thing this evening….. 🙂

Now this one is ideal for an evening after work, when one can’t be bothered to spend too much time in the kitchen, but is not in the mood for Pizza Slut.

I boil my spaghetti and prepare the veggies in the big frying pan; I fry a couple of chopped shallots, throw in grated courgette, for 2 portions I would say maybe one and a half, one chopped red chilli, fry it all up, season well and add some chicken  stock for extra flavour. I toast some pine nuts, lovely stuff, only so bloody expensive in this country.

I toss the spaghetti in the courgette mixture, finish it off with some sesame seed oil, throw the toasted nuts on top and finish off with some parmesan. Done within 20 minutes! 🙂