Linguine with tomato and ham sauce

Thursday, 8th September

Catching up with posts I should have made weeks ago. Apart from the fact that is was good, I remember almost nothing about making this. I had to use supermarket ham because that was all I could get, and the basil from the balcony was a bit wilted. But it came out fine.

Lamb shoulder

Saturday, 3rd September

Bit of an emergency meal as we had not done any shopping. Fortunately the piece of lamb shoulder was in the freezer. This really needed 4 hours of slow cooking, but I left it too late so it only got two hours in a casserole with some wine, herbs, garlic and shallots. As a result not quite as tender as it could have been, but still good.
The shallots and sauce made quite a nice gravy.
To go with it aubergine and potatoes grown on my balcony! I put one small, sprouting spud in a plastic carrier bag of dirt in the spring, and it did nothing for months. Then suddenly lots of leaves and shoots came out and, when they had gone, I found enough little potatoes in there for about 3 of 4 portions. Not exactly self-sufficiency, but fun and delicious.

Veal Cutlet and Lemon Linguine

Thursday, 1st September

Once again simply fried the meat for 2 minutes on each side then finished it for 5 minutes or so in the oven, and it came out tender and juicy.
To go with it I was looking for a simple lemony pasta recipe and found this one from Jamie Oliver. I did not manage (or even try) to find sicilian lemons (I don't believe Jamie and his mates shop at the same places the rest of us do), but with a perfectly normal lemon it was delicious.

Sardine Bruschetta, Pasta with Parma Rosa sauce, Apple Fool

Saturday, 27th August

I fancied doing something with sardines and found this recipe for Lime Marinated Sardine Bruschetta. These came out very tasty indeed, even though it really only is fancy sardines on toast. (The cherry tomatoes are from my balcony.)
The pappardella were cooked with a creamy. tomato Parma Rosa sauce with added bacon and parma ham. The picture looks a bit strange (very pink) but pasta tasted very good, if a little heavy on the garlic.
With some apples from my partner's garden I made a simple apple puree with a lovely silky texture, mixed in some whipped cream and sprinkled with brown sugar to make the fool. Also very good, but less cream and sugar would have been even better.

Iberico pork loin and rösti

Thursday, 25th August

Got this nice piece of Iberico Lomo pork and simply fried it on all sides and finished it in the oven for a few minutes. Meanwhile cooked the rösti by just grating potato, squeezing out excess juice and frying gently in a little duck fat. Turning it over the first time didn't go so well, but I was able to recover. The sauce is caramelised onion and blackberry.

Green Dragon Walnut Meatballs

Monday, 22nd August

I have to give the honours for cooking the meatballs to my lovely girlfriend. Delicious.
I had the recipe in a Sainsbury's cookbook called "Marvellous Meals with Mince", which I can no longer find. But google came to the rescue.
At the weekend we had these with pasta and the dark chinese-y sauce of soy and sugar mentioned in the recipe. I had the left overs today with a sauce of roasted red pepper, garlic and fried onion, with a little balsamic added. Very good indeed, but a bit heavy on the garlic. Also, sauteed potatoes with rosemary.

Mahi Mahi and Vegetable stew

Sunday, 14th August

Japanese style stew with no particular recipe. I fried some shallots and ginger and added potato cut into small pieces, then sake, mirin, water and a little soy sauce. Then, at various points, diced pumpkin, tiny aubergines halfed, yellow courgette sliced, spring onions, bok choi, the mahi mahi and shitake mushrooms.
When the fish was done I finished it off with a little more soy, ponzu sauce and sansho pepper. I used a wide shallow pan and kept the veggies separate, so the various colours and shapes looked fantastic when it was done. But I messed up the photo, so you'll have to take my word for it.
Tasted good too, although the spring onions and aubergines should have gone in later.