Prawn and Fennel Risotto with Crispy Bacon and Chilli

This is a delicious risotto.

Prawn and Fennel Risotto with Crispy Pancetta and Chilli
(from Superfood Family Classics by Jamie Oliver)
(Serves 4)

2 onions, chopped
1 bulb fennel, finely sliced
2 rashers bacon, chopped
oil
225g raw prawns
1l veg stock
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 red chilli, halved and deseeded
400g cherry tomatoes
300g risotto rice
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
zest 1 lemon
300g cottage cheese

Heat a little oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and cook the bacon until golden and crispy, then remove to a plate. Add the onions and fennel to pan with a little more oil and a splash of water. Cook for 10 mins, stirring regularly or until softened.

Meanwhile, simmer the stock on a low heat with the garlic clove and the chilli. Prick each tomato with the tip of a sharp knife and put into the stock, adding the vines if you have them for flavour. After 1 min scoop out the tomatoes and carefully remove the skins.

Stir the rice into the veg and leave to cook for 2 mins, then gradually adding the stock a ladleful at a time, stirring and waiting for the stock to be absorbed before adding the next. Repeat this stirring for 20 mins or until the rice is cooked. Stir in the prawns and tomatoes for the last 5 mins.

Meanwhile put the parsley, lemon zest, chilli halves and garlic from the sock pan, and the bacon onto a board and finely chop to make a sprinkle.

Stir the cottage cheese into the risotto, season and then serve with the sprinkle scattered over.

Salmon and Prawn Fish Pie

There is a lot of veg packed into this fish pie, it is a really yummy dish. 

Salmon and Prawn Fish Pie
(Serves 4)

olive oil
1 rasher bacon, sliced
1 large carrot
1 bunch spring onions
½ bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp plain flour
600ml semi-skimmed milk
2 tsp mustard
400g frozen chopped spinach
4 x 120g salmon fillets
200g raw peeled prawns
400g frozen peas
125g feta cheese
600g sweet potatoes
600g cauliflower

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Put the bacon into a large roasting tray with 1 tsp of oil, then put on a medium heat. Wash and trim the carrot and spring onions, chop into 1cm dice, and once the bacon is lightly golden, stir them into the tray.

Finely slice and stir in the parsley stalks. Cook for 10 mins to soften, stirring regularly, then stir in the flour. Gradually pour in the milk, bring up to a good simmer, then stir in the mustard and frozen spinach. Simmer for 5 to 10 mins, or until the spinach has thawed.

Chop the salmon into bite-sized chunks, halve the prawns, finely chop the parsley leaves and stir it all through the sauce with the frozen peas, then crumble the feta over the top and turn off the heat.

Meanwhile, wash the sweet potatoes and cauliflower (leaving the skins on for extra nutritional benefit) and chop into 3cm chunks. Cook in a large pan of boiling salted water for 15 mins, or until cooked through, then drain and mash well, taste, and season. Gently spoon the mash over the fish pie filling, spreading it out with a fork. Bake for 40 mins, or until golden and crisp on top, and bubbling at the edges.

Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Potato Pie

I made this for my parents a couple of weeks ago. I liked it but the sauce split. I'm not sure why. It was pretty tasty though, I like potatoes as the pie crust.

Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Potato Pie (from Let The Baking Begin)
(Serves 4)

1.35kg potatoes, sliced thinly
2 chicken breasts
300g button mushrooms, quartered
4 strips thick cut bacon, cut into ⅓ inch pieces
½ large onion, chopped
30g grated cheese
125ml stock
60ml single cream
salt and pepper, to taste
garlic powder

Heat a frying pan over medium heat, add the chopped bacon and render the bacon until it crisps up. Add the chopped onions to the bacon and continue cooking until the onion is golden in colour. Tilt the frying pan to the side allow the fat to drip to the bottom and remove the onion and bacon to a separate bowl.

Heat the frying pan on high with the bacon fat in it, add the mushrooms and brown them over high heat, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat. Add the salt, pepper and garlic powder, mix to coat.

Cut the chicken breast into 1 inch pieces. Add the salt, black pepper and garlic powder and toss to coat.

Layer the ingredients in the following order: chicken, half of bacon and onion mixture, light sprinkling of cheese, mushrooms, bacon and onion mixture, a little bit of salt and pepper to season the mushrooms, light sprinkling of cheese and lastly arrange most of the potatoes on top.

Mix the chicken stock and cream and pour on top. Cover the baking dish with foil or lid. Place into preheated to 220C oven and bake for 15 mins, then reduce the heat to 180C and bake for another 40 mins. Remove the foil or the lid and cook for additional 20-30 mins or until the top is golden brown. Serve.

Pasta with Bacon, Spinach and a Poached Egg

Really simple pasta dish, full of flavour and quick to whip up.

Pasta with Bacon, Spinach and a Poached Egg
(Serves 1)

60g spaghetti
2 rashers bacon, chopped
30g cream cheese
1 egg, poached
handful spinach leaves
grated parmesan

Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions.

Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the bacon until crisp and poach your egg.

When the pasta is cooked, drain and then add back to the pan along with the cream cheese, bacon and spinach. Stir to combine. Put into a serving bowl and top with the parmesan and egg. Serve.

Sweetcorn Fritters with Avocado and Bacon

Most of my sweetcorn failed to come to anything, they had no kernels of corn on them! My Mum gave me one of hers and so I made these fritters. They were very filling but delicious and went perfectly with the bacon and avocado. I also served it with a gorgeous tomato and onion salad.

Sweetcorn Fritters with Avocado and Bacon (from Cook Yourself Thin by Gizzi Erskine)
(Serves 2)

1 large egg
150g Greek yoghurt
1 tbsp cornflour
60g plain flour
salt and pepper
200g tin sweetcorn, well drained
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp oil

4 slices smoked bacon
1/2 avocado sliced
1 tbsp maple syrup

Put the egg, yogurt, cornflour, flour and salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk together until it becomes a smooth batter. Add the corn and spring onion and mix thoroughly.

Heat a frying pan until it is fairly hot and add 1 tbsp oil.  Drop ladlefuls of the mixture into the pan until you have 4 fritters. Cook for 2-3 mins or until the bottom is crisp and golden. Then turn over and cook the other side for 2-3 mins. You might need to do this in 2 batches.

Add a little more oil if you need to, then add the bacon to the pan and cook for 1-2 mins on each side, until cooked through.

Serve 2 fritters on each plate, top with 2 slices of bacon and a few slices of avocado. Drizzle with the maple syrup.

Mary Berry's Chicken and Bacon Lattice Pie

My sister made this for us for dinner just before we went to the Isle of Wight. It was absolutely delicious, a really homey comforting dish and definitely one I will have to try for myself.

Chicken and Bacon Lattice Pie (from BBC Food)
(Serves 6)

6 skinless chicken legs (thigh and drumstick)
4 celery sticks, diced
4 bay leaves, roughly sliced
200ml dry white wine
300ml chicken stock
250g smoked back bacon (about 7 rashers), cut into small pieces
1 large onion, roughly chopped
50g butter
60g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
2 tbsp crème fraîche
1 tbsp grainy mustard
2 x 375g packets ready-rolled, all-butter puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 160C.

Put the chicken legs, celery and bay leaves into a large ovenproof saucepan, pour over the wine and stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat, cover with a lid and transfer to the oven for 30–40 mins, or until the chicken legs are cooked and tender. Set aside to cool.

Once cool, remove the meat from the chicken bones. Break the meat into bite-sized pieces before transferring to a bowl. Strain the stock, reserving the celery and discarding the bay leaves, and measure out the liquid. You should have about 750ml; if not, make up to this amount with a little extra stock or white wine.

Heat a large frying pan and fry the bacon pieces over a medium-high heat for 3 mins. Add the onion, cover with a lid and fry for a further 10 mins until the onion is softened. Add the butter, stir until melted, and then sprinkle in the flour to make a roux. Pour the reserved liquid into the roux a little at a time, whisking as you add, and stir over a high heat until thickened to a smooth sauce consistency.

Add a little salt and pepper, the reserved celery, crème fraiche and mustard and mix to combine before adding the chicken. Spoon the filling into an ovenproof pie dish and level the top. Leave until cool and then chill, covered, in the fridge for 30 mins.

Meanwhile, prepare the pastry for the pie. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each of the pastry sheets to about 3mm thick. Cut each piece into long, thick ribbons, about 3cm wide. You will need to make enough to cover the top of the dish, about 16 in total. Weave the ribbons together on a piece of baking paper, until you have a pastry top that is large enough to cover your pie. Chill in the fridge for 15 mins to firm up or, if time allows, freeze until solid.

Take the filling out of the fridge and brush the edges of the dish with a little beaten egg. Carefully slide the pastry lattice from the baking paper and lay on top of the chilled filling. Trim the excess pastry around the rim and lightly press to seal.

Increase the oven temperature to 200C. Brush the pastry with the remaining beaten egg and bake for 30 mins until the pastry is golden and cooked through, and the chicken is bubbling. Serve.

Cauliflower Fried Rice

So, on the whole, I don't hold with this replacing carbs with veg, my philosophy is everything in moderation and always has been. However, just before I went on holiday I had a cauliflower that needed using and I thought I would experiment. So I made "rice" out of it. This is actually really tasty, no it doesn't taste like rice but it wasn't as bitty and unpleasant as I had feared. I used a mix of leftover veg and you could pretty much use what you like, which is why the recipe doesn't state specific veg, this is a brilliant clear out the fridge meal.

Cauliflower Fried Rice (from Steamy Kitchen)
(Serves 4)

4 slices bacon, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 head cauliflower, grated
1 tbsp water
4 handfuls mixed veg, chopped small
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 egg
4 tsp Sriracha

In a wok or large saute pan over medium heat, cook bacon until almost crispy. Add the onions and stir fry until translucent.

Turn the heat to high. Add the grated cauliflower and stir fry for 1 min. Add the water and mixed veg, stir well, cover the pan and let the cauliflower mixture steam for another 3 mins or until tender.

Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil and poach an egg.

Uncover and add the fish sauce. Toss well to combine. Serve with sriracha drizzled over the top.

Hash Brown Pizza

So I have a lot of mushrooms in my fridge at the moment and in looking for something to do with them I came across this hash brown pizza which fitted in perfectly with afternoon tea on Mother's Day. This was really tasty and I will definitely be making it again. You can always change the topping to whatever you have in the fridge.

Hash Brown Pizza (from Slimming Eats)
(Serves 1)

1 large potato, peeled and grated
3 large mushroom, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 slices of bacon, chopped
40g mozzarella cheese, broken up into small pieces
1 egg
1 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 200C.

Place the grated potato into a clean tea towel and squeeze out the excess liquid. Put into a bowl and season well with salt and pepper.

Spray a baking tray with cooking spray and flatten out your grated potato on the tray, making it into a circular shape. Spray the top with cooking spray and place in the oven. Carefully turn over with a spatula when the underside is golden to repeat the process with the other side.

Meanwhile, spray a frying pan with some cooking spray and add you onions, mushrooms and bacon and cook for a few minutes until golden.

Remove the hash brown from the oven and arrange the mushroom, onion and bacon mixture on top, leaving a space in the centre. Put the halved tomatoes and mozzarella on top of the mushroom mixture. Crack the egg into the space in the centre. Return it back to the oven and continue to bake until the egg is cooked to your liking, about 7 mins for a runny yolk. Serve topped with the parsley.

Bacon, Goat's Cheese and Courgette Filo Parcels

I made these parcels a few months ago when I still had courgettes in the garden and then I froze them. This is the first one I've tried and I have to say it was very tasty.

Bacon, Goat's Cheese and Courgette Filo Parcels
(Serves 4)

1 large courgette, grated and squeezed to remove moisture
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
4 tbsp of light olive oil
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Pinch of salt
Generous mill of pepper
2 rashers bacon
80g goat’s cheese
1 pack of filo pastry

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Heat a frying pan and add a little oil. Add the bacon and fry until just cooked, then cut into 1 cm pieces and leave to drain on kitchen roll.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, then add the courgette, garlic, paprika, salt and pepper and fry for 4-6 mins until soft and all the liquid has steamed away, stir in the bacon bits, then set aside.

Pre-rolled filo packs tend to have six rectangular sheets so open them out and then cut down the centre to create 12 square sheets Place one square on a floured surface, brush with oil, then place another sheet on top at an angle, brush with oil, followed by a third sheet at another angle, then brush with oil again.

Divide the courgette mix into four equal portions and place one portion in the middle of the pastry Cut the goat’s cheese in to four equal discs and place one disc on top of the courgette in the middle of the pastry.

Pull the pastry up around the filling to the middle and squeeze to create a parcel with a flowered top. Brush with oil and place on a lined baking sheet. Repeat until you have four equal parcels. Bake for about 15 mins until they are golden brown.

Alice Springs Chicken Casserole

This casserole was really yummy. The original recipe called for a jar of alfredo sauce, but that doesn't exist in the UK so I made my own. I did have to make it twice though, the first time it just wouldn't thicken!

Alice Springs Chicken Casserole (from Kalyn's Kitchen)
(Serves 4-6)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
stock or water for cooking chicken, enough to cover
1/4 tsp dried sage
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp onion powder
450g mushrooms, washed and thickly sliced
2 tsp oil
113g bacon, diced small
1 quantity alfredo sauce
67g sour cream
50g mozzarella, grated
25g cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 190C. Grease an oven-proof dish.

Cook chicken breasts in barely simmering stock with the thyme, sage and onion powder until the chicken is cooked through, about 15-20 mins. Let the chicken cool, then pull apart into bite sized pieces and put in bottom of the ovenproof dish.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and saute the mushrooms until the mushrooms are golden, then put the mushrooms on top of chicken in the ovenproof dish. In the same frying pan, saute the bacon for a few mins until starting to go brown. Put the bacon on top of the mushrooms.

Whisk together the alfredo sauce and the sour cream, and pour over the mixture in the casserole dish. Sprinkle over the Mozzarella and Cheddar.

Bake for 30 mins until the cheese is slightly browned and casserole is bubbling. Serve.

Jamie's 12 Hour Rabbit Bolognese

This makes a lot of sauce! I made half the recipe and got 6 portions out of it! It is however absolutely delicious and takes very little effort just very long slow cooking.

12 Hour Rabbit Bolognese (from Jamie Oliver)
(Serves 12)

1 tbsp oil
3 rashers smoked streaky bacon, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 whole rabbit, skinned, including offal
1 bulb garlic, left whole, white skin peeled away
2 leeks, washed, topped and tailed
2 carrots, washed, topped and tailed
2 red onions, halved
20g dried porcini mushrooms
2x400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
500ml light smooth beer/ale
2 tbsp tomato purée
salt and pepper
1 whole nutmeg
½ lemon
few sprigs of fresh thyme

Optional serving method: serves 6
500 g dried pasta , optional
Parmesan or Cheddar cheese , optional
extra virgin olive oil , optional
a few sprigs of fresh thyme , optional

Preheat the oven to 110°C. Put your largest casserole dish on a medium heat and add the oil and the chopped bacon. Once it’s lightly golden, add the bay leaves and rosemary sprigs and lay the whole rabbit and the offal on top. Drop in the whole garlic bulb, leeks, carrots, celery and onions, then add the dried mushrooms, tinned tomatoes, beer, tomato purée, and just enough water to cover everything (roughly 1 litre). Bring to the boil, and season with salt and pepper. Finely grate in half the nutmeg, put the lid on. Put the casserole into the oven and leave to cook for 12 hours.

Once cooked, let the stew cool down. Using your hands pick through small handfuls of the stew at a time, taking out any bones or vegetable skins. Discard the herbs, and flake the meat off the bones. Scrunch the vegetables and offal in your hands as you go and break them into smaller pieces. Pour any juices left behind back into the pan, then go back in and have another rummage to make sure you haven’t missed anything. Finely grate in the zest of half the lemon and pick in a few thyme tips.

To serve, reheat the sauce and serve over cooked pasta with some grated parmesan.

Meatloaf

Mince doesn't seem quite so terrible when I stick it all together in a burger or meatball, so I made meatloaf. Whilst not exactly healthy it was very tasty! i Served it with cauliflower mash and green veg.

Meatloaf (from Pioneer Woman)

(8 Serves)

250ml milk
6 slices bread, torn up
900g beef mince
100g parmesan cheese
2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper
bunch parsley, chopped
4 eggs, beaten
10 slices bacon

Sauce:
340g ketchup
70g Brown Sugar
1 tsp dry mustard
tabasco to taste

Preheat oven to 180C.

Pour the milk over the bread slices and leave it to soak for a while.

Place the mince, milk-soaked bread, Parmesan, salt, pepper and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the beaten eggs. With clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined.

Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a foil lined grill pan, which will allow the fat to drain. Lay bacon slices over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf.

Add the ketchup, sugar, mustard, and hot sauce to a mixing bowl. Stir together. Pour 1/3 of the mixture over the top of the bacon. Spread with a spoon. Bake for 45 mins, then pour another 1/3 of the sauce over the top. Bake for another 15 mins. Slice and serve with remaining sauce.

Braised Rabbit with Broad Beans, Bacon and Mint

I bought some wild rabbit from the farmers market in Walthamstow to make this beautiful dish using up the last of the broad beans from my garden. It was delicious and the sauce was just perfect.

Braised Rabbit with Broad Beans and Mint
(from Grains, Seeds and Legumes by Molly Brown)
(Serves 6)

12 wild rabbit joints
15g butter
40ml oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
500g broad beans, podded weight
150g bacon, cut into chunks
5 mint sprigs, leaves picked and torn

Season the rabbit joints well with salt and pepper. Heat the butter and half of the oil in a saute pan over a high heat, add the rabbit and brown well. Remove the rabbit from the pan and set aside. Add the onion and saute over a medium heat until soft and pale gold. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 mins.

Return the rabbit to the pan, then add the stock. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to very low, cover and gently cook the rabbit until it is tender, about 1 hour 40 mins. MAke sure the rabbit stays moist and add a little more stock if you need to. Meanwhile, cook the beans in boiling salted water until tender, then drain. When cool enough to handle, slip off the skins and set aside.

Once the rabbit is cooked, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and reduce the cooking liquid if you need to - there should be enough to just coat the rabbit. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and fry until the bacon is golden. Add the beans, bacon and rabbit to the pan with the reduced cooking liquid. Heat through and check the seasoning. Add the mint leaves and serve.

Chicken and Bacon Ranch Gnocchi Casserole

This was a lovely and very cheesy dish. I definitely need to experiment more with making my own gnocchi, which I'm sure are much better than the packet stuff. I added a handful of spinach in to the dish as it needed using, and this was a lovely addition.

Chicken and Bacon Ranch Gnocchi Casserole (from What's Cooking Love?)
(Serves 6-8)

450g gnocchi
3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
6 rashers bacon, cooked and sliced
120ml ranch dressing
370ml milk
200g grated cheddar cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp chives, chopped

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Meanwhile cook the gnocchi according to the packet instructions.

Heat up the ranch dressing, milk, and 100g of the cheese in a saucepan over medium heat until the cheese melts and the mixture becomes creamy.

In a large bowl combine the cooked gnocchi, cheese sauce, chicken, bacon, garlic powder, and chives. Then spoon the mixture into a greased baking dish. Top with the remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake for 20 mins or until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately. 

Avocado, Bacon and Potato Salad

This a lovely bacon, avocado and potato salad, simple to make but wonderfully tasty.

Avocado, Bacon and Potato Salad (WeightWatchers Foods)
(Serves 4)
(6 WW ProPoints)

650g new potatoes, halved

cooking spray

4 rashers bacon medallions

1 tsp cider vinegar

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp wholegrain mustard

1 tsp clear honey

125g avocado, stoned, peeled and sliced

85g watercress, any large stalks removed

125g cherry tomatoes, halved

1 red onion, thinly sliced
salt and pepper

Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the potatoes. Cover, and simmer for 10-15 mins or until the potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, mist a pan with cooking spray and fry the bacon turning once, for 5 mins. Roughly chop.

Drain the potatoes and tip into a bowl.

Place the vinegar, olive oil, garlic, mustard and honey in a screw-top jar and season. Shake to combine and then pour over the potatoes. Toss to coat.

Add the bacon, avocado, watercress, tomatoes and onion, then toss lightly to mix.

Divide between 4 plates and serve, or transfer to an airtight container and chill for up to 24 hours.

Golden Scallops with Sun-Blush Mash and Greens

This recipe has been on my radar for quite a while and when I got some scallops half price in Waitrose I knew I had to try it. I don;t have a food processor big enough so I just chopped the sun-dried tomatoes by hand and grated the cheese and mixed them in. I also changed the greens using what I had in the fridge. It was ok although I think I over cooked the scallops, I liked the combination with the bacon.

Golden Scallops with Sun-Blush Mash and Greens (adapted from Jamie's 15 Minute Meals)
(Serves 4)

Sun-blush mash
800g potatoes
40g sundried tomatoes in oil
1 splash milk (optional)

Veg
200g tenderstem broccoli
200g green beans
200g sugar snap peas
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon

Scallops
4 rashers smoked streaky bacon
12 large scallops
oil
1/2 lemon

Slice the potatoes 1cm thick, put into a casserole pan then cover with boiling water and the lid.

Bring a pan of water to the boil and ad the broccoli, asparagus and peas, cook for 3 mins. Drain and toss with the extra virgin olive oil and the juice of half a lemon. Put into a serving bowl.

Crumble the cheese into a food processor, add the sundried tomatoes, half a tbsp of their oil and blitz well. Finely slice the bacon. Pat the scallops dry with kitchen towl, then score on one side in deep crisscross and season with salt and pepper. Put 1 tbsp oil into a frying pan, add the scallops score side down. Cook until lightly golden on boths ides, then add the bacon.

Drain the potatoes, tip into the processor and pulse up, loosen with a splash of milk is needed. Season and spoon onto a plate. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon over the scallops, shake and toss the pan then serve on top of the mash with the veg on the side.

Sausage Stroganoff

Even fairly decent sausages are much cheaper than meat. This was a lovely stroganoff and not too bad in the healthy stakes too. I used a low fat natural yoghurt and served it over spaetzle and green veg.

Sausage Stroganoff (from My Golden Pear)

(Serves 4)

8 pork sausages

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

4 bacon rashers, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped finely

500 g mushrooms, sliced

250 ml beef stock

60 ml tomato paste

1 tsp smoked paprika

60 ml natural yoghurt

Grill or lightly fry sausages until cooked and nicely browned. Slice each sausage into 3 or 4 pieces and set to one side.

Add the oil to a frying pan and fry onions until soft. Add the bacon and garlic to pan and continue to fry until bacon is cook. Add the mushrooms and continue to fry for approximately 5 mins or until the mushrooms are soft. Add the beef stock, tomato paste and paprika and bring to a simmer, stirring well. Add the sausage pieces and continue to simmer for a couple of minutes. Stir in the yogurt, mix well until heated through. Serve.

Sausage Hubble Bubble

In a strange sort of way this was a sausage, bacon and egg scramble. I'm not sure I liked the texture of the baked egg and milk mixture though, but the sausages were really really tasty, it is definitely worth buying good quality sausages.

Sausage Hubble Bubble (from Onions and Paper)

(Serves 4)

6 sausages 
3-4 rashers bacon 
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced 
500g potatoes 
400 ml milk 
3 eggs 
100g grated Cheddar Cheese 
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C. 

Peel and thickly slice the potatoes and drop into a pan of boiling water. Cook for 5 mins then drain and set aside. 

Cut each sausage into 4 pieces and the bacon into strips about 1cm wide. Place in a cold non-stick frying pan and heat gently until the fat runs out. Add the onion and increase the heat. Fry, stirring frequently, until the onions are softened and the sausages browned. 

Beat together the eggs, milk and seasoning. 

Arrange half the potato slices in the base of a greased ovenproof dish,  put the bacon, sausage and onion mixture on top and top with the remaining potatoes. Pour the egg and milk mixture evenly over and scatter the grated cheese on top. 

Bake in the preheated oven for around 45 mins, covering with foil if the cheese looks as if it is browning too fast. Serve with green veg. 

Snail and Bacon Quiche

When I was in Picardie in April, we visited a snail farm and I bought some proper French snails. They've been sat in my shelf ever since and I finally got around to using them. When I was there I had a chat with the lady who ran the snail farm and she said to make a quiche out of the snails, adding bacon and cheese, so I followed what I could remember of her instructions, it was delicious, I gave one to my neighbour and she enjoyed it too.

Snail and Bacon Quiche

(Makes 1 20cm quiche)

110g plain flour

25g lard

25g butter

pinch salt

cold water

4 rashers bacon, cooked

10 snails, chopped

75g cheddar cheese

2 eggs, beaten

275ml milk

salt and pepper

Add flour and butter to a mixing bowl, using a knife cut the butter into the flour. Then using your fingertips rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the salt and water, then quickly knead the dough, just until it comes together. Pop in the fridge for an hour to chill.

Heat the oven to 180C.

Roll out the pastry and line a 20cm tin with it. Prick the base with a fork, line with greaseproof paper and put baking beans on top. Bake the pastry case for 15 mins then remove from the oven and pain with a little beaten egg, and pop back into the oven for 5 more mins.

Meanwhile, beat together the egg and milk and mix in 2/3rds of the cheese and the salt and pepper.

Take the pastry case out of the oven and scatter the bacon and snails in the base. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the top of the bacon and snails. Sprinkle over the rest of the cheese and put back into the oven for 30-40 mins until the quiche is set in the centre and has turned golden brown.