Do you like receiving parcels? I do. O the anticipation of what could be inside – opening  it up – and finding just what you wanted!  Did you know you can cook food in parcels?  You can – and how lovely it is to open, smell the lovely aromas and taste the gently cooked food, full of flavour.  I’ve done this a few times and it has just occurred to me that these are the perfect recipes for us because, of course, they are all individual!

For the parcel, you will need some baking parchment – or if you haven’t got this some greaseproof paper and kitchen foil, folded together, foil outside.  The size will be determined by the size of fish or chicken piece but I would say about a 30cm square or A4 piece of paper should definitely do it.

Two recipes – a fish one and a chicken one.  I’m sorry no photographs – but hey – you’re getting the hang of this now!  You could send me yours?

Lemon and Herb Fish in a Bag (if you want to be posh that’s en papillote in French!)

• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 clove of minced garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon minced lemon peel and 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 spring onion
• a fillet of fish – this can be salmon, cod, haddock – your favourite
• 1 tablespoon butter

Heat the oven to 200oC

Mix the parsley, garlic and lemon peel together and put to the side.

Cut the spring onion into small pieces and slice lengthwise.

Season the fish with salt and pepper and the lemon juice and spread the top with butter

Put the spring onion in the middle of your parcel and top with the fish.  Put some of the herb mix on top of the fish.  Fold the packages up – each long side to the middle then sides brought inwards to seal.

Place on a baking sheet and bake about 8 minutes.

Put the parcel on your dinner plate with whatever vegetables you like best and open – be careful all those lovely juices will seep out and you don’t want to waste them!

Spicy Chinese Chicken Packet

• 1 chicken thigh = bone in or out
• small piece of ginger
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 spring onion
• some fresh or frozen chilli – to taste (remember that most supermarkets now sell them frozen so you will have no wastage if you only use a little)
• 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce (smells disgusting tastes nice)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine or sherry

Put ALL of the above in a plastic bag and give it a good shake then leave to marinade for about 45 minutes

Preheat the oven to 200oC

Prepare your parcel as above. Take out the chicken and put in the middle. Add a spoonful of the marinade and fold up. On to a baking tray and into the oven for about 15 minutes.

Sauce: Put the remaining marinade into a saucepan and add:

• 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine or sherry (optional but you will need to use the measurement of water)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Simmer altogether to melt the honey.  If you like heat, you could add a little chopped chilli to taste. It’s ready when it has thickened slightly.

Serve the chicken parcel on a plate with a side of rice and pok choy with the sauce to pour over when opened.

The above recipes may contain some ingredients you may have had to buy specially eg rice wine or fish sauce – but don’t worry, over the next few weeks you are going to using them a lot more!

As they say at all the best restaurants – ENJOY!

 

 

She’s not really into cooking – but she does like to be involved!  Thought you might like to see how difficult it can sometimes be typing away with a furry creature draped over the keyboard!

I am a Scot (albeit with an English mother) who has lived here since the mid seventies and whilst I am very happy here there are two things which always take me back to my roots and like to celebrate – Hogmanay and Burns Night.  The former has no particular culinary history (other than clootie dumpling and black bun (another story), a lot of alcohol and emotional singing of Auld Land Syne). The latter, of course, has the Burns Supper. Haggis, neeps (why do you English call the orange veg swede and the wee white ones turnips when everyone knows in Scotland it’s the other way round? ) and tatties are a given and can really only be served one way – but you may not know the following 2 recipes – and which can be eaten any time of the year.

Cullen Skink – a hearty soup made from leeks, onions, potatoes and smoked haddock

• 50 grams butter
• 1 small onion and 1 small leek, finely chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
• 150 mls water
• 200g (ish) smoked haddock
• 200 mls milk

Melt butter and leek in a saucepan and cook for about 5 minutes without browning. Add potatoes and cook till soft.

In another pan cover the haddock with the milk and cook gently till tender (you can also do this in the microwave).Remove from milk when cool and and flake gently into large pieces, removing bones.

Drain the potatoes (keeping the water), take out some of them with some leeks and onions and mash the rest. Return the vegetables to the pan with the liquid and add the milk and haddock.  You may need more liquid – you can add some more milk, white wine and/or cream or creme fraiche – whichever takes your fancy! You can also add some chopped parsley and/or chives for a bit of colour. Serve with lots of crusty bread to mop up!

 

Now for the pudding : Cranachan – a delicous mix of raspberries, cream, whisky, honey and toasted oats.  What’s not to like?

• 50 grams porridge oats
• small pot of double cream
• 2 – 3 tablespoons honey to taste
• 2 tablespspoons whisky (I personally hate whisky but somehow can take it here!)
• raspberries – fresh or frozen

Heat a heavy based frying pan up and toast the oats until nutty and pale brown (I sometimes add a little demerara sugar so they caramelize but you do have to keep moving them around!). Put to one side to cool.

Whip the cream till soft peaks and fold in the honey and whisky.

Layer up the cream, rapsberries and oats and eat immediately whilst the oats are still crunchy!

 

 

 

My husband is away just now so I got up early and by midday I’d done a mini spring clean – and starving!  So this is one of my favourite breakfast/brunch recipes – something I always make when my daughters come home.

Scotch pancakes with bacon and maple syrup – there’s something yummy about soft pancakes, crispy bacon and sweet syrup so I thought this would be a good place to start.

• 10 tablespoons self raising flour
• 3 tablespoons castor sugar
• 1 egg with 4 tablespoons of milk
• large knob of butter

Put the flour and sugar in a bowl and make a well.  Pour in the egg and milk mixture

Melt the butter in the small flat frying pan or griddle you are going to cook the pancakes on and then tip out into the mixture beating well.

Spoon a little of the batter onto the hot pan, usually about 4 – 5 pancakes at a time – they will spread a little but not much. Continue till they are all made – obviously the last one you just have to spread immediately with butter to taste they are ok!

Fry some bacon until crisp.  Put 3 or 4 pancakes on a warm plate, top with bacon and drizzle over some maple syrup.

If you’ve been following, you will realise that there will be some pancakes left over!  This is good – for you’ve got the beginning of another breakfast for another day.  Wrap them up in a tea towel and put in the bread bin.  With a bowl of porridge topped with some berries ( you can try your maple syrup over this too), they are delicious toasted. My brother always used to say they taste better that way anyway – see what you think!

 

Obviously, we need ingredients to cook with and keeping a store cupboard and the fridge and freezer stocked with some staples will all help when its time to start.

Below are a few ideas of goods to keep handy – over the weeks we can add some more adventurous/unusual stuff (and tips to keep them fresh if not used often).

Packets, jars and tins: pasta – spaghetti, macaroni and any other shapes you fancy! / rice (I prefer basmati) / medium egg noodles / lentils / flour – plain, self raising and cornflour / cooking oils – vegetable or sunflower plus olive and sesame / soya sauce / vinegar – wine and malt / mustard – English and Dijon /  stock cubes – beef, chicken, vegetable and fish / tomato puree (buy it in a tube for less waste) / tomato sauce (Heinz do a lovely fiery one which is great for zapping up the bland!)

Tinned: tomatoes / beans  red kidney, cannellini, butter / tuna

Herbs – dried – thyme, basil, oregano, coriander and mixed.

If you buy herbs in season in a packet and you think they are beginning to look a little sad , you can pop them in the freezer as are and just crumble them over your recipes when you want them. Alternatively, Waitrose do a wonderful range of frozen herbs including chopped garlic, ginger, jalapeno chillies, shallots, coriander – and some mixes such as Italian or Thai – keep them in the freezer and you will always be able to add flavour to whatever you are making – they’ve even got frozen lemon peel!

Spices: ground ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, paprika, cumin, coriander, chilli powder nutmeg.

Fridge: Butter / eggs / cheese – cheddar and parmesan / milk / yogurt

Freezer: peas / beans / spinach / beans

 

 

Cooking for one may not initially be fun – particularly if it’s not from choice.  However, we all have to eat and take care of ourselves and our diet is our first line of defence. Many recipes are for four or more and whilst you can cook and freeze or divide amounts, sometimes it doesn’t produce the same results.

With this blog, I hope to bring back the enjoyment of cooking with a weekly set of recipes. I shan’t use obscure ingredients, and if you have to buy a special pot of herbs or spice, I will make sure we use it all in that week.  I will use shortcuts when we can and will cover everything from breakfasts to mains to treats, with at least one thing in the week that you may not have thought of trying. I want you to enjoy exactly what you like best for every meal – and with confidence you may have find yourself doubling up recipes to invite your friends to share. So take time to read what will follow – pour yourself a glass of wine (aren’t screw top bottles wonderful?) – and look after YOU with some excellent food!