member blog: easyteas
easyteas
From
Cardiff
Member since
1st Nov 2009
About
Cooking something good to eat from scratch as often as possible keeps me feeling happy. It’s a highlight in my day; something I really look forward to after a busy day in work.
On top of that, I’m lucky to live in Wales, home to the most stunning countryside which produces world-class meat, cheeses, seafood, beer and plenty more besides.
It's this that inspires my love of cooking and I've recenly started to share my favourite ideas for easy, after-work recipes here and at my own blog easyteas.co.uk.
easyteas's blog posts
Pork meatballs with tomato and pasta
Sat 07 Nov 2009GENERAL BLOG
I've been making beef meatballs with this tomato sauce for ages, but tried pork mince on a bit of a whim and it works really well.
To the pork mince add a good teaspoon of ground up fennel seeds and about the same of chopped thyme. I also fried half a finely diced onion and added that to the mix too and seasoned well. Squeeze the mix together well to form the meatballs there's no need for an egg to bind the mix.
First brown the meatballs and remove from the pan. Next fry a chopped onion, garlic and a diced red pepper (and/or mushrooms) in the fat and juices that have come out into the meatball pan until soft. Throw in a glug of red wine and let it bubble away for a few minutes. At this point, if you’re using a frying pan you need to transfer the mix into a casserole dish.
Return the meatballs to the dish, add a tin of tomatoes and enough stock so that the meatballs are completely covered – for me that’s usually about a 1/4 of a pint but it’ll vary by size of dish. Put a lid on it.
This now goes in the oven (170 C) for about 40 minutes. After that time the sauce should be reduced by about a third. If it’s not thick enough, give it 10 minutes on the stove or turn up the oven and take off the lid.
If you’re feeling fruity, you can tear up a ball of mozzarella, scatter it over the top of the sauce and give it five minutes in the oven with the lid off to melt. It’s well worth it!
We usually eat this with spaghetti or linguine.
Toulouse Sausage Casserole
Sat 07 Nov 2009GENERAL BLOG
I made this after two hours standing at a rather cold and rainy rugby match, spurred on by the need for something rich, warming and appropriately autumnal.
I’m using Toulouse sausages because that’s what looked good at the market this week. In the past we’ve used Lincolnshire and Cumberland – any good, meaty, well-flavoured sausage will work.
First brown the sausages in a little oil. I used a stove-friendly casserole to keep it a one-pot dish. While they’re cooking you can chop an onion and some veg. I used peppers, carrots and what I thought was a round courgette but turned out to be some sort of squash. Mushrooms would have gone in too if I’d remembered to buy them.
Once the sausages have sealed, remove to a clean dish. Into the pan go the veggies and a clove of chopped garlic which you fry for a few minutes then put a lid on the pan, turn down the heat and let them sweat for about 10 mins. This concentrates the flavour of the veg and starts to form the sauce.
Next pour in a glug of booze. I had a bottle of red wine open so that was it. It needs to cook out for about 5 mins. Stir in a squirt of tomato puree and some herbs – a bay leaf and some chopped sage and rosemary.
Add a tin of tomatoes and enough stock to cover the veg and sausages. I used a chicken bouillon cube, but beef or veg both work.
Once it gets back to the boil, pop a lid on and into the oven it goes for about an hour at 150C.
We ate it with mash and runner beans. Cockles duly warmed