Fish Stew

Fish Stew

Serves four

Gently heat a splash of olive oil in a casserole pan and soften a couple of finely chopped onions and about four cloves of chopped crushed garlic for a few minutes.

Add about 500g of new potatoes chopped into bite-sized pieces. (If I am not serving with crusty bread, I add about 250g more potatoes) then stir in about 1 tsp paprika and a pinch of cayenne pepper (maybe about a quarter teaspoon). Grate in the zest of 1-2 lemons then add the juice too.

Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, a stock cube (fish/chicken/vegetable - I usually use chicken), a squeeze of tomato puree (about a tbsp), a big pinch of parsley (if using fresh add later with the fish) and some water (about half the tomato tin, but you may need more if your pan doesn't have a tight lid or are using more potatoes)

Bring to the boil then simmer gently with the lid on until the potatoes are almost cooked (about 15-20 minutes).

Add 1lb of white fish to the top of the pan then put the lid back on and simmer gently until the fish is cooked . I usually use a bag of frozen fillets because it keeps together nicely in big chunks (takes about twenty minutes) or you can use chunks of fresh (will take about ten minutes but be careful it doesn't end up as fish mince)

Then add about 200g of prawns and simmer (lid off if you need to reduce liquid a bit) until they are heated through, I usually just throw in a bag of frozen which take about five minutes.

Nice with crusty bread and green beans


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Beef in Beer

Chicken and Bacon Casserole

Loaded Skins

Stuffed Peppers

Chilli Prawn Curry

Spicy Prawn Salad

Smoked fish in lemony white sauce

teaspoon = 5ml
tablespoon = 15ml
1lb is about 450-500g


For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Cous Cous

Lovely with lamb, steak, chicken or fishfingers (yes really!) or cold as a salad.

Five minutes prep, five minutes 'cooking'

Serves 4 (probably with leftovers for lunch)

Finely chop about 3 spring onions and a couple of peppers (I usually use one red, one yellow).

Add a stock cube to 250 mls of boiling water (whatever kind suits what you are having with it)

Put 200g of cous cous in a warmed pan, stir in stock and put the lid on for a minute with the heat on. Turn heat off, stir in peppers and spring onions and put lid back on for four minutes.

Stir in a bit of olive oil and some lemon juice (about 2-3 tsps of each)

And that's it!

If you do not have any spring onions, finely chop a small onion, but soften it in a little bit of the oil in the pan before adding anything else.

I sometimes use a seasoned/flavoured oil eg chilli oil - very tasty!


You might also like:


Roast Red Pepper Sauce

Stuffed Pepppers

Ribbon Salad

Salsa Salad

Spicy Prawn Salad

Spicy Golden Chicken Rice


Chicken Kebabs


For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Black Olive Pate

Finely chop some black olives. (I use a rocker chopper/mezzaluna)

Mix in some cream cheese (twice the weight of olives, and maybe a little bit more)

Add lemon juice and black pepper to taste


Lovely with crusty bread and tomatoes and cucumber



(I usually get a little pot of S/bury's basic black olives for about a quid, think it is about 90g, so add in a 200g tub of cream cheese)




You might also like:


Roast Red Pepper Sauce

Smoked Mackerel Pate

Ribbon Salad

Things to have with Poppadoms


For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Bacon and Tomato Pasta

Serves 3-4 and ready in about twenty minutes

Chop one or two slices of bacon per person (I like smoked) into bite size pieces and put in pan. Start off on a gentle heat to release some of the fat so no oil is needed. Cook for a couple of minutes stirring occasionally.

Finely chop one or two onions and add to the pan with some crushed garlic (I use about half a bulb) and soften for a few minutes, stirring.

Boil the kettle and (assuming using 10 minute dried stuff) start cooking 2-3oz/50-75g pasta per person (I usually use shells).

You don't have to make it spicy - it is nice just garlicky, but I usually add a tsp of paprika and a half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper (quite spicy - use half amounts or just paprika if you want just a little warmth)

Add a tin of tomatoes (if they are whole not chopped, bash them up small with the spoon), a good pinch of dried oregano, and some black pepper. Bring to the boil and leave to simmer, adding a big squirt of tomato puree (about 1-2 tbsps) while the pasta is cooking.

Drain pasta and stir into sauce..


It is tasty without, but really nice with some Parmesan on top when served

It is also nice with some chopped peppers added at the same time as the onions.

Also good with chicken instead of bacon


You might also like:


Loaded Skins

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Stuffed Peppers

Potato and Bacon Soup

Rib Marinade

Barbecue Sauce

Devilled Sauce


For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Cake!

Having posted previously that I am not great at cakes (I don't have a particularly sweet tooth and I enjoy the variability of creating stuff to taste, not a set formula) when giving a virtually foolproof citrus loaf cake I have been a bit more experimental in this area lately.

My favourite recipes so far are here:

Mint Aero Bubble Slow Cooker Cake

(This is also a nice recipe for a chocolate loaf just in the oven without the aero bubbles)

Ginger Nuts

Vegan Ginger Cake

(I don't usually have self-raising flour and add half a teaspoon of baking powder per 2oz/50g plain. For the apple puree, a couple of chopped-up eating apples simmered in a couple of tablespoons of water and mushed up with a fork seems to work)

Jamaican Ginger Cake

(This is a lot less messy if you have scales you can zero if you weigh the treacle straight into the pan)

Cinnamon and Apple Loaf

(I peel the apple though)


Golden Syrup Cake

Second recipe is amazingly light and tasty. I melt the butter and syrup in a bowl over a pan of water (not sure if that is right, it is probably clear to people who often bake cakes). Light brown sugar seems to work okay as well if you haven't enough/any dark. Not sure why two different oven temperatures in recipe; I do it at 160 and check after 45 mins)

Left over frozen pastry for quick apple tarts

Roast Red Pepper Sauce

Great as a dip, as an alternative to pesto, with pasta, with chicken, with kebabs, with potato wedges. Best made a few hours or a day in advance.

Roast three whole red peppers on an oven tray for about 40 mins at 200c.

Skin them by putting them in a plastic bag for a couple of minutes so the skin goes loose and can be easily peeled off. (Make sure any juice from them goes in the pan, throw away the seeds and stalks)

Blend the pepper flesh with about 5 fl oz of water (enough so you can blend them - if you need to add more then you can just simmer for longer to reduce)

Add about a teaspoon of olive oil, some black pepper and about 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and simmer with the lid half on gently for 10-15 mins, until it is the thickness you want. Taste and add a pinch of salt and sugar as required (the sauce will get a bit sweeter anyway as flavours develop) and maybe a bit more balsamic vinegar.

Then crush and rip into small pieces a handful of basil leaves (about 6-8 big ones) and leave to cool.


(You can also roast some garlic or a red chilli with the peppers)


You might also like:

Salsa Salad

Rib Marinade

Barbecue Sauce

Stuffed Peppers

Devilled Sauce

Potato Wedges

Sticky Onions

Loaded Skins

Tomato Sauce

For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Smoked Mackerel

Two quick and tasty things to do with smoked mackerel


Use a fork to pull the fish from the bones and skin

Smoked Mackerel Pate

Mash up with some butter/spread (I usually use about an ounce for three fillets), some black pepper, lemon juice (and some parsley). Lovely on crusty bread or crackers with some salad.

(If you get a pack of mackerel that is already coated with pepper, lemon or parsley then adjust accordingly!)


Smoked Mackerel Rice Salad

Mix flaky chunks into cold rice with plain yoghurt and some black pepper. Add in salady bits for extra taste and crunch - chopped peppers and/or sweetcorn and/or spring onions can be added in advance. Chopped cucumber and/or tomatoes are lovely in it too, but unless you add them just before serving or scoop out all the seeds, it will go watery.

You might also like

Rice with chorizo, prawns/chicken

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

Chicken and Bacon Casserole

Salsa Salad

Spicy Prawn Salad

Chilli Prawn Curry

Things to have with Poppadoms

Smoked fish and prawns in lemony white sauce

Spicy Golden Rice with Chicken


For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )