Haddock with lemon and parsley sauce all in a pot

This dish is really healthy. You cook it all in a pot and use a timer and you can't really go wrong. I use a cast iron pot which you can use on the hob as well as in the oven.
It takes about 35minutes cooking time and should provide your 5 a day fruit and veggies plus protein, fibre etc. It serves 4
Ingredients
6 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion peeled and chopped small
2 garlic cloves peeled and sliced thinly
225g brown rice
finely grated rind of 2 lemons
1 pint chicken stock
2 courgettes, sliced thinly
3 tomatoes chopped
4 haddock fillets each about 6 oz. or 175g
4 tablespoons of lemon juice
black pepper (ground)
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in the casserole over a low heat for 1 minutes and add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the rice, lemon rind and stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes and then stir in the courgettes and tomatoes, put the lid on and simmer for another 4 minutes.
3. Put the haddock fillets on top of the rice. Put the lid on and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes until the fish flakes easily if you test it with a fork and all the liquid has been absorbed.
4. Whisk together the rest of the oil the lemon juice, pepper and the parsley and pour it over the fish.
If you wish you can use fish knives and forks to eat this with. It is delicious.
http://www.cutleryandcatering.co.uk

Mother's Day - hope it was as special as this

Mother's Day. for me the day was really special. We didn't go out for a meal but stayed home and my husband and son-in-law cooked a special meal together. It was so relaxing to be waited on.


I thought about Mums all over the country who go out to work and bring up children, about Mums who , for what ever reason, bring up their children on their own. I thought about Mums who must be worried about how they will cope because their husbands have lost their jobs, Mum's who bring up children who have health problems, Mother's who have lost their children, Mother's who stay at home and devote themselves to the welfare of their children.

To all these Mums: I hope your day was special. To have your children bring you tea and toast in bed, to open cards they have made for you at school, to have a meal cooked for you, flowers given to you, to be taken out for a meal......whatever it was I hope that someone made your day special as they did for me!

http://www.cutleryandcatering.co.uk/

A meal to cook in a cast iron pot

This is a meal which you cook in one pot on top of the stove. We used a cast iron casserole which is great for use either on the hob or in the oven.
Roast Pork with Apples and Red Cabbage
It takes about 30 minutes to prespare and one and three quarters of an hour to cook.

3 tablespoons sunflower olil
2 level tablespoons soft dark brown sugar
1kg pork tenderloin
a medium onion finely chopped
450g red cabbaged finely shredded
900g baby new potatoes washed
450g cooking apples, peeled, cored, thinly sliced
285ml (half pint) red wine
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
black pepper (ground)
watercress and wedges of dessert apple to garnish

• Preheat oven to 190C or gas mark 5
• Heat oil and sugar in the cast iron casserole until the sugar dissolves into a caramel and then move the pork around in it to coat it for about 10 minutes until it is golden brown.
• Remove the pork and keep warm. Replace it with the onion and cook till soft.
• Add the cabbage,potatoes,wine, vinegar and pepper and heat till just simmering.
• Put the pork back in the casserole. Put the lid on and cook in the middle of the oven for an hour.
• Take off the lid, add a little wine if you need more liquid and replace in the oven for about 30 minutes.
• Garnish with apple wedges and watercress

www.cutleryandcatering.co.uk

How was your meal? Are you enjoying it?

We went out for a meal with friends. It was a new restaurant and we knew the owner so we had a little chat with him whilst we had a drink before being shown to our table.
During the course of the meal just about every time a waiter passed us they asked "Are your enjoying it?"
"How is your meal?"
"Is everything all right for you?"
Every time they interrupted our conversation. It began to be irritating. I am sure we were asked about 17 or 18 times during the course of a three course meal!
We were just about at screaming point, when the owner came up to us. "Please let me buy you all a drink. This is on me!"
So the ladies had coffee and the men had brandy and we all calmed down.
......but, even though it is well-meant, waiting staff can be over-zealous can't they?
Cutlery and Catering

Sweetcorn Chowder with Peppers and Prawns

This is a rather nice chowder which you can make very easily. These are the ingredients you need
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion finely chopped
2 red peppers thinly sliced
340g peeled potatoes, diced
340g frozen sweetcorn
1 bay leaf
1/2 level teaspoon dried marjoram or oregano
pinch ground nutmeg
3/4 pint milk
ground black pepper
450g uncooked prawns, peeled and de-veined
150ml single cream

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onions in it. Add the peppers, potatoes, sweetcorn, bay leaf, marjoram or oregano and the nutmeg. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer and cover for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked. Add the milk and pepper. Bring back to the boil and stir in the prawns. Let them cook for 3-5 minutes over a moderate heat until they turn pink and acre cooked through. Take out the bay leaf. add the cream, heat through for 2-3 minutes but don't let it boil.
Absolutely delicious.
Best eaten with a soup spoon and some crusty bread.
http://www.cutleryandcatering.co.uk/

A Quick Pudding

Life has been very busy recently so I didn't bother to make a pudding on Sunday much to my husband's dismay. (He loves puddings!) Undaunted, he set to and prepared a jam sponge pudding in 5 minutes flat!!! I thought I would share the recipe as it is so quick and easy. He used a standard imperial measure tablespoon to measure with and judged the amount of margerine by using half a 250g tub. So there was no weighing!

4 level tablespoons of caster sugar (use ordinary sugar if you don't have caster sugar)
4 heaped tablespoons of plain four, sifted
l level teaspoon baking powder (sifted in with the flour)
half a 250g tub of soft margerine
1 tablespoon warm water
3 or 4 tablespoons jam
2 beaten eggs

All he did was cream the marg and sugar together with a mixer, add the eggs and then fold in the flour, baking powder and water.
Put the jam in the bottom of a 1.5 pint pudding basin and heat on HIGH in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add the sponge mixture, cover and cook on HIGH for about 6 minutes. Let it stand for 5 minutes and turn it out to serve.
It was lovely. "I bet when you met me you never thought I would be making jam sponge puddings!!!", said my husband.
Errr, no I didn't!!!!
"Do you want to take a photograph of me dishing it up?" he asked.
"Err! No thanks!" (In the clothes he wears to relax in on Sundays, it would be a bit like the "Would you buy a used car from this man??" adverts!!!)
However, if you want to buy tablespoon which measures an ounce or standard sized teaspoons take a look at the Serving Cutlery items for sale at Cutlery and Catering